Video by David Corrigan | Voice of Stephanie Salazar
PAHOA, Hawaii: Big Island blogger Damon Tucker made statewide news headlines this week, claiming police brutality on the streets of his hometown Pahoa.
Tucker says he was arrested and roughed up by police Friday night in the old Puna village on Hawaii Island. He says it happened because he did not stop filming an incident from across the street when police told him to.
Police have confirmed that they were investigating an assault complaint at a Pahoa nightclub at the time.
Standing in the very spot where he says he filmed from on Friday night, Tucker details the moment he claims he was thrown to the ground and detained by police. Police arrested and charged Tucker for obstructing government operations, which Assistant Police Chief Henry Tavares says “is basically interfering with a police officer while they are trying to do their job.”
We met up with the visibly shaken Tucker in Pahoa on Tuesday, the day after newspapers and TV stations began to run the story. Tucker also posted these images on his blog, damontucker.com, illustrating what he says were the result of being “brutalized”.
Tucker said his camera and his iPhone were confiscated by police, and that his iPhone was run over. He has not seen the two items since.
Big Island Video News first ran into Damon Tucker shortly after we began publishing video on the internet in the summer of 2008. He was already operating the damontucker.comblog, which has offered a thorough – and at times controversial – documentation of life in Puna and beyond.
Tucker has always shied away from the term “journalist” often saying he is only a “guy with a blog” … and apparently its a popular one; within hours of the incident, the internet was buzzing with the news of Tucker’s version of events, sparking interest and support from first amendment defenders from across the country.
Just before we met with Tucker in the parking lot of Luquin’s, he was informed by police that he was to be served with another document. A nervous Tucker asked Barbara Lively, the legislative assistant to councilman Fred Blas, to be present as Tucker met with local law enforcement.
Tucker asked us to stress that police requested to meet after Tucker had already agreed to meet Big Islang Video News at the location.
Our camera rolled on the tense moment, and we kept rolling until the document was officially delivered to Tucker. As uneventful as the exchange may have been, it still left Tucker nerve-racked.
Police later confirmed that the paperwork merely contained a corrected case number.
In a statement given to media, assistant Chief Tavares said that “The Hawaii Police Department recognizes the media and the public have every right to photograph police activity in a public place from a safe distance.” But because the incident is under active investigation, the police can not make any additional statements about the incident.
Meanwhile, Tucker is pursueing his legal options, saying that its hard, now, to even drive by a police car in his own town.
Tucker’s case will be before district court on Sept. 8 at 1:30 p.m. in Hilo.
Nice reporting guys!
Mahalo.
I wrote a commentary!
EDITOR’s NOTE: Here’s the link to the commentary on Big Island Chronicle.
Glad you interviewed Damon at the location so we could see where the events took place. It didn’t look as if he could interfere with police operations from across the street. Also pleased to see that you kept rolling on the sequence when the police delivered the paperwork.
Imagine if we had no footage of planes hitting two towers in NYC. Video footage of police activity should not be hidden from the public when its a public crime scene. Destruction of said footage is destruction of possible court evidence.
Thank you for the update – please continue keeping us informed.
What’s happening to Pahoa, when police obuse there power by beating up bystanders, changing case numbers, case files that just diaper when you go to retrieve them and a fire department that refuses treatment of a transgender person in distress then throws out cat calls and yet no disaplinary acction is taken. Makes youi not want to call on police or fire officials in an emergancy!
Well Iʻm no Cop… but if their was somebody like that around a crime scene or an investigation, it will indeed create suspicious activity or disrupt the investigation/Crime scene! Overall I don’t think people stick their noses in other peoples business especially serious business like this!
Where will your protection come from when bystanders cannot video policemen who were obviously harassing Mr. Tucker who was just filming the situation? I hope Tucker sues these cops for assault and puts them in jail. The cops don’t help on this island. Forget calling them. The people have lost faith in them. They don’t work for us. They are working for the government who wastes tax dollars and lets real crimes happen while they’re working. I would not trust any cops. Especially, the rogue ones. I agree, they use our tax dollars to abuse their power and the people. It is going on across the nation, and in other countries as you see the police harassing the citizens who are peacefully protesting. The police are the ones starting the riots. I have watched uprisings all over the world. Mainstream media will not give you the whole truth. They are owned by the perpetrators.
Mahalo.
I think these policemen need a mental evaluation. The are suppose to be working “for” the community not against it. He looks badly brutalized. Of course, the video shows the police harassing him by serving him other papers. When a person fears for his life from the officials, they are being harassed.
Law enforcement are public servants and have the choice to use appropriate force when necessary. Aside from the fact that Damon was across the street, at a safe distance, clearly not interfering or obstructing a police operation, excessive force was used by the police in this case. Did Damon, standing across the street with a cell phone camera really pose a threat to the operation? Consider this context if the officer brutalized a young child or elderly filming with a camera phone, would you view the officer’s actions in a different light?
Does a person such as Damon Tucker require to be manhandled and receive bodily injury when he poses no threat? It sounds to me that these officers feel empowered when they can slam another person to the ground and draw blood. This behavior is little higher than a schoolyard bully and illustrates the complete disregard to the value and dignity of another human being.
If officers feel the need and the personal gratification of exerting their power over another person or the addictive rush and testosterone flow from raw aggression, I would suggest alternatives such as competitive boxing or Xbox game. Of course, it is always better when receive these ego stroking perks on the job and get paid to do them.
Officers can behave this way, because they know that they can without consequence. I wonder if this type of brutality behavior is part of the police squad culture? I wonder if junior officers are viewed as being “weak” or as an underdog until they display a “show of force” to their peers? Could this type of “Power and aggression” culture be expected by the leadership of this police organization? Is this a systemic problem within the police department?
Law enforcement has the opportunity to partner or alienate their communities. They can partner with the community and bring positive change. Or they can engage the core of their community with aggression. Damon was a supporter of the police in his blogs and donated time and resources for the department web and social media only to receive blood and bruises as a personal thank you note.
I hope this is prosecuted as a hate crime. Guaranteed if he was Hawaiian they wouldn’t care if someone was filming.
Wow. I would be so scared! I think people should have the right to film from a safe distance. Poor guy. He should definitely put some Arnica on those bruises. Coming from someone graduation this December from their Graduate Studies in medicine, it was a mighty brutal force that made those cuts and bruises. I think that this guy should sue. This is not ok. Brutal force on citizens making a video of a incident from a safe distance should be fine. And why do the police drive such expensive, muscle cars on the island? They should be driving hybrids or Biodiesel cars. If they have to chase someone, chase them with cars and helicopters–it’s an ISLAND, how far can they go before they get caught!?? Leave the racing up to the Ambulances. This is a fine case of injustice and misuse of power, bullying and scare tactics. These officers should be reprimanded.
(graduating) 🙂
~A.bird
I’ve filed a lawsuit. That’s all I can say now.
Iti isi not going to stop unless someone stops it, he has a great chance at taking this to the ACLU and have them whoop the tar out of the HPD Chief in court.
Makes me want to get my video camera our and cruise Pahoa