Police in Pomona arrested Emmy-award-winning Dan Brown Jr. while filming street preachers.
By Catholics for Catholics
Police in Pomona California arrested an independent filmmaker who was filming a documentary outside of a Planned Parenthood site, handcuffing him and holding him inside the back of a hot police car for almost an hour, according to his attorney.
In addition, the officers confiscated the filmmaker’s filming equipment and violated his civil and free speech rights, according to a story by The Christian Post.
According to Dan Brown Jr., he was taping a preacher named Brother Ed and other evangelists for a documentary titled “Cry Aloud,” (the name may change further into production).
The documentary focuses on argumentative street preachers and their exchanges with police officers. Also, the film will examine questions about freedom of speech and assembly.
The author of films like “Girl Forgotten: What Happened to Brianna Wells?” and “Walking While Black,” Brown Jr. is an Emmy-award-winning filmmaker.
“I’ve never been out in front of an abortion clinic before,” Brown told The Christian Post, saying that he doesn’t “have a dog in the fight” when it comes to the abortion debate.
“This was my first experience in that forum, and it was one of 25 to 35 locations we’ve filmed for the documentary,” he added. “I set out to film the fiery moments, not to be consumed in them.”
According to Brown, the incident took place at 11 a.m. on Oct. 17, when he arrived at a Planned Parenthood in Pomona to document the street preachers outside of the site. Brown documented the preachers walking and speaking for about 30 or 40 minutes before the police showed up.
After filming for hours in front of police, they showed up behind him when he was entering his vehicle. “Next thing I know, two or three police vehicles rush up behind us, kick on their lights and sirens, and come out very forceful,” he recalled. “It was like a ‘nobody moves’ situation.”
In response to an inquiry from the Christian Post, a Pomona Police Department spokesperson confirmed that officers were sent to the Planned Parenthood on Oct. 17 and that Brown was placed under arrest, cited and released into the field. The spokesperson confirmed that the police seized his cameras as evidence. According to the spokesperson, Brown’s cameras were later returned to him on Oct. 23.
Under California’s Assembly Bill 1356, it is a crime to film within 100 feet of an abortion facility for the purpose of intimidating the clinic staff and the women walking inside.
Section 423.3 of the penal code states that a first violation of the various offenses listed under 423.2 “is a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not more than one year, or a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that fine and imprisonment.”
Ryan Burke, an attorney for Brown, argued that the filmmaker was not harassing anyone entering the clinic, but covering the protests outside the facility, something the lawyer asserted every “journalist and citizen has the right to do.”
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