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San Benito County Sheriff Eric Taylor took to social media following a Jan. 21 incident in which local law enforcement was involved in a high-speed automobile chase and shooting to reprimand “defiant people” who entered an active crime scene “for likes.”
In the video he says he directed his staff to “stop trying to herd you all to safety.” He told BenitoLink he stood by his comments, saying that he was not in opposition to people recording the event. He said he was criticizing residents putting themselves in danger.
Sheriff’s deputies “need to focus on the threat that is in front of them and they need to stop trying to help defiant people who want to argue it’s their right to be allowed in the crossfire of these rapidly evolving situations,” Taylor said in the video. “If this continues, I’m sure that some of you will be injured or killed. Bullets can be very unforgiving after leaving a firearm.”
Taylor told BenitoLink his comments were in regard to the limited staff he has available at any given time in conjunction with people wanting to walk into the area where shots were being fired.
“I don’t have the resources to tie up deputies to argue with someone about where they can stand after we warn them it’s dangerous,” Taylor said. “I think we inform residents [of the dangers] and allow them to make their decisions.”
He said there were many residents who came out of their homes, some with their children, and walked toward the area where the suspect was located and shot at law enforcement officers.
Taylor said some people misunderstood his comments as being against the public recording and documenting of police activity and observing, but that that was not the case.
“Honestly the more videos the better,” Taylor said. “We’re not trying to suppress anybody. It really is helpful.”
David Loy with the First Amendment Coalition said he understood Taylor’s concerns and appreciated Taylor’s acknowledgement of people’s right to record law enforcement activity in public places.
“There is a right to record at public areas at a safe distance but it doesn’t create the right to interfere with law enforcement operations,” Loy said. “It’s not a blank check to run into an active shooting.”
Asked if this was an ongoing issue, Taylor said it was isolated, primarily because local law enforcement doesn’t generally respond to calls such as they did on Jan. 21.
“We have a ton of support in our community,” he said. “Hopefully an outlier call, a one-time for us.”
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