Go get 'em, Afroman

“Causing ‘Emotional distress, ridicule, humiliation, loss of reputation and embarrassment”? Damn right, and the fat sheriff here who grabbed “a slice of Grandma’s lemon pound cake” deserves every minute of his new-found notoriety.

The first rule of holes is that when you find yourself in one, stop digging. Somewhere in a small town in Ohio there’s a sheriff’s department that hasn’t learned that lesson.

David Strum: Afroman for the Win!

I find this hilarious, for some reason.

A singer named “Afroman” has created a music video out of the home security footage taken during a police raid at his house.

The video is called: “Will You Help Me Repair My Door?”

I love it. I want to give this man a medal.

So what’s hilarious about this? He is being sued by the officers who broke into his house with a search warrant–when he wasn’t there, but his wife was–for causing them emotional distress.

In the suit, the officers say Afroman’s music videos, social media posts and merchandise related to the raid amount to an invasion of privacy and misappropriation of their likenesses … and they say it’s causing them emotional distress, ridicule, humiliation, loss of reputation and embarrassment.

I don’t know, but I think that’s fair. They broke into his home with guns drawn using force, searched the house for drugs without finding any, took a disputed amount of money without returning all of it, and now are arguing that they have a right to privacy.  The warrant was to search for narcotics and a kidnapping victim.

…. It’s hard to argue that police officers entering somebody’s home have an expectation of privacy. In fact, they don’t have an expectation of privacy even when they aren’t in your home. They are government officials empowered with awesome authority, but for some reason, they keep (wrongly) arguing that they can’t be photographed.

….. The police don’t want their images being used to make money. Well, OK. I would start by going after the news stations and working my way out. They make a lot of money showing the police doing things.

Has Afroman done anything wrong? I don’t know and frankly, I don’t care. He certainly wasn’t dealing drugs from his house or hiding a kidnapping victim. Even if he were the facts of this lawsuit seem indisputable here: the police have no expectation of privacy when conducting their duties. They can be filmed.

They are embarrassed because they look bad. That’s all.

Well good. As much as I support the police doing vital things and respect them, that doesn’t give them carte blanche. With great power comes great responsibility, and transparency as well.

Here’s the cake thief now — no wonder he’s angwy!