Jailed Drone Photographer Needs Legal Help On A Serious First Amendment Fight.

Daniel Saulmon/Tom Zebra

Los Angeles, CA—Daniel Saulmon, 42 better known as Tom Zebra is being held in a jail cell here since his 4:00 PM arrest on September 23^rd.  Saulmon was late for his misdemeanor citation received weeks earlier for flying his camera drone.  When Saulmon appeared later that morning they kept him waiting for hours and then was ordered held on a punitive $30K bail. 

Saulmon spent five days in jail until his supporters were able to post his bail.  

The crime Saulmon is accused of is flying his little plastic remote control Phantom 2 camera drone on Los Angeles park property. 

The little known L.A. ordinance Saulmon was arrested on is not new.  It banned flying of remote controlled aircraft.  However this put on the books long before the little multi-rotor Phantom gizmos with cameras ever existed.  

At the time they enacted this remote controlled aircraft law, the city council had no way to know the much gentler camera drones would be invented later.  Without specific intent to ban the multi-rotor  Phantoms the law should be considered void for vagueness.

The ordinance itself was enacted to prevent people from being injured by the much faster and less stable fixed wing remote aircraft being used at the time.  There are absolutely no reports of any deaths or remarkable injuries from the little drones like Saulmon used. 

The simple but unanswered question on these popular camera drones is, aren't they protected by the First Amendment?   

The real issue here is that Saulmon is a firebrand in the eyes of cops.  He’s challenged police authority to stop him from shooting video of them on public streets.  Saulmon has posted countless videos on YouTube of hostile confrontations with cops in every South Bay police jurisdiction.

Salmon patrols the streets on his bicycle and whips out one of several video cameras he carries and begins to record the action.  Often the cops take exception to Saulmon's activities and try to force him into presenting identification and to explain why he’s shooting video.  Saulmon usually refuses to cooperate with the police and it nearly always makes for interesting video.Saulmon also makes a modest living in part by selling newsworthy video to local news organizations.  

Our nation's cops are just beginning to learn that Saulmon’s activities are Constitutionally protected by the First Amendment.   The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken on this issue and cops have no reasonable expectation of privacy when engaged in their duties.

Over the last several years cops have conspired against, harassed and falsely arrested thousands of people taking their pictures.  This won’t end until the lawsuits begin to seriously drain public coffers.  

Saulmon recently added that Phantom 2 camera drone to his arsenal and that has ignited even more resentment from his police detractors.  The cops have consulted/conspired  with city and county prosecutors looking for any and all ways to sideline Saulmon’s activities.

Logic would dictate that the camera drones are just another form of media capturing devices like pencils, pens, paintbrushes, typewriters or any other camera!

Is this a conspiracy to violate Saulmon’s civil rights?  Given the history I think that may be abundantly clear.

Let me say I don’t personally approve of much of Saulmon’s tactics but the Bill of Rights says otherwise.  

I know a lot of cops that welcome cameras because they are a protection against bogus brutality complaints by criminals.  Not all cops agree on pushing Saulmann around or intimidating him.  The cops prosecutors and courts have to respect our basic freedoms.  The right of people to record and scrutinize the conduct of the police must be protected at all cost.

Saulmon deserves to be fully  supported by the camera drone manufacturers, media, civil libertarians and certainly the ACLU.

I hope someone reading this will arrange for a top flight First Amendment media lawyer.  

The fact is the news organizations stand to lose the most if the camera drones can be banned.  Camera drones are the next generation aerial electronic news gathering devices.  They are so much safer, agile and incredibly cheaper than helicopters. 

Saulmon will be in the Long Beach Superior Court on September 30^th, 2014 at 8:30 AM.  The court is located at 275 Magnolia Ave, Long Beach, CA.

Soulmon needs to serious legal help to fight this tyranny.   

Let me get a single point across here.  Our rights have never been won or preserved because of requests, begging or pleading.  Without the Tom Zebras of America constantly fighting for their rights there'd be no First Amendment.  

Tom Zebra, Anti-Police Hero or Troublemaker?

Tom Zebra, Citizen Journalist/provocateur

Los Angeles, CA—If you’re a cop in or near the City of Angels, Tom Zebra may just get in your face and under your skin. 

In the age of the cell phone camera explosion came body cams and the ever-popular GoPros. 

With the new technology police have been placed under the intrusive and unblinking eyes of millions of cameras.  A large percentage of them are in the hands of genuine antagonists like Zebra . 

The next generation of police monitoring devices is here in the form of multi-rotor camera drones.  They can be quietly deployed over any police action.  They can record video of anything taking place in plain view under the skies.   

Cops have been understandably hostile to these cameras and nationwide thousands of bogus arrests have been made of people recording them.  Cops have confiscated cell phones, cameras and their media storage cards.  Cops felt they should have a right to privacy but the courts have spoken.  They have no such right. 

Lawmakers at local levels have been sympathetic to the cop’s concerns and have unsucessfully tried to make end runs around the law that would inhibit or end the public’s rights to record police.

There is yet another side to the police/camera issues and that’s the amazing fact that the captured videos vindicate the cops well over 99% of the time.  Slowly cops are beginning to realize that these cameras and much more objective than the people using them!

Targeting cops from both land and now the air is Tom Zebra.  Zebra is a citizen journalist/provocateur.  He points his cameras where they are not wanted in various police matters. 

Zabra garnered additional cop hostility by flying his camera drone over a walled-in police parking lot.  The cops came out and actually threatened to arrest Zebra for trespassing even though he never set for inside the police parking area.  Zebra got his video and wasted no time posting it on YouTube. 

Police recently San Pedro Port police arrested Zebra and confiscated his drone as evidence.  Ironically Zebra was not photographing police, but a U.S. Naval vessel that the public was invited to both visit and photograph. Zebra’s crime was the apparent violation of a L.A. park’s ordinance. 

The little known existing law banned the use of remote controlled model aircraft in parks, beaches, horse trials or any place not specifically designated for them.  

I’m convinced that the law was drafted to target noisy fixed wing model aircraft that frightened horses posed a danger because of their speed.

One of my legal experts believes that Zebra has a first Amendment right to use his drone camera despite the L.A. Parks ordinance.  Zebra has a right to take photos.  My expert said that collecting the legislative history of the remote control ban showing it was never intended to cover the much quieter and slower moving multi-rotor camera drones would help Zebra in court.

In the meantime to the cop's chagrin Zebra’s not grounded, he apparently obtained a new drone and is back in business. 

Last but not least, are the thousands of people nationwide that have camera drones.   They are holding their breaths, waiting for lawmakers and the FAA determine the future this new and exciting industry. 

The majority of the camera drone operators I talk with are hostile to Zebra and his militancy.  They say he’s going to ruin it for everyone.  I say that idea is dead wrong.  If anything Zebra is making it better by taking the lead in challenging government tyranny. 

Someone will have to test bad laws or unreasonable enforcement.  Frankly I’d rather stand behind Zebra rather than in front of him in that regard.  We can only learn what are rights really are by the Tom Zebra’s of our world willing to test the system.