A video from Prince William County- Now going viral

https://youtu.be/iXMvth8Y1m4

well apparently he has a mask so that right there screwed hm

Cold and flu season... Wearing a mask is prudent

I'm 100% in defense of the man filming if he had not been wearing a mask. I understand that the mask statute is not applied equally when it comes to who is allowed to cover their face in public, but this dude was dumb. He gave the cops probable cause to detain him by "acting suspicious" while committing the crime of wearing a mask in public! The cops were inarticulate about explaining themselves and their PC, (cops hate explaining, they just expect you to do as your told). The fact is that this law is in place for good reason. If a masked man enters into a store or bank and then get spotted by security or police, they already have PC to draw down and detain them as armed robbery suspects. People wearing masks rarely have good or lawful intentions. This goes for SWAT ninjas raiding houses as well!

ToughTom12, Wearing a mask into a bank or anywhere else, in no way gives you PC to draw your weapon. The wearing of a mask, combined with another action may, but not the mask alone. I'm afraid our tax dollars are going to pay his massive lawsuit.

It depends Exoprotect, especially on the weather. Most reasonable people standing in a Bank or Liquor Store between the months of April and November would have their pulses raised if someone wearing a mask walked in. Most reasonable people would be able to articulate that they felt a violent felony was about to be carried out based on the circumstances. Obviously things would be different if it was snowing and 14 degrees out. And I'm certain our tax dollars would be paying for this guys upcoming lawsuit settlement.......If it was not for the mask. But then again it depends on how much of his face was covered, and what style of mask it was. Either way, the cops could have handled that situation a lot better than they did.

Toughtom12, please look up the term AOJP (use of force)

I'm VERY familiar with AOJP and I don't think you and I are in disagreement on it's use. I am in no way advocating that you could employ deadly force simply because someone is wearing a ski mask or pantyhose on their face when walking into an establishment, I am saying that based on many varying circumstances related to that behavior, you would likely be justified in getting your weapon in the low ready position and ordering commands for the suspect to show you his hands. AOJP all have to be met before you pull the trigger on a suspect....They don't all have to be met before you exercise verbal commands, or ready yourself for what is "likely" to be a deadly force encounter. It's hard to covey the ok and not ok's of hypothetical scenario's in a chat room. The justification of your actions all come down to being reasonable based on the situation you were in. What is "reasonable" is up to interpretation by witnesses, responding officers, and finally your local District Attorney. I apologize if I've hijacked this thread away from the posted video, I was just trying to explain how these cops are going to be able to "justify" violating this mans rights. This guy would have had a huge pay day for wrongful arrest if not for wearing a mask. My point was that these cops were going to fail this first amendment audit no matter what, but the mask gave them the legal justification for making an arrest. It's funny how the mask was such an after thought for the officers as well. It was only after realizing that they didn't have an actual crime to justify his being detained, that the mask statute popped into their heads.

I agree with most of your points above don't get me wrong.