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A North Carolina police officer was charged with voluntary manslaughter on Saturday after police say he fatally shot an unarmed man who had apparently just survived a car crash in Charlotte and was looking for help.

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Police in Apopka, Florida arrested a man on Saturday morning for distributing a petition that would put the issue of ending red light camera use to a public vote. Mark E. Schmidter, a 66-year-old commercial roofing contractor, stood on the side of the road waiting for the light to turn red at the corner of East Main Street and South Park Avenue. Once traffic came to a stop, he would walk in between cars and distribute a double-sided sheet of paper. One side had a petition form that residents could fill out and a message urging participation in Wednesday's city council meeting. The other side provided information on why cameras should not be used (view flyer).

"Red light cameras are all about money -- not safety," the flyer said in large type. "Governments choose tax money over safety of motorists."

Officer Robert Campbell watched what was going on and used the public address system on his squad car to order Schmidter to stop. Schmidter says he was not able to understand what was said on the loudspeaker. Officer Campbell described the scene in his arrest report.

"As I was approaching him, I read 'BAN CAMS' on the sign he was wearing," Officer Campbell wrote. "He was holding a large stack of papers... I asked him if he had a permit to protest the red light cameras, and he said no."

At this point, Officer Campbell asked for Schmidter's identification. Since he was not driving, the man explained he was not carrying any. The officer then asked for his name and date of birth. Schmidter declined to do so unless the officer could show him what law he had violated. Officer Campbell said he did not have to do that. After asking one more time he grabbed Schmidter's wrist, handcuffed him, and placed him under arrest.

During the commotion, a man came out of Chuck's Wagon restaurant and identified himself as a former county judge to one of the other officers on the scene. He recognized Schmidter from a previous incident where Schmidter was jailed for handing out flyers on the courthouse steps outside of a designated free speech zone.

"That's the last person you need to mess with," the judge warned.

Schmidter's previous flyer case made it to the state's second highest court which in December found unconstitutional one of the county court administrative orders under which Schmidter had been arrested, but it upheld the other. The state Supreme Court declined to intervene, and Schmidter is considering an appeal to the US Supreme Court. On Saturday, judges were not the only supporters of Schmidter, according to the police report.

"Other protestors across the street began heckling me for making a bad arrest," Officer Campbell wrote. "This information was added to show the demeanor of the group the arrested male was with."

Schmidter says most of the motorists he spoke with that morning supported what he and his group were doing.

"Eighty percent thought we were sent from heaven," Schmidter told TheNewspaper in an interview. "They're so frustrated. The other twenty percent weren't interested."

Schmidter was charged with obstructing an officer without violence, a misdemeanor. He was also given a $65 ticket for a "pedestrian violation" and held for nearly twelve hours before being released on a $500 bond. Schmidter plans to fight the charges in court before a jury of his peers, saying his First Amendment rights were being trampled.

"It's selective enforcement, and that alone is unconstitutional," Schmidter said. "The homeless are in the street asking for money, and firefighters do it, too. We don't raise money, we let people know about the red light cameras."

Only 500 valid signatures are required to force a referendum on the use of red light cameras onto the ballot in Apopka. Out of thirty such votes around the country, cameras have lost ninety percent of the time (view list).

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Here’s a recipe for disaster: Take a young man (or woman), raise him on a diet of violence, hype him up on the power of the gun in his holster and the superiority of his uniform, render him woefully ignorant of how to handle a situation without resorting to violence, train him well in military tactics but allow him to be illiterate about the Constitution, and never stress to him that he is to be a peacemaker and a peacekeeper, respectful of and subservient to the taxpayers, who are in fact his masters and employers.

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Police have launched an internal investigation after an innocent black teenager was held for FIFTEEN HOURS on suspicion of robbery – despite having a cast-iron alibi.

Talented musician Shakeil Jackson, 19, was inside Thornhill Road police station reporting the theft of his own motorcycle at the time the phone robber struck.

Yet despite protesting his innocence the teenager, from Handsworth, was arrested, locked up overnight and only released when officers finally confirmed his alibi with colleagues.

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A Chittenden County grand jury has indicted Winooski Police Cpl. Jason Nokes on three charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and providing false information to the Vermont State Police, arising from the April shooting of a mentally ill man.

Jurors also charged reckless endangerment in the April 25 shooting of Isaac Sage on West Allen Street near the city police station following a confrontation and fight.

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The charges relate to Nokes’ shooting of Sage in the left leg after a trespass complaint at the Woolen Mill apartments turned into a violent confrontation with police.

Sage, 35, of Winooski, who received a minor gunshot wound as officers attempted to arrest him for assaulting them, had struck Nokes in the face, causing a broken nose and a concussion, police have said. A video shot by a local resident showed that Sage continued to struggle with police after being shot during the early afternoon incident.

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Yesterday afternoon after a photo shoot I had in Kensington Market.

I was walking back to Baldwin St. & I came across loud cries coming from an alleyway "Stop, I'm not resisting" the voice yells. I hear glass bottles breaking and literally what seems to be some sort of fight going on Behind the locked gate... the first image in this album.

I looked through the hole to see what was going on. When I looked I saw one officer just walking right out of frame. A few seconds later the shop owner that had the key to the gate came and opened it for me as if she was telling me to go ahead and take photos of what I see.

So I open the gate and walk through and I see Officers stoping on this mans head, punching him in his balls & stepping on his head....

As I was taking photos an officer that was just standing watching while this man gets his ass stomped out notices me & tells me to move to the streets. Then the other PIGS saw me & stopped....

I think I may have saved this mans live. No matter what he did he should not be treated like that.

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Friday the 13th must be defy the law day for the Texas Department of Public Safety. A legal lawful open carry rally at the capital became the site of a tyrannical abuse of power at the hands of our ignorant public servants. Terry Holcomb of Texas Open Carry was arrested for carrying a black powder pistol even though the act is perfectly legal.

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For the first time, a man whose arrest at a trolley station prompted questions of excessive force is sharing his story.

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Laureldale Mayor Fred Feltenberger said he's angry that borough police officers are ignoring his order to collect more information from people they encounter on patrol.

As punishment, Feltenberger said, he ordered police to stop issuing parking or traffic citations during September.

"If they don't do the work, they don't get the reward," Feltenberger said of the four full-time and four part-time officers.

That work, Feltenberger explained, was his order to stop people on the street, ask their identity and what they are doing in the borough, then fill out contact cards on the people they question.

It was unclear why Feltenberger considers issuing parking and traffic citations a reward.

"I don't get it," said Councilman Jason Glessner, chairman of council's law committee.

"I don't know what the mayor is thinking, but we need the laws enforced," Glessner said. "We (council) don't have any control over how the borough is policed other than budgetary.

"Unless a grievance or a budgetary issue arises, there isn't much we can do, but I do think we should look into it."

Feltenberger said Chief Ronald C. Fisher is not part of what he considers to be the problem. Fisher was unavailable for comment Friday.

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Frequently asked Questions:
#1 I was not swinging my riifle, nor was my rifle ever pointed near him at all whatsoever. Pause video at 00:27 seconds. I am pointing my camera-phone directly at him. My rifle is pointing down and to the side. My other hand is holding my flag.

#2 Asking for trouble? - NO. We have done this every Friday for the last 12 weeks or so. Check our Facebook page "For liberty Fridays" and see the pictures. The police have done nothing but salute us in the past. This guy was nutso. https://www.facebook.com/ForLibertyFr...

#3 Private or Public property? This was an irrelevant argument the officer tried to make. The point is ... he has no reason to be accosting me in the first place.

#4 Why am I so pissed? Because a police officer without suspicion, assaulted me with a deadly weapon and ordered me to disarm, then stole my weapon. This is mafia behavior and I will not tolerate it.


Every Friday we go out and exercise our right to free assembly and protest the government. We call it #ForLibertyFridays. Usually we gather on a street corner during rush hour traffic and waive signs and flags. Some of us open carry rifles and side arms too. We have never had any problems whatsoever from the police or Sherriff, who have always known the laws, and only treated us with respect.

Today I decided just to stay in-front of my house in Rochester Hills instead of our usual location. I was outside with my rifle and my Gadsden "don't tread of me" flag how I usually do. After about 15 minutes of doing this was when the first officer (and the 5 other cars right after) rolled up on me, and demanded that I put my rifle down and walk over to him. The he began yelling on the loudspeaker "not to point the gun at him", when I absolutely certainly did not and it facing the ground. I stood there until he told me not to create a "Bad Situation" and unholstered his weapon. I felt threatened and didn't want to risk this cop who probably watches too many crime shows to shoot me in the back. I laid my gun down on the ground, while showing my him hands (one hand holding my smartphone) and then walked towards him. He then ordered another officer to seize my rifle that I had set on the ground.

I am a 2nd year law student and can run circles around him in the law and criminal procedure. This was an assault on me, my property, and my peace. In Lake Orion, myself and others do the EXACT same thing and literally have OC Sherriffs saluting us.

I was assaulted, detained, and my property was seized. And what crime did he suspect me of? He couldn't quite think of one ... Maybe it was for lawfully exercising my constitutionally protected God-given right to keep and bear arms, while holding the flag of our founding fathers on my lawn that I mow every 2 weeks? In reality this entire encounter was about 45 minutes ... The video is shortened for the sake of time.

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It seems the NYPD may have their priorities muddled up when it comes to issuing penalties for motor violations. Two separate traffic incidents which both involved driving on a sidewalk have resulted in two majorly disproportionate penalties, raising questions of how the NYPD categorize the seriousness of motor injuries.

A 19-year-old paparazzo cyclist was riding his bicycle on a sidewalk yesterday outside a Manhattan hotel when he struck an actress, NBC reported. Luckily the woman was not injured, only shaken up.

The cyclist on the other hand was no so lucky – he was issued three summonses for riding a bicycle on a sidewalk; reckless driving and riding without a helmet, which is not illegal in the state of New York.

That same day, a driver of an SUV also from New York jumped the curb and drove on a sidewalk in Queens, crashing into and injuring five children. The motorist, however, walked away without a single summons or penalty.

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CHELSEA, QUEBEC — A man driving down the road discovered a baby deer that had been hit by a vehicle; immobilized yet showing no visible wounds. As he and his family attempted to assist it, they were stopped by a police officer, who not only adamantly refused to allow them to take it to a veterinarian, but threatened them with arrest, shot the fawn, and impounded their vehicle.

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MERCED (CBS13) — Animal lovers are questioning a policy where Merced Police officers take injured animals out to the police shooting range to kill them.

The penal code has been on the books for decades. Some officers say it’s the most humane thing you can do, while others call it barbaric.

Officers use deadly force to save the lives of others, but what about shooting severely injured dogs or cats found on the street?

According to a California penal code, it’s an officer’s discretion, saying in part:

“…any officer… may, with the approval of his or her immediate superior, humanely destroy any abandoned animal in the field in any case where the animal is too severely injured to move or where a veterinarian is not available and it would be more humane to dispose of the animal.”

“No one wants to see an animal lose its life, but if death is inevitable, and it’s just being prolonged,” said Sacramento County Sgt. Jason Ramos.

He says the sheriff’s department doesn’t have a specific policy for shooting injured animals, but his agency understands why an officer may be forced to.

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