Police Officer Pulls Weapon On Man As He Recorded His Friend’s Arrest And Then Is Arrested And Charged With Obstruction

On Saturday, new footage was released that depicted a viral occurrence. It showed officers and multiple people downtown on June 1 at Government Square in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Eddie Lee and his friend, Johnny Taylor, were seen in the recording at Government Square, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lee’s recording has been shared over 18,000 times on Facebook.

Prior to recording the video, Lee stated that an officer questioned if he and Taylor were smoking marijuana. He said that they had not been.

The Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police stated that the new recording depicts people smoking marijuana. One person was making a mix alcohol drink as they were sitting on a bench.

Smoking marijuana or having an open alcoholic beverage in public is unlawful in Ohio.

Police say that they apprehended Lee for obstruction. This was for him recording them shocking, pepper-spraying, and arresting Taylor.

However, Lee’s video depicts that it was the cops violating his First Amendment right to record police activity. This was when one of the cops stationed right in front of him with this weapon drawn so that Lee couldn’t see the apprehension.

“You going to shoot me or something? Lee asks. “I ain’t got no gun. You got a gun to me, bro. You ain’t even got your stun gun out.”

As Lee attempted to move to the side to get a better image of the apprehension, the cop move sideways, as well, to obstruct his view. The officer then pointed his weapon in Lee’s direction with the barrel pointed downward as his finger was on the side of the barrel.

“You can’t block me, bro,” Lee stated. “I aint did s*** to you. I don’t know why you keep walking on me. Look, you ready to do something to me.”

A few seconds later, another officer arrested Lee. He was charged with obstruction.

Taylor was charged with obstruction and resisting arrest.

The local police union has justified the apprehension, stating that Taylor was engaging in criminal behavior. However, they never stated, in documents, what the criminal behavior was.

The police department stated that the investigation is continuing. But, they have not planned to release any body cam footage of the incident.

Lee’s recording depicted the police officer with his weapon drawn. He ordered Taylor to put his hands behind his back. This was while a woman stood  in between them, trying to de-escalate the matter. She had told Taylor to “chill out” and the sergeant to “please don’t shoot him.”

The sergeant deployed his Taser. However, the prongs did not reach his body because Taylor have been wearing two shirts.

“You Tasered me for what? I ain’t doing nothing,” Taylor stated.

Taylor and the officer continued to disagree. Eventually, more officers came to the scene and forced the man onto the bus bench where he was pepper-sprayed and Tasered again.