“Anaheim James” Redkey, dangerous for video recording actions of the police? or just for being there?
A.J. Redkey could be the most dangerous man in Fullerton if we consider the resources spent to arrest him. On May 7 someone in the Fullerton Police Department ordered six officers in three separate vehicles to travel 35 miles to Pasadena to arrest Mr. Redkey. He had been belatedly charged for failing to disperse from an unlawful assembly months after having been present during a January 18 protest over the not-guilty verdicts handed down in the trial of two Fullerton Police Officers charged in the death of Kelly Thomas.
As the Rag wrote on May 8, Mr. Redkey was peacefully taken into custody while attending another, unrelated protest. He was taken to jail in Fullerton before, according to Mr. Redkey, being shuttled to the county jail in Santa Ana for an overnight stay without any other explanation than that FPD phone lines were being barraged with calls about him. He was released on his own recognizance, which would seem to be unusually lenient in a case where six officers were somehow required for his apprehension.
One has to wonder about a few things…
How many outstanding warrants are there at any given time in Fullerton?
What is the standard number of officers sent to arrest someone for a violent felony vs. a non-violent misdemeanor?
Is it unusual to send a force of officers so far away to arrest someone easily found much closer to home?
Mr. Redkey identifies himself as a “citizen journalist”, whose website inLeague Press archives video from protests and other public events, for the purpose of “People protecting people, with cameras”. Ryan Moore, Mr. Redkey’s website partner, recorded video of Mr. Redkey’s arrest last week in Pasadena. He is the second such citizen journalist, after Patricia Beers, to be arrested following the January 18 protest.
The evolution of cheap, good quality video used in combination with instantaneously available internet upload capabilities has given more power and credibility to people who simply document on the ground activities, often involving police. Although authorities may be skeptical of their qualifications, there is no denying that having footage of events is better than not having it, especially when a judge or jury has to decide what happened after the fact. While it may be difficult for police to determine who is and who is not a self-identified member of the press, it should not be the priority of the police to arrest citizen journalists.
The Fullerton Police Department has offered no explanation of why such a large force of officers was sent so far away to apprehend a single man for a non-violent misdemeanor. The use of so many officers spending so much time and equipment to take someone into custody suggests, at best, that management has a skewed view of what constitutes protecting the public. At worst, police are viewed as deliberately harassing people who like to take video of their actions in public. Only management at the Fullerton Police Department can tell us for sure, which, if any, of these characterizations they think is accurate, but not saying anything about it speaks volumes.
The public deserves an explanation. The May 20 meeting of the Fullerton City Council could provide a good opportunity for the police to provide one to the many people planning to ask for it there.
fullertonrag.com 
YOu wanted them to send two people then get into a fight and get their asses kicked? They don’t do it that way. They bring in extra just in case. Then when all goes well, all is well and they carry on with their duties.
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There would have been no fight…
Also, one of the questions that should be considered is why they would pick Aj up at a protest where he was exercising his First Amendment rights. Another curiosity is the fact that Manuel Ramos had his immunity hearing the next morning and Aj was released about 45 minutes after the hearing was scheduled. Is there a possibility that the Police were preventing Aj from attending the scheduled protest in front of that courthouse?
Regardless, the stalking like behavior against a citizen journalist is reprehensible when he is provably non violent and poses no risk to the public in any way shape or form. It is more likely that the taxpayers are funding police officers who indulge in holding and acting upon grudges…and that is not how a police station should operate.
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According to the 172 page police report (pg 107 of 172) on the protest of Saturday January 18th, AJ was identified through social media by and by noon on January 21st, three days after the protest, his identity was confirmed by officer Blume by the police obtaining a copy of his drivers licence. That night AJ can be seen at the city council meeting, and on one occasion I remember him being photographed standing with the mayor, He can be seen here on the following Saturday shaking hands and speaking with officers at a smaller protest in front of FPD. (see minute 1:17 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/43079811). For the next 4 months until an arrest warrant is issued there are dozen’s of other examples of AJ being at or near FPD, and anyone who cared to know would have. The question is what changed? What made this loveable hippie and do gooder the most dangerous man in Fullerton? I suspect it was the images of AJ that the OC Weekly took and which later became a big deal on Facebook, which showed him outrunning eight Fullerton police officers. The photo’s are compelling and AJ made the police look old, tired and bloated (they are not in fact very old). He embarrassed them and this was payback. 6 officers, 3 vehicles, 35 miles outside of Fullerton and he was arrested. I am quite sure that all of Fullerton slept much easier the night AJ was in jail.
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I still question why Pasadena? Rush hour traffic is crazy at the time they had to be at the protest to corner AJ.
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My question has been why in particular Pasadena during a peaceful protest? During rush hour?
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I’d be curious who authorized the warrant. Since if they picked him up without a warrant, they were acting well outside their jurisdiction.
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I recently attended a court hearing for a female who protested the Kelly Thomas verdict, and was shocked to see a predator like Scott Steiner still sitting as a Superior Court Judge berating the female defendant for not respecting him enough. Google Scott Steiner, son of Repuglican ex OC Supervisor Bill Steiner, and then ask yourselves if you think that this man is morally fit to be hearing cases? He also panders to the Fullerton Police Officers Association for political and financial backing.
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[…] the Fullerton Police Department. Readers will recall that half a dozen of Fullerton’s finest were dispatched over thirty miles away to Pasadena to apprehend Mr. Redkey, who had been belatedly charged with the non-violent misdemeanor of failing to disperse from the […]
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