The easiest $30k this guy ever made

[u/New_Libran]

On October 26, 2022, the judge ruled that Walden's contact with Land should have ended when it became clear that Land was not sleeping in the park or in need of assistance, and that the city was not responsible for Walden's actions.

On November 22, 2022, the city settled the lawsuit for $30,000.

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[u/Jonathon_world]

You can't even lie on the fuckin ground anymore

[u/Afraid-Quantity-578 → u/Jonathon_world]

Only in the land of the free.

[u/SharkByte1993 → u/Afraid-Quantity-578]

Land of the *Fee

[u/AuldAutNought → u/SharkByte1993]

Land of the fee, home of the slave.

[u/Diligent-Ad-4450 → u/AuldAutNought]

Grand imperial guard, where the dollar is sacred…

[u/KriegMorgan → u/Diligent-Ad-4450]

and power is God.

Welcome to the United Snakes

[u/zoominzacks → u/KriegMorgan]

Now stand your ass up for that national anthem

[u/KriegMorgan → u/zoominzacks]

And your taxes pay for that madness? Sadness.

[u/TacTurtle → u/KriegMorgan]

Smoke and mirrors, stripes and stars

[u/RockstarAgent → u/KriegMorgan]

Imagine the asshole that called it in- “I’m offended that this individual is at peace and enjoying life- I must object” fucking insufferable.

[u/eha16 → u/RockstarAgent]

I can only imagine the bitter loser that would call the police over that

[u/Buttoneer138 → u/Afraid-Quantity-578]

[u/the_riddler90 → u/Afraid-Quantity-578]

Highest incarceration population on the planet

[u/DaLyon92x → u/the_riddler90]

I went to prison for 8 years in the US for selling mdma on silkroad. Soon after my release, Trump pardoned the guy who was doing life in prison for running the site.

[u/Crafty_Topic_4177 → u/DaLyon92x]

You mean the pos who thought he was buying hitmen to kill people?

[u/DaLyon92x → u/Crafty_Topic_4177]

yes, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/ross-ulbricht-silk-road-trump-pardon Trump claimed he did it for the Libertarian Movement.

[u/El_Tormentito → u/DaLyon92x]

I mean, he did. The libertarian movement is largely a bunch of fuckwads who want to do illegal shit without being caught.

[u/Steamed_Memes24 → u/El_Tormentito]

And they always know the age of consent in all fifty states.

[u/elbow8075 → u/DaLyon92x]

He did in a way. He did it to secure their vote.

[u/zeusmenzaadah → u/DaLyon92x]

Are we great again yet???

[u/larrod25 → u/Afraid-Quantity-578]

"Land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy."

[u/Eikthyrnir13 → u/larrod25]

There is never a bad time for a Rage reference.

At least, not in the US.

[u/MangoCats → u/[deleted]]

You're too poor to be free. The free men have boats.

[u/ActionJacksonATL24 → u/Afraid-Quantity-578]

Don’t take our freedumb!

[u/Middle-Amphibian6285 → u/Jonathon_world]

Nope, a friend of mine was relaxing in a small park area with his girlfriend, laying on a blanket with her, enjoying a nice day, and a cop came up and told them they can't sleep there, which they weren't. Pathetic that they waste their time with such shit.

[u/emjaycue → u/Middle-Amphibian6285]

Isn’t this literally what parks are for?

[u/BlackSpidy → u/emjaycue]

Cant have fun unless in a sanctioned way. God forbid anyone see you anywhere near the state of falling asleep, the state where you literally cannot harm anyone in any way.

[u/Actaeon_II → u/BlackSpidy]

Unless you’re the president, and it’s during a meeting

[u/imnickelhead → u/BlackSpidy]

You literally can’t take a nap at a beach near me. If they catch you sleeping they charge you with camping and there’s no camping allowed.

HOWEVER, and this is the craziest part, you can spend the entire night on the beach, but ONLY if you stay awake.

My friends spent the night hanging out, partying all night until dawn. Rangers came by and caught one of them with his eyes closed and they all were ticketed for camping.

[u/guridkt → u/imnickelhead]

This is literally the reason I don't want to travel to the US anymore

[u/b0w3n → u/emjaycue]

Yes but it bristles up against anti-homeless and old racist loitering laws. Can't be anywhere someone doesn't want you to be doing something someone doesn't want you to do, and you better not be doing "nothing" for too long either.

[u/kickthesandman → u/emjaycue]

Yes. What's happening is that they can't put everyone in jail, it's too expensive. So they're gonna make our homes prisons instead, bit by bit.

[u/fireshaper → u/emjaycue]

They just assume that anyone laying in a park is homeless by default.

[u/waltdidneyworlp → u/emjaycue]

In the US, you have to pay to belong/exist. If you're not paying then you're suspicious.

[u/linds360 → u/Middle-Amphibian6285]

Friend of mine (male) used to eat his lunch in the park every day to get away from the office for an hour. Sure enough, someone eventually called the cops on him bc he was a suspicious dude in a park where kids were playing.

He eats lunch in his car now.

[u/1tonsoprano → u/linds360]

oh...that explains a lot....i saw a lot of dudes eating their lunch in cars when visiting and was wondering about that.....

[u/iHateThisPlaceSoBad → u/1tonsoprano]

Nah, that's because we don't want to be fuckin bothered during the only 30 minutes of peace we have during the day.

You have to leave the workplace if you don't want to get sucked into work conversation

[u/Turbulent_Lunch4548 → u/iHateThisPlaceSoBad]

In a normal country, you can just go to a local park and have that exact peace.

That americans have to flee to their car in order to get 30 minutes free of harassment is abnormal.

[u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 → u/Middle-Amphibian6285]

My most confusing experience with police was while in a park with a mile long walking trail, just walking with someone I met on an app. Sunday afternoon, nice weather, let’s meet and just take a walk and talk.

We’re about half in, normal chit chat and walking. I don’t even remember seeing anyone else and definitely nothing unusual happened. Suddenly this cop car comes driving through the actual park, like over the grass, straight at us. Two jump out and tell us get on our knees with hands laced behind our heads and start their whole song and dance.

Why? “They got a call” and found it very odd I was wearing jeans on the walking trail.

What.

They spent about fifteen minutes searching and running warrants and generally trying to find a reason to arrest us before “warning” us and leaving. It was so weird. Got me laid though.

Make sure you don’t wear jeans in a public park. Only a hardened criminal would do such a thing.

[u/Constant_Jackfruit21 → u/Upbeat-Fondant9185]

When i was about 18, me and my boyfriend at the time did a photoshoot of me at a local hiking trail park. We found a cheap dress at goodwill that looked vaguely fancy, got some cheap cups and apple juice to look like alcohol.

It was all fun and games until a cop rolled up and immediately started hassling us and asking questions like this. Its very odd that you're wearing clothes like this, are you runaway teens? Kept going back to the runaway teens angle. Yeah with a costume dress from Goodwill, my boyfriends digital camera, cheap plastic goblet and some apple juice - its the runaway starter kit!

Same thing happened - he was very obviously looking for something to get us in trouble for, until he finally gave up and told us we needed to leave.

Land of the free, everyone.

[u/According-Insect-992 → u/Middle-Amphibian6285]

The police are nothing if not pathetic.

[u/Thatsockmonkey → u/According-Insect-992]

Hey, they’re also a giant waste of money

[u/chum-guzzling-shark → u/Thatsockmonkey]

Hey, they also make every situation they're involved in more dangerous

[u/literated → u/Middle-Amphibian6285]

A friend of mine visited the US and got a nice talking to by the police for... walking down a street to get from her hotel to a store. They basically accused her of being a hooker and I imagine it would have went a lot worse if she hadn't been very white and had proof that she was a tourist.

Land of the free. Where you can't lie down in a park or walk down a street without having the cops called on you.

[u/Westenin → u/Jonathon_world]

They want to take everything from us man

[u/Bocchi_theGlock → u/Westenin]

We are closing in on the future where we force people who are struggling to get by to pay for filtered air, just like water, space, food, in the richest country in the history of the world.

Everything a sale, everything a subscription. Working in a company town to pay off the debt. They are so desperate for this.

We can turn it around, say enough is enough, and start to fight back - get all the things citizens in the wealthy industrial countries have because of their taxes.

It starts with voting, and getting our friends and family to vote. Not for our moral champions that fight for us so we can sit back, but for the people who are easier for non-profits and activists to force to do the right thing. As opposed to being on defense infinitely more.

It includes being organized - at the community level, as people being exploited, in the same specific shit together. Not just as ideology, which often trends towards more highly educated, wealthier, people with free time and money who care about taking action as a good within itself, as opposed to winning material improvements in our day-to-day lives.

But as workers, neighbors, students, consumers, debtors. Leveraging the fact systems rely on our compliance and participation to operate and profit, thus we often have leverage over it by strategically and collectively withdrawing that participation.

[u/RGrad4104 → u/Jonathon_world]

The karen that couldn't stand a guy sitting on a park bench should be on the hook for half of that 30k.

[u/caffeine-junkie → u/RGrad4104]

Hint, there was no Karen or call. They just decided to approach and used the "anonymous call" as an excuse.

[u/Thatsockmonkey → u/RGrad4104]

Yeah, and the policeman union should be on the hook for the rest not the citizens of the local city or tax district

[u/Fast-Eddie-73 → u/Thatsockmonkey]

This is what needs to happen. Everytime they pull some bullshit like this, the union needs to pay out half of the settlement. You want to protect shit you pay. Make them responsible and they will hold them accountable.

[u/holdmyspot123 → u/Jonathon_world]

Well you can, that's why he got 30k. Had no reason to arrest him. Now there's a precedent if this exact situation happens again.

[u/mikende51 → u/holdmyspot123]

He gets 30k of taxpayers money and the cop gets a finger wag. Let justice prevail.

[u/The_Deku_Nut → u/mikende51]

I'd rather this dude get my tax dollars than the cops get to buy more guns. Homie just wanted to look at the sky.

[u/El_Tormentito → u/The_Deku_Nut]

Right, but that's not the exchange. He got your tax money AND the cops bought more guns.

[u/GameLovinPlayinFool → u/The_Deku_Nut]

They just allot more of our taxes to the police to cover both expenses.

[u/sarahsocks → u/mikende51]

Well the lawyer gets fed first

[u/SomethingIWontRegret → u/holdmyspot123]

Precedents existed already for this, going back decades if not centuries. Didn't stop the cop from arresting him. Bet that cop still has a job and is still illegally harassing people.

[u/Important-Agent2584 → u/holdmyspot123]

Unfortunately 99.9% of cases where ones rights are infringed they get away with it. The victim does not know their rights or can't afford a lawyer.

[u/Famous-Rain8703 → u/Jonathon_world]

Black people been trying to tell y'all about this behavior forever and now it's affecting white folks so it's a problem

[u/mouseat9 → u/Famous-Rain8703]

My mother who was a boomer, once said to me as a wee lad. “What ppl dont understand, is that if we allow them(blacks) to be treated that way; we will all end up treated that way.” Didn’t understand fully til decades later

[u/Sea-Value-0 → u/mouseat9]

What backwards folks think instead is: if we dont look the other way while they treat them that way, then we'll be next. They're happy to throw others under the bus to ensure their own safely. All we ever needed to do was to band together.

[u/thegrumpymechanic → u/Sea-Value-0]

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." - LBJ

[u/WizardButtholes]

They’re so reliant on people being afraid of them that when people stand up to them they don’t know what to do so they immediately go to abuse of power

[u/gilt3t → u/WizardButtholes]

they 100% beat their wives

[u/Beer-Milkshakes → u/gilt3t]

I think it was 75% of LEOs beat their wives actually. So 75% of the time they beat their wives 100% of the time

[u/Sei_Mal_Ehrlich → u/Beer-Milkshakes]

Those numbers are self-reported and, I assume, higher in actuality.

[u/drewbeedeu]

“Just lookin at the sky.”
“Stand up, turn around, you’re under arrest.”

[u/TheNorthNova01 → u/drewbeedeu]

Being in a park - that’s a paddlin’

Sitting on a bench - that’s a paddlin’

Looking at the sky - you better believe that’s a paddling.

[u/cupholdery → u/TheNorthNova01]

https://giphy.com/gifs/wjuXuDSQU0sOfJIHS1

[u/BillyJackO → u/drewbeedeu]

I got stopped by a police officer for being at a disc golf course in a park in west Virginia. Finished hole 18 and on my way to my car (only one at the park) I noticed a cop car was blocking me in. Weird. When I was walking towards my car the cop got out and approached me. He immediately asked for my ID. I told him I'd comply, but what's the problem? He said "we get a lot of drug use in this park so I ran your plates and need to verify your registration." So I'm under suspicion for being at the park.

[u/Sea-Value-0 → u/BillyJackO]

No drug addict is playing disc golf after buying street drugs. Well, of the slim chance they are, they're harmless. Like a golden retriever getting addicted to H or something.

[u/cryptolyme → u/Sea-Value-0]

People like to smoke weed and play disc golf. Oh no!!

[u/a_hockey_chick → u/cryptolyme]

And now in Texas, that's a felony.

[u/_hockalees_ → u/a_hockey_chick]

and will sue you even when your city tries to decriminalize it

[u/Rylth → u/_hockalees_]

For the longest time, I thought we'd never see a bigger piece of shit than Paxton and the little piss baby.

[u/bokmcdok → u/BillyJackO]

I got told to move by a police officer because I was waiting for a bus. At a bus station.

[u/Pretend_Purchase_893 → u/bokmcdok]

I've had that in Canada even. Blew my mind.

[u/akran47 → u/BillyJackO]

At least for the time you were being harassed that officer wasn't actively shooting someone or their pet.

[u/MelangeBot → u/drewbeedeu]

The rich demand concentrated deluxe freedom which is only possible by immediately sending the police anytime anybody else dares experience some freedom.

[u/olsmobile → u/drewbeedeu]

Sir this park has been designated a "no loitering zone"

[u/Naphaniegh]

Why do so many cops think that they're entitled to everyone's fucking papers

[u/ViciousCDXX → u/Naphaniegh]

Because they don't actually have to learn the laws they claim to be upholding.

[u/hogsucker → u/ViciousCDXX]

Heien v North Carolina established that it's actually to a cop's benefit to be ignorant of the law. 

Improperly gathered evidence that should be inadmissible is permitted if a cop credibly claims he thought he was enforcing a law.

[u/Kiddo1029 → u/hogsucker]

And yet normal citizens don’t get a break for being ignorant of the law.

[u/chinggiswhat → u/Kiddo1029]

Oh yeah, that's called "qualified" immunity.

What a joke of a "free" country

[u/Cavaquillo → u/hogsucker]

Funny you can’t be ignorant of the law when breaking it but they don’t need to know anything about what they’re enforcing. Thats where tongues meet boots

[u/This_ls_The_End → u/Naphaniegh]

Because they don't lose anything for this kind of behavior. It's not them who're paying the $30k. They can behave as imbeciles and everyone else has to pay the bill.

[u/literated → u/This_ls_The_End]

If anything it'll turn them into even bigger shitheads if some dude they tried to fuck with gets a payout out of it.

[u/Dude_with_the_skis → u/Naphaniegh]

Because they’re overconfident thugs that don’t even have a law degree. They don’t even have an associates degree for that matter. It takes less than 2 years to be a cop and they will take pretty much anybody.

[u/K-Shrizzle → u/Naphaniegh]

Because theyre cosplaying as Gestapo

[u/Thatsockmonkey → u/Naphaniegh]

Republicans

[u/GoodDogBrent → u/Naphaniegh]

if the courts support it the system supports it. it's not just the cops.

this is not an 'isolated incident.' this is everywhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does

[u/Signal_Werewolf_1955 → u/Naphaniegh]

ACAB

[u/Kazedeus → u/Naphaniegh]

Department policy. Leadership knows the laws. They still instruct their officers to extort identification for the greater police state project.

[u/Chillkill710]

Until these settlements are funded SOLELY by the cops pensions nothing will change. They fuck up, tax payer gets the bill. Fuckers.

[u/Plenty_Trick_6042 → u/Chillkill710]

Nope. Make each individual cop, individually liable for the dumb shit they do.

They aren't plumbers who are trying to unclog a shitter and are allowed to make an "Oopsie". They are carrying lethal firearms and can easily ruin or straight up end someone's life.

That cop should've fucked off the second he didn't wake the guy up. If he suspected he was up to no good he should've taken the initiative to phone his supervisor and confirm that what he was going to do was actually OK.

If he had to pay that 30k out of his own money he'd have done that.

And if the walking sacks of bacon who are shooting people left, right and sideways actually got put in jails with the general population you'd miraculously see a complete cessation of their weirdo nazi behavior.

"Hurr durr but we MUST be able to shoot at newborns who look at us blackishly or society will descend into anarchy!"

Disgusting

[u/Young_Bonesy → u/Plenty_Trick_6042]

They should be required to hold individual insurance that would cover these sorts of scenarios. If they fuck up bad, premium goes up. Eventually, its to costly to maintain and you are forced out as the insurance is a requirement. The system would massively incentivize these sorts of cops to have a second thought about what they are doing because then their money and career could actually be on the line.

[u/teamgrandali]

I remember this one. He was mourning the anniversary of a friend who passed in that spot

[u/FootballInTheWhip → u/teamgrandali]

Shit, that friend looked out for him and got him 30K

[u/HxCxReformer → u/FootballInTheWhip]

“Hey Big G, can you hook my brother up down there? He’s a real one.”
“Say no more, fam. I got you.”
Gets dapped up by the big G.O.D.

[u/farva_06 → u/HxCxReformer]

Gonna have to put up with some asshole cops and a night in county, but it'll work out. Mysterious ways and what not.

[u/teraflux → u/FootballInTheWhip]

The tax payers paid him 30k

[u/iangeredcharlesvane2 → u/teraflux]

Yep! I’m happy for him but it’s BULLSHIT we the people pay every settlement … bullshit it doesn’t come out of that cop’s pension fund. That would stop this crap ASAP they would learn the rules FAST

[u/PTSD1983 → u/teamgrandali]

Damn 😥

[u/Ok-Toe-6969 → u/PTSD1983]

I had the same thing happened to me once "I'm black" I just didn't wanna risk it turning ugly so I showed them my ID they ran it in the system and then they walked away.

I hate the police man, and most people don't want to be policemen so most of the time they hire some really low life ones who makes it even worse, so its a bit like a never ending circle

Not all are bad, but a lot are, from my personal experience at least

[u/breeathee → u/Ok-Toe-6969]

There’s a cop in 3 of my friend groups. All assholes. I’m looking for new friends.

Now my nephew wants to be a cop. I don’t know what to say, besides being wildly opposed to the people he hangs out with.

[u/PolarBailey_ → u/breeathee]

Tell him he'd be the biggest disappointment in the family if he became a cop

[u/M8C → u/teamgrandali]

That was a different instance where a man lit a candle and sat on a park bench to quietly mourn his dead friend and was arrested.

[u/chaos_nebula → u/M8C]

He didn't light the candle, he was just the last one to leave, so he was the only one there when police came.

[u/M8C → u/chaos_nebula]

I’m going off memory so you’re probably right.

[u/Captaln_Chunk → u/teamgrandali]

Nope, you're remembering a similar instance but it definitely was not this one.

[u/Technical_Housing_58]

This shit isn’t even funny the amount of money the states have to pay out instead of training their officers is insane. There’d be less social problems like housing and affordable if they bother to spend their money on fixing the problems instead of abusing everyday citizens

[u/gryme85]

Make the 30k come out off their pensionsfunds.

This will not stop untill it hurts them personnally.

[u/sambull → u/gryme85]

This is the sort of risk some sort of insurance company in the free market could fix

Require invidualized policies for LEO. If your record is showing you are unstable and costing money then insuring you becomes expensive to the point where you are no longer a viable asset

[u/Ok-District5948 → u/sambull]

Cops should be required to carry malpractice insurance just like doctors. This would make the cost of hiring a bad one too expensive and they'll be forced out of the profession.

[u/JUGGER_DEATH → u/Ok-District5948]

You think that police officer would be deemed to have personally committed "malpractice"? Isn't that the whole prolem in the US, that police officers have been made mostly legally immune to their own actions by the Supreme court?

[u/hm9408 → u/JUGGER_DEATH]

Qualified immunity, cops investigating themselves, training them to shoot on sight instead of de-escalating, so many things wrong

[u/KindledWanderer → u/JUGGER_DEATH]

You think that police officer would be deemed to have personally committed "malpractice"?

That's the thing with the proposed insurance setup - either the other cops allow him to fall and his insurance covers it, or they all have to pay for it one way or another if they lose the lawsuit.

And money talks.

[u/Scorpion2k4u → u/gryme85]

Let's also take 5k from whoever called the police about a guy sitting on a bench doing nothing when we are at it...

[u/AnonymousCelery → u/Scorpion2k4u]

But then people wouldn’t get to anonymously harass homeless people at all hours of the day. And yes, this is a thing. Some drive by hero sees someone laying on the ground in a spot they don’t like. They call 911 and tell dispatch they “are not sure if they are breathing” or some other story. Dispatch sends cops and fire there code for a possible cardiac arrest or whatever the algorithm gives them based on the questions. We get there, person is obviously fine, just resting. Cops tell them to move. Everybody leaves. And then repeat 10-12 times per shift. If you don’t have the decency to ask if they are ok before calling 911, you are a fucking dork and I support you getting fined all day long.

[u/DocMcCracken → u/gryme85]

Fuck that, make cops have to carry insurance, let the free markets sort out what the costs are.

[u/Beneficial-Focus3702 → u/gryme85]

The pension funder and part of me says garnish their wages directly. They won’t care about things that hurt them in 20 years. They care about their paycheck being 30 grand less this year.

[u/CunningClanker → u/gryme85]

Make it come directly from the offending officers pocket. That fucker needs to lay for his own fuck up.

[u/RoughCobbles → u/gryme85]

If the cops had to pay it, the judges wouldn't award it.

[u/asssoaka]

Morgan Freeman voice: "it was in fact not how it worked"

[u/Righteousaffair999 → u/asssoaka]

There was a point where this guy said I’ll speak to my lawyer and finalized the conversation that should have tipped that cop off to call a supervisor. Spideysense didn’t go, I may have fucked with the wrong guy. You can’t arrest someone for doing nothing wrong and creating imaginary charges. But the guy is probably so used to this with sovereign citizens he didn’t connect how screwed he was here.

[u/mrteas_nz → u/Righteousaffair999]

Also the fact that he just stood and allowed himself to be cuffed... It was like he gave the cop every opportunity, then he's like well, I guess I gotta sue these guys now.

[u/FlyAwayJai → u/Righteousaffair999]

The fact he said, “Can you articulate a reasonable suspicion?”says this guy knows his shit.

[u/Notorious__APE → u/FlyAwayJai]

Sidenote: It's state by state whether cops are required to actually articulate their reasonable suspicion TO YOU. In some states, it's sufficient to have reasonable suspicion without articulating (or communicating it at all) it to the suspect. And just to be clear, a cop approaching you saying "we got a call saying someone was doing X" does not meet that threshold by itself.

But yes, if someone uses the term "reasonable suspicion" and the word "articulate" is thrown in there somewhere, they likely know more about their rights than 95% of other people walking around.

[u/CKRatKing → u/Righteousaffair999]

The cop doesn't pay the 30k and it's unlikely they got in trouble for this so why would he care?

[u/LePetitVoluntaire → u/asssoaka]

Or Ron Howard.

[u/MajesticCounter4174]

Average power hungry cop

[u/Valuable-Trick-6711 → u/MajesticCounter4174]

refuses to give cops information because he clearly knows his rights

Cop: “And I took that personally.”

[u/ReignofKindo25 → u/Valuable-Trick-6711]

Should be an immediate fire for the cop

[u/minnimamma19]

Imagine walking past a guy lying on a bench and thinking "absolutely not! I'm calling the police!" Wow.

[u/Level_Cardiologist36]

I will never understand the issue with sleeping in public. Who cares!? If they aren't in the way of a path or something, just leave a sleepy person alone.

[u/Rob_in_Tulsa → u/Level_Cardiologist36]

Opportunity to assert authority.

[u/CrewBig4092 → u/Level_Cardiologist36]

As an ignorant person living in the Mediterranean, why is it illegal in the US to sleep in a park? Again sorry for my ignorance just trying to understand.

[u/Level9TraumaCenter → u/CrewBig4092]

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread."

-Anatole France, from The Red Lily (Le Lys Rouge), Chapter 7, 1894.

[u/egospiers → u/CrewBig4092]

We hate homeless people (that may be universal)
… it’s getting harder and harder to simply find a public restroom in large cities for the same reason.

[u/Turbulent-Baker-4638 → u/CrewBig4092]

It’s not illegal unless it’s after hours (determined by the park I guess) and you can’t sleep overnight and set up tents, etc. Maybe some other jargon about loitering. Also no homeless people because the U.S. hates what it creates. 

[u/Neonvaporeon → u/CrewBig4092]

It's not illegal to sleep in parks as a whole, but it's against city ordinance typically (which means illegal in that case.) When a policeman comes up to you and wakes you up, they will ask you to leave. If you don't leave, that is a violation of a lawful order, resisting without violence, civil disturbance, obstruction of peace, or some combination of those and other offenses. This is called multiplicity or multiplicious charging, and it's very common. If it goes to court, a lot of those offenses are struck down by the judge, only most fitting charges are retained.

As for why, usually to deter homeless people. A lot of Americans associate homeless people with drug users who leave dangerous litter and debris behind, or commit crimes. The objectivity of this association isn't relevant because city ordinances have the lowest bars to pass as legal in our system. Besides that, many "ordinances" aren't technically ordinances, they are resolutions, but that's getting too technical.

[u/glad_goblin → u/Level_Cardiologist36]

Our version of morality is: Poor people bad, rich people good.

Rich people are rich because they take. Seeing poor people reminds them of that truth. Rich people never like truth.

[u/Maleficent_Secret569]

"The city was not responsible for Walden's actions."

"The city settled the lawsuit for $30,000."

If cops aren't held responsible for their actions, the system will not change.

[u/ManitouWakinyan → u/Maleficent_Secret569]

The cop is now the chief of police

https://www.mississippivalleypublishing.com/daily_gate/city-settles-civil-suit-from-2018-incident/article_97231e0e-d3ec-11ed-a76e-63550a974972.html

[u/Powerful-Student-444 → u/ManitouWakinyan]

Different cop, different lawsuit against the same police department

[u/OtherwiseLuck888]

US cops don't like to use the brain organ

[u/Pucksindeepeh → u/OtherwiseLuck888]

So illegal to enjoy life and look at the sky.

[u/Queasy_Badger9252 → u/Pucksindeepeh]

But he was doing it suspiciously though. This kind of vile individuals should go to prison for the rest of their lives.

[u/Aggressive_Agency381 → u/OtherwiseLuck888]

They have literal IQ caps hiring policies. 

[u/blue_strat]

Location: Incident: Rand Park, Keokuk, Iowa Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa Trial Venue (Planned): Federal Courthouse, Davenport, Iowa

Facts: Land arrested for interference with official acts after refusing ID during a welfare check.

Welfare check initiated by off-duty Assistant Chief Whitaker’s report of someone sleeping.

Land was on a park bench, stated he was not sleeping, only watching the sunset.

Walden searched Land’s bag post-arrest, found alleged drug paraphernalia.

Charges (interference, drug paraphernalia) dismissed in Lee County District Court.

Lawsuit alleged 4th Amendment violations (unreasonable search and seizure).

Court denied summary judgment for Walden, granted for some city claims.

City settled for $30,000, with $3,000 deductible paid by city, rest by insurance.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildyinteresting/comments/1jyy8ev/man_arrested_in_keokuk_iowa_for_sitting_on_a/

[u/Sad-Suggestion9425 → u/blue_strat]

"alleged drug paraphernalia" and dismissed immediately by the judge.

Man, these lying cops are always lying.

[u/NotmyRealuser2 → u/blue_strat]

need to underline that part..

"Welfare check initiated by off-duty Assistant Chief Whitaker’s report of someone sleeping."

[u/AmazingBend1714]

USA, land of the free… unless you are doing free stuff and not spending money, then you are suspicious AF

[u/generic_canadian_dad → u/AmazingBend1714]

Imagine calling the police on a dude lying down on a public bench just chillen out

[u/conqr787 → u/generic_canadian_dad]

And cops rolling up with a presumption of guilt till proven otherwise

[u/LawnCareHippie78 → u/generic_canadian_dad]

Spoiler... They never got a call.

[u/labellavita1985 → u/LawnCareHippie78]

So many Karens out there, I wouldn't be surprised if they did get a call.

[u/Crunchypie1]

Is this Nazi Germany now? We have to show our papers just because we are outside?

[u/dwarfzulu → u/Crunchypie1]

Now?

[u/stavago]

Oi m8, you got a loicense to look at the sky?

[u/SixtyTwenty_ → u/stavago]

Meanwhile, it's basically impossible to get cops to show up if you actually need them for anything. But I'm glad 'people at the park lying on a bench' is top of the priority list

[u/Snakepli55ken]

This is why people hate cops.

[u/Abbacoverband → u/Snakepli55ken]

well, this and all the murdering

[u/Pans_Labradoodle → u/Snakepli55ken]

This is also why a lot of people don’t visit third places anymore. Busy-bodies and cops will harass you just for enjoying a common area.

[u/youngsp82]

“I want an attorney” is the only thing you should say to officers.

[u/ProtectionContent977]

Seems like their cops can arrest you for just about anything.

[u/Pleasant_Picture3867]

Yeah, you investigated. I was lying down and looking at the sky. Case closed.

[u/ThirtyMileSniper]

US police should be required to carry imalpractice nsurance to cover these lawsuits so that it's not on the taxpayers. That way risky cops that keep getting flagged become uninsurable and therefore can no longer work as cops.

Premiums could be reduced by attending training on constitutional subjects relating to arrest piwers.

Just a thought. After all, Doctors need to carry this stuff in the US.

[u/DueAd197]

Note to self, sit on a bench in public then call the police on myself to get a huge settlement

[u/Double-Advice3258]

If sleeping in public is a crime, lock up the damn president!

[u/MaximusHomerdrive]

"Well, someone took the time to call, so that means you get arrested."

I f'ing hate cops. And I hate the system that only stocks it with stupid people because they fear smart police would get bored with the job. So we're at the mercy of these human rejects. I actually switched careers back in the 90's because my job involved working around cops and I never felt more threatened and uneasy in my life. Dumb people with authority and guns is never a good combination.

We need to clone a couple million Mamdanis and spread them around the country. I bet he'd have standards when it came to police conduct and intelligence.

[u/gavstar69]

Police state

[u/hednizm]

This is more about a display of power and authority than it is about someone causing a disturbance. The police could have been cool...checked out what was happening and decided there was nothing of interest - and found something more useful to do. Idiots

[u/aerdvarkk]

Easy not easy. Being arrested and taken to holding and processed for something that wasn't illegal is not a "easy" as the title wants to claim. Then add to this court proceedings and any outside discussions of a non-court settlement.

And did the guy get $30k above any beyond the lawyer fees? OR how much did the lawyer take out of that?

[u/Successful-Ideal-896]

Cops are not required to know or follow the law. I hate this country.

[u/EddieYouBastard]

So much freedom!

[u/TheJivvi]

Is it even illegal if he did fall asleep.

[u/AshMost]

Watching the sunset, for free, IN THIS ECONOMY? NOT ON MY WATCH

[u/JohnDoe910]

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting you "The land of the free", where you cannot hangout in public spaces without being arrested.

[u/veracity8_]

We need to figure out how to hold police responsible for their crimes 

[u/ajax151515 → u/veracity8_]

Require police to carry private insurance and be licensed to practice law enforcement in the same way we require a doctor to carry private insurance for malpractice and be licensed to practice medicine. Im also fine with increasing a cops salary, but now when they fuck up their "malpractice" insurance pays up instead of the tax payer... I guarantee when a for profit insurance company is suddenly on the hook, theyre gonna find a way to straighten these cops up really quick.

[u/tinydrog]

Ah..."greatest country in the world"... got arrested for sleeping in public...

[u/Beginning-Foot-9525 → u/tinydrog]

Not sleeping, watching the sky.

[u/bestywesty]

Not so fun fact: last time I went down this rabbit hole I found out the officer in this video has since been promoted multiple times

[u/elementarydrw]

In the USA is it the law that you have to always have an ID on you if you are outside?

[u/Reasonable-Bus-2187 → u/elementarydrw]

No

[u/pm_me_fibonaccis → u/elementarydrw]

He doesn't need to give his name because they do not have reasonable articulable suspicion that he has committed, is committing, or will commit a crime.

You don't need to carry ID in any state unless you are operating a motor vehicle.

After seeing he was not committing a crime they should have fucked off. 

[u/Master-Tomatillo-103]

The $30k paid by residents of the municipality

[u/Lemfan46]

But yet when I call about the suspicious vehicle parked on the fire hydrant side of the street, they don't do shit. ACAB

[u/LiminalSapien]

ACAB

[u/jimp6]

You aren't allowed to sleep in a park in the US?

[u/TheEverlastingPizza]

New money glitch: Lie on your back for a while, your friend makes an anonymous call about suspicious activity, stupid cop comes and sorts out the rest. Ka-ching!

Disclaimer: Do not attempt if black.

[u/sbrown063087]

An officer has to have a “reasonable articulable suspicion of a crime” before he/she can demand an ID.