Afroman found not liable in defamation case brought by Ohio cops who raided home
365 points
3 hours ago
| 21 comments
| nypost.com
| HN
looofooo0
1 hour ago
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oponIfu5L3Y

This is the video in question, police again falling trap to the Streisand effect.

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embedding-shape
42 minutes ago
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Also probably a rare case where there are a few Streisand effect's all packed together, where the cops at each step made it worse for themselves.

If they never did the raid in the first place, no music video, no "embarrassment". They could have cut their losses, and not made a big deal about it and probably way less people (including myself) would have ever heard about it.

Instead they decided to sue, which made even bigger news. Here they could again have chosen "You know what, maybe this is counter-productive, lets settle/cancel it", and again probably people would have cared way less about it.

Instead, they go to court, make a bunch of exaggerated and outrageous claims, one officer apparently cried as well, all in a public court room that is being recorded, again making it a bigger thing.

Finally, Afroman wins the case, leading to this now seemingly making international news, and the videos continue racking up views.

I know cops aren't known for being smart, but I have to wonder who made them act like this, don't cops have lawyers who can inform them about what is a smart move vs not? Seems they almost purposefully and intentionally tried to help Afroman, since they basically made the "wrong move" at every chance they got.

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delecti
24 minutes ago
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I suspect it was less about the legal merits and more about punishing (whether or not they won) through the lawsuit itself.
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JoshTriplett
17 minutes ago
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Of course. Questioning their authority is a status challenge, and they're accustomed to having their status go unchallenged. Hence, punitive punishment.

One of many aspects of improving law enforcement would be pointedly training out and averting any perception of being "above" people. "Public servant" is a phrase for a reason.

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ryandrake
9 minutes ago
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Yea it’s as simple and stupid as that. This (black) peasant isn’t respecting our authority and higher status. If we let one slide then everyone is going to think we are equal to them. In their logic, they have to fight in court.
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embedding-shape
19 minutes ago
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That was what I was thinking at first too, but if I was sitting on their side, my mind would still go for "Wait, if we sue him, won't this make the news and make things better for him?" immediately, rather than "Yeah, this will suck for him". I'm not sure how they thought this would be bad for him, legal costs?
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JoshTriplett
16 minutes ago
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You're assuming a rational, reasoned process, rather than an instinctive punishment of a perceived status challenge.

When you observe someone acting in a way that seems obviously against their self-interest, it is always worth considering the possibility that there's some interest you don't understand...but it's also worth considering the possibility that they're doing a bad job of considering their own interests.

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embedding-shape
11 minutes ago
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This is an event that took course over 3 years! I could understand the initial actions, statements and whatnot from the department to maybe be instinctual and emotional reaction to events/messages, but during these 3 years, at least one of them must have had some still time to reflect on what they're doing.
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JoshTriplett
5 minutes ago
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It's very easy to double down and reinforce your own past thinking rather than re-examining it. It's also very easy to "play a role", even as consequences play out; "reasoning" like "I will do X, then they will do Y which I don't want", rather than stepping back and thinking "if I do X, Y is likely to happen, I don't want Y to happen, so what should I do differently".

They assumed they were going to win, and thus enact punishment for questioning their authority.

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macNchz
11 minutes ago
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There’s a name for that, SLAPP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_publ...

Many states in the US have laws to try to limit them by making them easier to dismiss etc.

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delecti
5 minutes ago
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Yeah, the only reason I'm not quite sure SLAPP is right is that he's a fairly prominent and well-off figure and they're a pretty small department. So I guess it's an attempted SLAPP suit, but they aimed too high (poor aim not being unfamiliar to cops).
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mwigdahl
22 minutes ago
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"The process is the punishment"
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johannes1234321
13 minutes ago
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This may be true in many cases.

In this case however the story currently is two times(!) on the front page of haackernews (which isn't a music celebrity gossip site), bringing a musician into spotlight who's career was far from its peak. Hardly any better Marketing campaign one could imagine.

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lukan
9 minutes ago
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They would have individually gotten lots of money in compensation if they would have won. So maybe the motives on their side are a bit more materialistic.
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thinkingtoilet
34 minutes ago
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>I know cops aren't known for being smart

Even worse. Police departments can actively reject you for being smart.

https://abcnews.com/US/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-cops/story...

(granted this is a one off case, but it is astonishing and speaks to the larger issue)

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lenerdenator
36 minutes ago
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> don't cops have lawyers who can inform them about what is a smart move vs not?

Generally, municipalities have at least some sort of attorney on retainer for this sort of thing.

Generally. I don't know if that's the case where he lives.

Either way, the police have to be smart enough to listen to that attorney, and have to be given a consequence for not doing so. If you can brush off everything as qualified immunity and say you were acting under color of law while a part of a union that would raise absolute hell for any sort of corrective action taken against you, you might not be introduced to said consequence.

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SpaceL10n
27 minutes ago
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I have no evidence besides my own experience, but I think that the "back the blue" mentality might skew their support staff's objectivity a bit. Especially in smaller cities and towns where cops aren't just law enforcement, they are foundational pillars of morality and governance. The point I hope I'm making is that they are getting bad advice not because they are stupid, or the people around them are, but rather because it's inevitable due to complex social and psychological reasons.
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cucumber3732842
7 minutes ago
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> The point I hope I'm making is that they are getting bad advice not because they are stupid, or the people around them are, but rather because it's inevitable due to complex social and psychological reasons.

Which basically boils down to "when the men with the guns and the violence (or their string pullers)" set down a path nobody is going to say "that's fucking stupid, you're stupid, good luck with that". It's gonna be a bunch of tepid "well the odds are long but here's how you could prevail" type criticism that lets them thing their path of action is fine.

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sneak
13 minutes ago
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AIUI they sued him in their personal capacities, not as the police department. Any taxpayer funded lawyer to defend the PD from such a thing would presumably not be authorized to work a civil suit for a person who happened to be employed by his client.
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cucumber3732842
25 minutes ago
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This. The cops don't care if they "look bad" because looking bad doesn't cost them anything. They don't lose any money. The populace is no more entitled to resist them so their jobs are no harder, their KPIs are not imperiled. Etc. etc. At best the municipality will scold them because the municipality cares very little, but not zero about police optics because it impacts their ability to do things that are unpopular.
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plagiarist
8 minutes ago
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If I were in a gang such that I routinely committed theft and violence without consequence from the government, I'd probably have internalized that I am superior to the plebs. So I would expect what is obviously SLAPP to actually come out in my favor.
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echelon_musk
23 minutes ago
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> way less people (including myself) would have never heard about it

I think the never here is a typo.

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embedding-shape
17 minutes ago
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Thanks, `(subs "never" 1)` been applied now!
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hedora
12 minutes ago
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So, in the music video, the cops pretty clearly steal something (probably money, as alleged), and attempt to destroy evidence.

They’re facing charges too, right?

Right?

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cryptonym
3 minutes ago
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Yes and as a result they will give taxpayer money in a deal and, officer will be moved to nearby county.
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plagiarist
22 seconds ago
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No, no way they could have known stealing money and destroying evidence is illegal. So the Post-It note on the old court case gives them qualified (absolute) immunity.
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Mashimo
1 hour ago
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Yes, but not limited to just that one. https://www.youtube.com/@ogafroman/videos

He also has other videos where he calls one of them a pedofile, questioning their gender (Licc'm low lisa) and more.

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walletdrainer
51 minutes ago
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This all feels extremely mild next to what these people did to Afroman.
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yread
14 minutes ago
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> pedofile

apparently, the deputy in question has a brother who was a deputy as well but was fired and charged with a sexual misdemeanor against minors.

Afroman also said he steals money during traffic stops and he was accused of that multiple times.

Of course that's not bulletproof evidence but a reasonable person might assume these rumours are not completely unfounded

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embedding-shape
8 minutes ago
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> but a reasonable person might assume these rumours to be true

From all the claims Afroman made, it seems the cop sued because of the whole "He claimed he had sex with my wife, which reflects poorly on me", presumably because he only has a chance to win the suit if there is actual lies. The same video seems to have texts about how he crashed into civilians, stealing pills/money and more, but none of that was brought up in the suit, only the cheating part.

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arianvanp
38 minutes ago
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I think you're confusing gender and sexual orientation. He's calling her a lesbian
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Mashimo
33 minutes ago
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No, I'm not. He also posted about her deep voice and people should check what genitals she really has.
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milkshakes
33 minutes ago
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here appears to be his celebration of his victory, pretty catchy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM8Ee6pcXvQ
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embedding-shape
30 minutes ago
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> here appears to be his celebration of his victory

No, that video seems to be from 4 days ago, the verdict of the jury came yesterday.

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milkshakes
25 minutes ago
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even more amazing then
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ceejayoz
1 hour ago
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This might be peak Streisand effect.
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postalcoder
25 minutes ago
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It gives me immeasurable delight seeing afroman at the top of HN.

Love me some freedom, sweet soulful music, and pie in the face of bad cops.

Dang/Tom, please don't downrank this. America needs this win.

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BLKNSLVR
1 hour ago
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Pretty funny, worth seeing at least once to be able to reference it at appropriate times.

Having had my house raided, I love this. Police incompetence should be exposed at all opportunities with the hope that it makes some small amount of difference to future competence.

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ourmandave
1 hour ago
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Hoping it wasn't the SWAT guys. Those guys go hard and everyone is a meth terrorist until zip tied on the floor and proven otherwise. They also tend to shoot your dog. =(
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embedding-shape
49 minutes ago
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Judging by the videos, they look like the typical American "deputy" that wouldn't even pass the fitness tests in other countries, which probably means it's easier to escape, but also that they are more trigger-happy.
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hollywood_court
31 minutes ago
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Those cops embarrassed themselves. Especially that one lady that was faux crying. Shameful behavior from the largest gang in the US.
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anon84873628
19 minutes ago
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That didn't seem like faux crying. Making fun of her in that way is the hardest to defend IMO, since it had nothing to do with her job performance or relevant character attributes. (E.g. how the other officer had been accused of stealing before, or had a brother resign from the force after being charged with a crime involving a minor).

That said, I don't disagree with outcome.

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embedding-shape
14 minutes ago
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Aren't cops by default public figures? They're the de facto face of the police for the ordinary citizen, not sure they should be the type of individual who cries because someone calls them fat, lesbian or whatever. These people have the legal right to essentially execute you in public, I think we should set the bar a bit higher on who should be allowed to be a police officer in the first place.
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hollywood_court
8 minutes ago
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I was raised by LEOs. My mother and all four of her husbands were career long LEOs in the South.

Of course this is just based on my anecdotes, but LEOs have some of the thinnest skin imaginable. The first time I fought a grown man was when I was 13 and I had to fight my mother's fourth husband. He was a Deputy Sheriff and combat veteran and that dude had the emotional strength of a 12 year old girl who didn't get asked to the winter dance.

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hrimfaxi
7 minutes ago
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These people carry guns and can kill you on the street and they can't take getting called some bad names?
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alphawhisky
22 minutes ago
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They're no longer a lady in Kansas.
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snackbroken
54 minutes ago
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Going on the stand and stating that you "don't know" whether the allegedly defamatory statements you are suing over are true or not is a... bold legal strategy.
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anon84873628
16 minutes ago
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Or claiming you don't know what crime your brother was charged with that led him to resign from the same police department.
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lotrjohn
39 minutes ago
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I was gonnna click the link, but then I got high.
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bdcravens
43 minutes ago
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Gotta say I love Afroman's choice of courtroom atire.
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bonesss
14 minutes ago
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I made this joke in another thread, but: I keep imagining Afromans court getup as the formal attire for American civil lawyers. Like robes and wigs, suits n ‘fros.
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subpixel
8 minutes ago
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I haven’t found any information about what cause the police had, why a warrant was issued, etc.

I’m not suggesting suspicion has merit, but given all the idiocy I’m wondering what other forms of chicanery may have taken place to get a warrant.

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sayYayToLife
17 minutes ago
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Okay at first I was like this music is not my style, but the humor was so good.
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_qua
1 hour ago
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Damn, that case took a long time to resolve. You know what they say about justice delayed...
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anon84873628
11 minutes ago
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One of my favorite parts is when Afroman is being cross examined about why he brought the media and his lawyer to retrieve his money.

He says, well that was for my protection because they came to my house with AR-15's and turned off the cameras. "I didn't want to get beat up or Epstein'd".

And the lawyer is trying to make that out to be unreasonable, that a black man in the US shouldn't be scared of the police. Afroman just continues to assert that of course he was scared.

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iamacyborg
1 hour ago
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I’ve had “lemon pound cake” stuck in my head all morning thanks to this
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michaeljx
39 minutes ago
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My mind went to K&P rap confession skit : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14WE3A0PwVs
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embedding-shape
48 minutes ago
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I've heard "Randy Walters is a son of a bitch, ooooh oooooh, uuh!" the entire day today after hearing the song yesterday, probably the most catchy one to come out of this whole story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4AiuqQpB1U
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lenerdenator
39 minutes ago
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Y'know, officers, if you'd shown up to his house after the raid and apologized and offered to buy the guy a new door of his choosing and the installation for it, we're probably not having this conversation.
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alphawhisky
21 minutes ago
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They don't have the emotional intelligence for that.
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Asooka
12 minutes ago
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I know things are bad in the USA right now, but news like these show that you still have your basic rights. This kind of song would not fly in any other country on Earth. No other country has Freedom of Speech laws strong enough to defend against insulting the police. There have been some people abusing their freedom in recent times cough Kanye cough, but for every loud nazi there are ten more excellent people whose right to speak should not be infringed!
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sneak
10 minutes ago
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This wasn’t a 1A case, it was a civil defamation suit. He won because they failed to prove defamation, NOT because the judge threw out the lawsuit because of a violation of constitutional rights.

Separately: saying something shitty or unpopular that you disagree with isn’t someone abusing their rights to free expression. Expressing unpopular viewpoints that others consider abusive is exactly the point of such rights.

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quietsegfault
1 hour ago
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The judge really loved the cops for some reason. So embarrassing for him.
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embedding-shape
13 minutes ago
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Well, he probably interacts with them on a daily/weekly basis, or at least other people from their department, and probably don't want to end up on their bad side.

In the end, justice and freedom of expression seems to have prevailed, so doesn't really matter what the judge think/thought in the end.

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archerx
1 hour ago
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Those cops are the epitome of the term “cry bully”.
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LightBug1
1 hour ago
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As someone who has never seen that video before, could I respectfully say:

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Thank you, Ohio cops and lawyers, for bringing this to our attention.

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duskdozer
28 minutes ago
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When he started reversing the video around lemon pound cake I really thought the officer was backing up to take a piece lol
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quietsegfault
1 hour ago
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I highly recommend watching the video that made the other cop cry.
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embedding-shape
46 minutes ago
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Licc’em Low Lisa - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wWQxSV8CK8 (NSFW, depending on your workplace)
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noman-land
1 hour ago
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Please post the link!
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zzzeek
1 hour ago
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gotta love some Streisand effect in the morning...
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mkovach
50 minutes ago
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As fellow Ohioan Chrissie Hine and The Pretenders said, "Ay, oh, way to go, Ohio."

Yeah, it was from "My City Was Gone," which isn't a pleasant song about the state, but pfft, it works here.

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shadowgovt
53 minutes ago
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One of the more interesting parts of the whole ordeal was officers getting on the witness stand and declaring that the lyrics that insinuated he had had sex with their wife were deeply traumatizing.

People keep throwing around 'cuck' as an insult, but if trained officers of the law familiar with application of deadly force when necessary can be severely traumatized by the notion of another man sleeping with their wife... Maybe the cucks have been the brave ones all along?

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jcarrano
23 minutes ago
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The US is possibly the only place in the world where one can get away with things like this.
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ohyoutravel
19 seconds ago
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I’m curious what the alternative is? I’m not aware of anyone, save you and the aggrieved police, who think this went the wrong way.
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headz
7 minutes ago
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You mean the cops. Right?
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sneak
8 minutes ago
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This is not remotely true. Furthermore, the way people don’t get away with stuff like this is via extralegal/extrajudicial harassment, abuse, violence, and sometimes assassination (see also: MLK, Huey, Leqaa Kordia, Barry Cooper, etc), so we aren’t really sure that he has gotten away with it yet.

He beat a civil defamation suit; these cops still know where he lives. Do you think the events of today made them less angry at him?

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