ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - About a year ago, Marlon Kautz pulled out his cell phone and started shooting video of Atlanta police making an arrest. "...and they told us they were not allowed to record them, that we needed to stop recording them," he said.
But that's what Kautz, a member of the group CopWatch, does. He records police. When he refused to stop, he says officers got a bit more insistent. "Eventually they got my arm twisted behind my back, and basically they tried to pry the phone out of my hand. Eventually they were able to."
Kautz sued, and this week settled for $40,000. WABE legal analyst Page Pate:
"If you're standing at a distance and not interfering with what the officer is doing, you have every right to be there and every right to videotape it." The Atlanta City Council must first approve the settlement.