A "defender of the Constitution" by the name of Jeremy Kauffman (@jeremykauffman on X) was paid a visit the other day by two m...
A "defender of the Constitution" by the name of Jeremy Kauffman (@jeremykauffman on X) was paid a visit the other day by two men claiming to be from the FBI – but who refused to show official identification as proof – who were apparently there to bully him over a social media post.
The two men asked Kauffman if they could speak with him about the post, to which he refused because he is under no legal obligation to do so. Everyone involved agreed that nothing Kauffman did is illegal, but the two men insisted on talking to Kauffman about the post.
Neither of the two men would agree to share their full name with Kauffman, nor would they show their badges. They expected Kauffman to just cooperate because they drove up in a dark, FBI-like SUV and seemed to be dressed like what one might expect of a federal agent.
When the one man who called himself "O'Donnell," adding that he is the only O'Donnell in New Hampshire who works for the FBI, tried to get Kauffman to cooperate, he refused because of the two men's refusal to show official identification.
Since Kauffman was visibly recording the entire interaction, O'Donnell asked him to turn off the camera before agreeing to answering any questions. Kauffman refused, and the back-and-forth continued from there until the two men finally left – watch the video clip below:
No, you don't have to talk to law enforcement unless there's a warrant
Recognizing his First Amendment and other constitutional rights, Kauffman refused to play ball with the two agents, who pressed him again and again to cooperate through intimidation.
"Will you stop recording, please?" O'Donnell responded to Kauffman several times in defiance of Kauffman's request that O'Donnell cooperate with his demands.
"You can show me your name and identification or I'm going back inside my house," Kauffman then told the men.
"I don't really want to broadcast my, uh ...," the other alleged agent interjected. "We just want to talk to you."
The exchange went back and forth for a few minutes before eventually the two men gave up and left the scene.
"I'm not going to talk to people who claim to be federal agents unless they can show me identification," Kauffman said.
As of 2014, residents of New Hampshire have the right to always film whenever they are in an uncomfortable or really any situation that they feel necessitates capturing video and audio of whatever is happening.
"Practice asserting your rights in minor situations and it will continue to get easier," Kauffman told his X followers about how he has the confidence to handle law enforcement the way he did with the two men.
"For example, do it at DUI checkpoints or at border control when re-entering the U.S."
"This is such a weasely tactic because they know people who don’t understand the law are gonna be scared even though there are no charges," tweeted someone else about the bizarre encounter.
"Ron Paul warned against losers like this in 1998," said another, along with the video below. "The FBI is so beyond reform it isn't even funny."
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