Gang Wearing “Arlington Police” Badges Threaten, Kidnap, and Cage Peaceful Observers

UPDATE September 18, 2014:

From an anonymous source:

After watching the video from 9/6/14 I decided to call Arlington police. I left a msg for Brad Ortiz (sp?) who appeared to be the officer in the video. He called me back from his “personal” phone to conduct police business at 210-365-4016. He was rude Refusing to answer any questions because I would not give my last name. I’d suggest posting this number as the alternate number for the video.

Arlington Police employee Brad Ortiz can be reached at: (210) 365-4016

_______________________

On September 06, 2014, about 20 Arlington, TX police employees, led by Mr. Ortiz, threatened peaceful individuals filming a traffic stop, then led the unwarranted kidnapping and caging of three – Kory Watkins, his wife Janie, and Joe Tye.

A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help offset legal fees: https://www.gofundme.com/dzkop4

As wrote Sky Chadde in his post Three Cop Watchers Get Arrested for Videotaping Arlington Police at the DallasObserver.com:

In the past several months, they’ve done this without incident.

There was a usual script: These people would record, and the cops would do their thing, or the watchers would cause the cops to stop doing what they were doing. At a recent cop watch, I was in the car when we pulled up to one traffic stop. The man was on the ground with had his hands behind his back. As soon as cop-watcher Joseph Tye got out of his car, the two officers let the man go. He got in his truck and drove away, and so did the officers…

But this past Saturday Arlington police employees choose another tactic. Those present wearing “Arlington Police” badges choose to knowingly violate the rights of those they claim to protect, or to sit by idly as their colleagues did so (which is just as bad – instead of another memo from a fusion center, I hope those folks expose themselves to ideas that aren’t based on fear and division but on logic and love).

As some present asked those exhibiting tyranny, “Where are the good cops at?”

“I never impeded the officer on scene from conducting the organized theft he was involved in.”
– Joe Tye

If you and I acted as did those who utilize the political means, others would rightly call us criminals. We would be no position to bound someone and force them to go with us to our facility.

The same is true for Ortiz and those who unthinkingly went alone with his campaign to use fear to deter those present from bearing witness when someone in their community is stopped. But it is exactly the actions that Oritiz and his comrades exhibited that caused those filming to be present – because transparency ousts bullies.

Sky Chadde continues:

As about 20 cop watchers gathered around a traffic stop in a parking lot on Cooper Street, a busy six-lane road, about 10 police cars and more than 20 officers joined them.

The first cop watcher arrested was Joseph Tye. He was standing in the parking lot filming at his usual distance, but apparently that was too close now. As the others filmed, Tye was arrested. Then, three cop watchers — Jacob Cordova, Kory Watkins, who is also the head of Tarrant County Open Carry, and Watkins’ wife — attempted to walk down the sidewalk to record, which they did normally at traffic stops before this one.

An officer told them to stop, but the watchers continued to walk, getting within about 30 feet of the traffic stop. A squad car drove up behind the three watchers, who were standing in the area where vehicles drive into the parking lot. The car, moving at a slow speed and trying to get in the lot, almost hit Watkins’ wife, and Watkins yelled at the officer driving.

Kory Watkins wrote:

For my safety I move back, the car comes close to hitting my wife so I get emotional and yell “Are you really going to hit my wife with your car?” 2:04 is when I stepped one foot up to do that. At this point I was still not in the cars way even though others were. If anything I was furthest away.

Friends of those kidnapped accumulated and presented the ransom demanded to the captors, so that Kory, Janie, and Joe were all freed by 2AM.

The same two threats are levied at each of those individuals “obstructing a highway” and the catch-all “interfering.”

As Sky Chadde reported, Jacob Cordova, another gent present to help capture the truth of the situation, noted: They probably did that to kill our cop watch,”

The can try, but ideas cannot be stopped by force.

DONATE TO LEGAL FUND

• Via a campaign at GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/dzkop4

As one donor – Jay Zapata – stated:

STAY ABREAST OF UPDATES

• Facebook.com/TexasCopBlock
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUIRQLgS4WZqUaG-LxTuPQ/videos

The video above was uploaded to Youtube by Kory Watkins, one of the three individuals targeted by Arlington, TX police employees for filming.

Text from the video description:

I will run you through what is happening to me.

My interaction starts at the start. You see my wife, two others and myself walking 100% on the sidewalk. At around the :07 mark the officer tells me not to walk any further down the sidewalk. I ask what law says I can’t, he tells me that’s the orders I was given. I try to let him know about the 1st amendment and the sidewalk is free to travel and report, freedom of press. He says no.

At the :18 sec mark we have stopped walking because he said no and moved closer. After this what you will see is the arrest of Joseph Tye. After that, my situation comes back on camera at 1:53 mark and what you see is the officer telling me to go back on the other side of the car entrance so we can talk about this. My next move you see me comply with commands. My body moves back to the other way he wants me to go. I am complying.

Then at 1:59 you hear a police car trying to come in that same area that officer Ortiz told me to go. For my safety I move back, the car comes close to hitting my wife so I get emotional and yell “Are you really going to hit my wife with your car?” 2:04 is when I stepped one foot up to do that. At this point I was still not in the cars way even though others were. If anything I was furthest away.

After I let my frustration out, I started to move to the other side Officer Ortiz originally told me to go, he then assaults me when I turned my back on him and detained me. Later what you will see is the rest of the group getting bullied back by the police state and officer Ortiz and 3 other police man handle my wife.

Commonsense makes clear just who is in the wrong.

Call those responsible. Tell them to dismiss the baseless threats levied at Kory, Janie and Joe. 

Arlington Police Outfit

• (817) 459-5700
• Aggressor: Ortiz & 19 or so colleagues who assisted or failed to speak out
  
• http://www.arlington-tx.gov/police
• https://www.facebook.com/ArlingtonPolice
• https://twitter.com/ArlingtonPD
• http://www.youtube.com/user/arlingtonpolicemedia

Related Content

• Janie arrested by Arlington PD  0:27-mintues
• APD Arrests persons for filming 5:27-mintues
• Joe’s arrest by Arlington Police Department 5:59-mintues
• It’s Definitely OK to Film Cops, Texas Judge Rules by Amy Silverstein
• One Man, One Camera, One Bike: Jose Vela’s Dallas Cop Block Aims to Guard the Guardians by Sky Chadde
• Know Your Rights
• Film The Police
• Smartphone Apps
• Copblocking 101

Known Texas-Based Police Accountability Groups

• Amarillo CopBlock – Facebook / YouTube
• Corrupt Frisco Texas Cops – Facebook
• Cop Watch El Paso – Facebook
• Dallas Cop Block – Facebook / YouTube / [email protected]
• Lewisville Cop Block – Facebook / Youtube / [email protected]
• Mesquite Cop Block – website / Twitter
• Peaceful Streets Project – Austin – website / Facebook / [email protected] (read: Peaceful Streets Project is Leading the Way)
• Peaceful Streets Project – Houston – Facebook
• Tarrant County Peaceful Streets Project – Facebook
• Texas Cop Block – Facebook / [email protected]
• White Settlement Cop Block – Facebook

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