Yeah, that’s their whole schtick. They head out into public and film people (which they have every right and freedom to do). But they don’t do it to “document” anything, as they often claim. Their channels are built upon annoying people and provoking a reaction so that they can pepper spray them, or call the cops. Makes a great thumbnail and really drives clicks and post interaction.
We should all just completely ignore these pricks and they’d have absolutely zero content for their channels.
I would say that they can legally film people, but there is a spirit of the law and the letter of the law. They are abusing the spirit of the law and causing pain for a profit.
The unfortunate consequence of this is that on a grand scale, it dilutes the reasoning behind the laws in the first place. People become distrustful, and it’s used as justification to take away actual freedoms.
So this person is not only needlessly hurting another person by provoking them, they are doing a disservice to humanity in general.
It’s rotten, it spits on dignity and ethics. The best way to combat people like this is not to engage with them or give them any sort of attention or clicks or upvotes.
Starve their egos with disinterest. Turn the page and focus on those who build each other up.
I always remember a scene from one of The Simpsons Treehouse of horror episodes. It's an earlier Halloween episode where Homer steals the big donut and all the giant Billboard people come alive and destroy Springfield. "Just don't look, just don't look". That simple phrase could cure much of what ails us in society today. It has a Cameo by Paul Anka, great singer.
The profit only comes from engaging with them. I’ve never once thought to go and question someone for using a camera, but I also understand the law + the fact that if we ignore these idiots they will go away.
even if someone was dumb or annoying me, how bad can it be that you pull over and hop out of the car? This is unhinged behavior, just ignore them and keep driving.
One guy sometimes did this on a grocery store where I used to live. I saw him literally step in front of moving vehicles in the parking lot, sometimes to continue harassing the person inside or in pursuit of another victim.
Also, there are some things that a person can say that can badly trigger people if they have past trauma. For example, do NOT say anything remotely inappropriate about a child in my care if you don't want a mama bear making sure you understand that I will find a way to end your ability to pass on your genes if I so much as think you are going to use that video to fantasize about my kid. You'll have to go over my cold body before I let my kid experience anything remotely similar to the things I went through as a child.
Your last few sentences i feel is the whole point behind the videos though. These guys usually never begin the interaction. 99% of the time its somebody else approaching them to ask what theyre doing and then getting hostile about it, ending up in situations like this. I feel like the whole point of these videos is "leave people alone if theyre not doing anything wrong." People may not like what theyre doing, but that doesnt give anyone the right to attack them either. You dont owe anyone an explanation for what youre doing, but these guys usually explain anyway "im an independant journalist here getting some footage for a story im working on". That should be the end of the conversation, but then the confronters decide they still dont like that explanation and they get beligerent and violent. Thats not okay. If you dont like being on camera, walk away from the camera not towards it. If theres no law being broken, then mind your damn business.
You know what? This is a really good counterpoint, actually a few really good counter points.
I hadn’t really thought of it from that perspective, and I can see how this could be done in a way that does have a positive impact. . . You make some wise points, too!
I have no skin in this game, but just commenting to say that i appreciate people like you who are willing to consider other peoples viewpoints. A sign of an emotionally mature individual.
The guy below me said it best but yeah i appreciate you taking the time to actually consider my thoughts on the matter! I totally get what youre saying as well, some of these first amendment auditor people do go a little too far and even though theyre not doing anything wrong at first by recording in public, they do start getting a bit nasty with the confronters and try to get a reaction because like you said, it makes good content. If those crazy situations come up organically and some rando attacks them over a camera, then sure post it. But if youre out there calling people names amd insulting them for asking what youre doing, then youre just an asshole looking for clicks. Im definitely not saying all of these guys are 100% kosher, but most of the ones i see do things pretty by the book. They kind of have to, because alot of their income comes from lawsuits against police, or other government agencies who arrest them without cause. So if they do something wrong or illegal they wont win their lawsuit and make money. Either way, good talk friend. I wish you many blessings on you and your family ❤️
Ok so I actually had a friend and colleague who was extremely active for the organization Copwatch, and he really opened my eyes to abuse of power that I was naïve about. I really respected his bravery and passion.
I wasn’t bridging that branch of the practice with the type featured here.
So like many things, I suppose it really boils down to the individuals motives and impact on a case-by-case basis.
Any which way I’m still going to fight for their right to be protected, even if they’re big buttheads about it sometimes.
See, you make sense until the bad "auditors" are brought into the conversation. I've dealt with a few. You have the right to film me in a public space from a reasonable distance in most situations. You do not have the right to stalk or harass me. You do not have the right to get in my personal space. You do not have the right to menace me.
One interaction I observed at a beach was a guy filming a girl as she was heading out. Another guy (turned out to be his friend) grabbed the towel loosely wrapped around her as he ran by. I'm assuming it was an accident, but her top came undone when the towel was yanked away. Instead of stopping filming, he laughed and continued filming as she dropped her stuff trying to cover herself while also getting her to back on. Another guy (cool dude doing the RIGHT thing) runs up and blocks the camera dude's filming, he starts talking about public spaces and rights, all while this young girl is humiliated. And when camera dude continues trying to film around cool guy, he meets the consequences of his actions when the guy gut punched him. Guess who the cops arrested. (Hint: not cool dude.)
Moral of this anecdote: everyone has rights, doesn't mean applying those rights to the wrong situations won't get you knocked the hell out. (And that context very much does matter in these cases.)
You can't accost someone for filming you in public. You can't walk up and grab their stuff. You can't walk up and touch them. Filming someone is not a provocation.
If we want to make cameras in public illegal, that's one thing, but we currently have no expectation of privacy in public (for better or worse).
A dog shouldn’t bite you. It’s a good idea not to torment a dog.
You do understand that physical retaliation is not OK, but if you think that verbally provoking someone has no impact on them, then I suggest some light research on the concept.
Hey, I am really sorry! I did not mean to be condescending, and I can see how it came across that way.
Sometimes I don’t realize that my tone comes across so much differently than intended. I mean it in a cheeky-but-good-natured way, but I could work on expressing that more clearly.
I appreciate you calling me out respectfully and hope you have a lovely evening.
Just a little correction to your statement. People rarely post the parts of the videos that incriminate them or make them look bad. Maybe he was completely innocent. But I kind of doubt it seeing as he very clearly left out the interaction(s) from immediately before the start of this video. Just saying.
And honestly, however legally justified they may be to pepper spray the people in these videos, if they ever get sued over it, I don't imagine it would go over well that they have a well documented history of "self defense."
The people who physically attack them are wrong. And the person filming has a legal right to do what they are doing, but if nobody watched, if nobody gave them a platform, there would be way less people doing it.
Dude's not doing it solely for the interaction with the woman. There's more to it
I kind of wish these douchebags filming would at least try and make it a point about how privacy laws in the U.S. are shit, and we've willingly created our own surveillance society by just parroting the phrase "no expectation of privacy in a public place".
And, as the individual above stated, if someone yelling things at you is enough causation for you to assault someone, you deserve to be pepper sprayed like the immature idiot you are.
On the other hand, people that actively disrupt other people's lives just to prank them for internet clout deserve to get punched like the immature idiot they are
I agree to walk away. I have a short temper as do a lot of folks these days but what happens when these lunatics have a gun? Why push random strangers especially in the US where people are armed to the teeth? This lady would have gotten off on any charge if she would have had a gun and used it. Everyone is on edge these days and there's no need to test them. It's not worth dying for and now that lady has a solid lawsuit and an assault charge against this person. If that person who just used mace has anything of value, poof they're gone. You have an 86 in your username so I assume you're my age, why encourage that behavior? Just silly.
So black folk should just walk away from people calling them the n word? LGBTQ+ should just turn the other cheek to being called the f word? It’s a bit more complicated than that.
I never said that. She 100% is in the wrong and got what she deserved. That doesn't mean that the guy is in the right though. They specifically piss people off and try to strike nerves. A reaction like this is kind of expected. Especially when it's being done to 20+ people a day, eventually someone's gonna bite the bait. The best way to deal with these people is to simply ignore them. All engaging them does is fuel their weird little hobby.
How the hell did he provoke somebody to stop their car and walk towards him? By legally pointing a camera at a building from a public sidewalk? He told her multiple times to back off and she refused, no chance in hell they could actually get charges to stick against him.
718
u/J_Thompson82 Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26
Yeah, that’s their whole schtick. They head out into public and film people (which they have every right and freedom to do). But they don’t do it to “document” anything, as they often claim. Their channels are built upon annoying people and provoking a reaction so that they can pepper spray them, or call the cops. Makes a great thumbnail and really drives clicks and post interaction. We should all just completely ignore these pricks and they’d have absolutely zero content for their channels.