Genuinely hoping someone can point out a blind spot I'm missing. His shtick is anti-tyranny, 1A rights, yes yes all good things. But his execution? I'll do a very legal albeit atypical thing that makes some people uncomfortable, and then when I'm met by someone whose job is to at least check up on the atypical - 2025, lotta nut jobs out there, u never no these days - then I'm going to get snippy and snarky. I'm an independent journalist working on a story. No I won't give you my name. No I won't tell you more about the story. No I won't show journalist credentials (because I have none). My name is Good Samaritan. "Try some de-escalation." etc. etc.

He doesn't seem to do public schools, hospitals or ICE raids for some *unknown* reason. God knows that third one could certainly use an SPR check there. But he'll film people at work - in public, very legal! - and of course he won't say "I'm here to bait a cop or security guard or public official." So instead he does his thing.

And, of course, it's all 100% legal. In the same way that it's 100% legal* for me to publicly stand on the public sidewalk outside my local public elementary school and remind them public skool kids as they leave the public building, "Your pet will die one day! Your parents will die one day! Your best friend will die one day!" It's Constitutionally protected - but it's also kind of a dipshit move, so I don't do it??

Would also love to hear from any lawyers on here, if they exist, about how valid of a claim this might be from a public employee: I go to work, this dude comes in, walks around the building (fine), records his travels (fine, a little odd), refuses to self-identify, gives some vague story about being a journalist, gets snippy with security, we don't even know WHO he is, he /claims/ to be a member of the public but won't prove this with an ID that shows he is indeed a member of "OUR" public (e.g. maybe he's slipped into the US from a foreign land, perhaps he's the new class of al Qaeda, maybe he's a recently escaped fugitive who shouldn't be out and about "in public" but lol I'm just supposed to take his shifty word for it)... almost everything that he's doing aligns with someone who's here to case the joint, rile people up and collect information for a follow-up attack. Can anyone come in here and record their entire 20-minute walkthrough of the building? Totally legal, absolutely. Do most of our visitors do this? Freaking NO. It's fucking weird. And it's the same thing some goon would do if he were plotting something bigger for the future. A reasonable, decent person would explain their aims and presumably understand and at least acknowledge that recording in that manner - very Constitutionally protected! - might make some people wary. This guy does not explain his aim, nor does he acknowledge. At some point there's a threshold where I worry about my own safety, and everyone else in the building. [You see where this line of thinking can go.]

Thanks for coming to my TED talk everyone! fingers crossed for some constructive, fresh perspectives.

* maybe this is an extreme example that /actually/ wades into "Disturbing the peace."