Man with rifle case, but no gun, outside courthouse gets 210 days for obstruction, resisting arrest
There was only a tripod, a camera and other accessories in the rifle case that Floyd Wallace was carrying outside a Nebraska courthouse earlier this month.
However, the 20-year-old was sentenced last week to a 210-day jail sentence, for obstruction and resisting arrest concerning the manner in which he responded to a Douglas County deputy sheriff’s instructions to put the rifle case on the ground, KETV reports.
A PINAC (Photography is Not a Crime) News story provides a link to a video of the incident apparently shot by Wallace, a founder of Omaha CopBlock who has repeatedly recorded police activities.
Wallace and his supporters suggest authorities went too far in their response to the March 11 incident, in which a deputy reportedly pointed a gun at Wallace.
“I believe security had the right to stop him and look at his case, and then when they realized that there was no gun in there, there’s really no criminal activity,” Ademo Freeman, who is also a CopBlock leader, told KETV.
However, by pleading guilty to the crimes last week, Wallace, who had no attorney, has limited his options to formally protest the government’s assessment of the incident.
“If you want to exercise your First Amendment rights outside of a public building such as a courthouse, and you are carrying what appears to be a weapon, then you should listen to the officer’s order to drop that item,” Tom Mumgaard, who serves as Omaha’s interim city prosecutor, told PINAC.
