Milwaukee edition: 

At this point, I was honestly surprised and told the officers I wasn’t aware that I could be handcuffed for asking questions. As this was happening, Officer Stoj transferred me, still cuffed to his partner, Officer Joseph Anderer, and began searching my vehicle, to which I said they were conducting an unlawful search. Within about 45 seconds of me being pulled from the car, at least four other police vehicles were present on the block (two marked squad cars – one blocking Auer at 28th and one on the corner of 27th and Auer – the unmarked car I had noticed on 26th and Auer and an SUV – maybe a suburban). I told another officer why I had been taken out of the car, to which he simply said, “Okay,” and kept walking. I, then, asked why I was being arrested and Officer Anderer, who was holding me by my arm, responded, “You’re a domestic terrorist.” In the initial aftermath, I clearly recall being accused of “stalking police” — a charge which would be repeated multiple times — and was asked if I was trying to kill a police officer. I also heard an officer ask, “Is he one of the three we’re looking for,” to which another voice replied, “Yes.” Also, in the course of this interaction, an officer, possibly Anderer, said, “We’re gonna fuck with you and your friends a bit.”

Less than 5 minutes, or so, after I had been pulled from my vehicle and handcuffed, I was in the back of another squad car on my way to the District 7 Police Station. My car was impounded, despite pleas that I couldn’t afford to get it out.

Upon reaching the station, I remained handcuffed and was instructed to wait on a bench in the parking area, across from a desk and computer. Officers Stoj and Anderer arrived and continued to assert that I had “stalked police” and was conspiring to kill an officer. They questioned me about the belongings they had taken from my vehicle — my camera, recorder and a walkie talkie — and the nature of milwaukeestories.org, asking if I had ever written anything supporting the killing of cops. I said no. They asked me where I had gotten my equipment. I answered that I bought the recorder online, most likely through Amazon, had been given the camera from a friend and had neglected to return the walkie talkie after an event I had volunteered at and used it. They asked if it was stolen — or had been reported stolen — and insinuated they would like to charge me for theft. Throughout the entire interaction, I remained polite, referring to the officers as “sir.”

I look forward to the libertarian outrage at the violation of this man’s civil rights OH WAIT:

You deserved to get arrested. Why ask the police what they’re doing there? You wanna know what they’re doing? The police are protecting you and the city. How dare you have the audacity to ask what he’s doing parked there. His job is to serve and protect. If there is word of a protest happening, then i want the poilce to be there making sure nothing is getting out of hand. You don’t have anything better to do than to cause trouble and write a stupid article like this? You deserve that inconvenience in your day and get some real issues in your life please.

Right?

True story: Last summer, when Kick was very wee and I was paranoid about leaving her, I went out to run some errands. When I came back home, there were half a dozen squad cars in the parking lot of my building. Freaked out and assuming the baby had been kidnapped or something, I ran up to the nearest cop I saw and asked him what was going on.

By this person’s logic I should be cooling my heels in Gitmo because I had the audacity to question police.

Where does this end?

A.