During a traffic stop in Wilmington, N.C. last month, officers demanded that Uber driver Jesse Bright stop recording them with his cellphone. What they didn’t know was that Bright was also a defense attorney.
Now, according to CBS News, one of the officers involved in the incident has been demoted. Wilmington Police Sgt. Kenneth Becker, who has been with the department for 17 years, was demoted and hit with a 5 percent pay cut.
Bright posted three videos during the traffic stop to the Internet, where he points out that his passenger was being arrested for allegedly visiting a drug house. When one of the officers told Bright to stop recording, Bright responded, “I’ll keep recording, thank you. It’s my right. … “You’re a police officer on duty. I can record you.”
When Officer Becker threatened to take him jail, Bright stood firm. “I know the law, I’m an attorney so I would hope I know the law,” Bright told the officer.
When a K-9 unit was brought in to search his vehicle. Bright told police that he didn’t content to the search.
From CBS:
After Bright went public with the incident, the police department released a statement saying they were launching an internal investigation. The department also addressed what it called a “crucial” question: “Taking photographs and videos of people that are in plain sight including the police is your legal right,” Chief Ralph Evangelous said in the statement.
Watch the video below:
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