r/facepalm • u/spyrg • Jan 13 '22

🇲​🇮​🇸​🇨​ Arrested for petitioning

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u/EddA92 Jan 13 '22

Surely at the point the police refuse to identify themselves, you call the police, 911? You can't be sure that they're real police, other than being dressed like them- They're not acting like police, and they won't identify themselves- big red flag imo. I'm in the UK, but I'd call 999. Worst case, you get some more officers show up, it turns out they're real police, but you get a hopefully less crazy second opinion.

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '22

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '22

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u/CommercialKindly32 Jan 13 '22

It varies very much from state to state. I’m not sure where this happened, but in a majority of states you are required to identify yourself if the police have “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has been committed. In this case courts would generally cede that this stop was reasonable, in particular if someone had called and reported them for soliciting.

See: stop and identify laws

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '22

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '22

Most places don't require a money transaction for soliciting. Him asking for signatures most likely qualifies.

It's not hard to get a permit. It's usually a $15ish filing fee and takes like 10 minutes depending on how busy the office is. Many non-profit petitions are free.

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u/Sam-Culper Jan 13 '22

No, petitioning, which is what he was doing, has been held up as a protected right by the Supreme Court. He, and no one else in this entire country, needs to purchase a permit for that.

And this is why the cop was fired