Mass. Man Charged With Wiretapping For Filming Police In Public

Cell phone footage mysteriously deleted in police custody

Mikael ThalenInfowars.com
March 7, 2014

A man in Fall River, Mass. has been charged with unlawful wiretapping for recording a police officer shouting profanities in public.

During the Jan. 6 encounter, 51-year-old George Thompson overheard officer Thomas Barboza swearing profusely while talking on a cell phone across the street from his home.

“Every other word out of his mouth he was dropping the f-bomb,” Thompson told WPRI 12.

Seeing Barboza continue to swear as others walked through his neighborhood, Thomas says he then asked the officer to refrain from using foul language.

“He said, ‘Why don’t you shut the f up and mind your f’ing business?’” Thomas said.

As the officer continued his conversation, Thompson pulled out his cell phone and began recording Barboza’s unprofessional behavior.

Noticing the cell phone camera, Barboza immediately stopped what he was doing and ran onto Thompson’s front porch before placing him in handcuffs.

“He comes running up the stairs to me, looks right into the camera and he said, ‘You f’ing welfare bum, I’m arresting you,’” Thompson explained.

According to police documents, Thompson, who spent the night in jail, received a resisting arrest charge on top of the wiretapping charge as well.

Fall River Police Chief Daniel Racine was quick to defend the officer’s actions, claiming Thompson had violated the law by “secretively” recording Barboza.