An independent filmmaker says that he was filming a documentary outside of a Planned Parenthood in California when police handcuffed him, confiscated his equipment and forced him to sit in the back of a cop car for almost an hour — an incident his attorney argued violated his rights.
According to Dan Brown Jr., he was filming a street preacher named Brother Ed and other evangelists for a documentary titled "Cry Aloud," a name that may change further into production.
The film, he explained, focuses on confrontational street evangelists and their interactions with law enforcement, and examines questions about the freedom of speech and assembly. Other documentaries that the Emmy-award-winning filmmaker has worked on include "Walking While Black" and "Girl Forgotten: What Happened to Brianna Wells?"
"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."
Around 11 a.m. on Oct. 17, the filmmaker arrived at a Planned Parenthood in Pomona to document the street preachers outside of the facility. Brown documented the preachers walking and speaking for about 30 or 40 minutes before the police showed up.
Brown said that the police didn't say anything to him when they first arrived at the Planned Parenthood. Later, one of the officers who had gone inside the clinic came out and told the filmmaker that the cameras made people uncomfortable, asking if Brown was willing to stop filming.
The filmmaker didn't remember saying anything in response, and the officer left. Brown kept shooting footage for about another hour, and he said he didn't encounter the police again until he had stopped filming and was loading his equipment into 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 move' situation."
When the police asked him for identification, Brown checked his pockets but didn't find it, as it was in the car and not on his person at the time, according to the filmmaker.
Brown said he was handcuffed tightly, placed in a police car without air conditioning for nearly an hour in the heat, and later issued a citation to appear in court on Dec. 6. A young assistant working with him — a 22-year-old film student from Sri Lanka — was also arrested.
"She doesn't speak English very well. So maybe there was a misunderstanding," Brown said. "But later, she texted me and she said, 'I did have my ID on me.'"
After sitting in the cop car for about an hour, which Brown said felt like a "sauna," the police informed him that they had found his ID and that they were letting him go. As the police walked the filmmaker back to his vehicle, they told him that they were seizing Brown's cameras, except for one that he hadn't used that day.
According to Brown, the police didn't need to take the cameras, and he told them they he could hand over the hard drives, but the police said that they couldn't trust his word. Brown noted that the police didn't seize all of the microphones and the audio equipment, which made him question the motivation behind taking the cameras.
"This is my livelihood. There was no need to take the cameras," he said. "It just seems like gross overreach to me."
When he asked the police why they were issuing him a citation, Brown remembered more than one officer refused to answer, telling the filmmaker, "I'm not going to repeat myself."
In response to an inquiry from CP, a Pomona Police Department spokesperson confirmed that officers were dispatched 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."
Burke contends that Brown was filming in a public place, and he did not prevent anyone from entering the Planned Parenthood, nor did he interfere with the protestors engaging in their "constitutionally protected activities."
"This statute, on its face, clearly violates the First Amendment's free speech and free press clauses. It violates the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause," Burke told CP.
"It's absolutely absurd that someone like Dan or anybody else who's been charged under this statute should have to face any sort of criminal sanctions."
At the time of reporting, Brown and his lawyer are preparing for the filmmaker's court appearance in December, where they will learn whether the district attorney's office has decided to pursue any charges. Burke is prepared for the charges and vows to fight.
"We're not going to let this slide under the water, and we're not going to roll over and take it," the attorney said. "This is absolutely absurd."
