Lawyers Have Bad News for ICE Agitators Who Think They Can Hide Behind 'Legal Observer' Status© Madison Swart - Hans Lucas - AFP / Getty I
Leftist protesters calling themselves “legal observers” have no unique First Amendment rights when interacting with law enforcement, legal experts told the Daily Caller News FoundationPoliticians blasted Immigration and Customs Enforcement in statements describing an agent’s fatal shooting of “legal observer” Renee Good on Jan. 7 in Minnesota, invoking a term activists have used for decades to describe those who monitor police activity during protests. Such titles carry no constitutional significance and do not remove consequences for impeding law enforcement, as Good is accused of doing, civil rights lawyers told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“These observers have the same rights as any other citizen to observe and record law enforcement conduct in public,” Timothy Snowball, a senior attorney for the conservative Legal Insurrection Foundation, remarked. “However, the legal line is between observation and obstruction. There is a wide gulf between observation and purposefully trying to prevent law enforcement from doing their duty.”
“There are no special or unique protections. ‘Legal observers’ can (and should be able to) observe and record, but they can’t interfere with law enforcement activities -- that’s a crime,” Manhattan Institute constitutional scholar and attorney Ilya Shapiro told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Footage from the Minneapolis shooting showed ICE agents surrounding Good’s car as it blocked part of the road. She refused to step out when they asked her to, and she suddenly drove toward one agent before he fired multiple shots.
“These observers have the same rights as any other citizen to observe and record law enforcement conduct in public,” Timothy Snowball, a senior attorney for the conservative Legal Insurrection Foundation, remarked. “However, the legal line is between observation and obstruction. There is a wide gulf between observation and purposefully trying to prevent law enforcement from doing their duty.”
Footage from the Minneapolis shooting showed ICE agents surrounding Good’s car as it blocked part of the road. She refused to step out when they asked her to, and she suddenly drove toward one agent before he fired multiple shots.
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