Archive for the 'Jeff Weinsier Arrest' Category

Jeff Weinsier Sues 3 Police Officers, School Board

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on 1/11/2008
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WPLG investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier is suing Miami-Dade school board and the three Dade county police officers who arrested him for “false arrest, emotional distress and malicious persecution”.

The cops were sent by Miami-Dade School Board to make Weinsier leave the public sidewalk next to Miami Central High School and go across the street. After Weinsier repeatedly refused to comply one of the officers cuffed him while he was standing on the public road near the sidewalk. After the arrest they found a loaded concealed weapon for which Weinsier had a permit.

Later all charges were dropped by the state attorney’s office because the video tape from incident showed Weinsier was on public property and has a constitutional right to be there.

Now let’s see if the idiots in the media who reported that he was arrested because of the gun would correct themselves!

Local10.com - Local 10 Reporter Suing School Police, Board

Video from the incident:

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: All Charges Dropped

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on 11/13/2007
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Assistant State Attorney Maggie Gerson who’s in charge of Jeff Weinsier’s case has decided all charges should be dropped. She concluded that the sidewalk was not school grounds (he was arrested on the road actually) and that the officer’s commands were not legal because there were other people on that sidewalk that weren’t told they must go across the street.

Since Weinsier was on a public sidewalk he couldn’t have been trespassing thus the charges of trespassing have to dropped and “anything that was found on the defendant after he was arrested will be suppressed as a matter of law” therefore the gun charges also have to be dropped.

The charge of disrupting school function also did not apply because the students had already been dismissed when the arrest took place.

Gerson relied on WPLG’s footage from the incident.

Memo from State Attorney /PDF/

Miami Herald - No charges against Channel 10 reporter

Local10.com - Charges Against Local 10 Reporter Dropped

Second Amendment Foundation Supports Weinsier

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on 10/28/2007
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The Second Amendment Foundation has voiced their support for WPLG reporter Jeff Weinsier saying his “arrest has far less to do with his Second Amendment rights than it does his First Amendment rights”.

Full press release after the jump

Continue reading ‘Second Amendment Foundation Supports Weinsier’

WPLG Suspends Jeff Weinsier; Not Guilty Plea

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on 10/27/2007
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Miami Herald’s Joan Fleischman reports WPLG suspended Jeff Weinsier for two weeks “for violating company policy by carrying a gun without permission”. As reported by WPLG’s Rad Berky on Thursday, Post-Newsweek allows employees to carry concealed weapons only with permission from the company.

Weinsier sent an email to colleagues apologizing for his “poor judgment” and saying that he never brought the gun to the newsroom.

The article also says that WPLG “management agrees” he had the right to be on the school sidewalk. His attorney filed a not guilty plea.

Miami Herald - Armed Channel 10 reporter off the air

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: Libertarian Party Of Florida Announces Support

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on 10/26/2007
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The Libertarian Party of Florida has put a press release out announcing their support for WPLG reporter Jeff Weinsier and calling for dismissal of all charges against him.

Lpf.org - News Release Libertarians Support WPLG Reporter (pdf link)

Libertarians Support WPLG Reporter

Reporter does not give up his Constitutional right on school property

Winter Park, Florida - The Libertarian Party of Florida (LPF) is appalled at the arrest of JeffreyWeinsier, a reporter for WPLG-TV News simply for his exercising his Second Amendmentright and his ability to protect himself.

Weinsier had recently received death threats by those under his scrutiny. In order to protect himself, Mr. Weinsier applied for and received a concealed carry permit from the State of Florida and carries a firearm. Earlier this week Mr. Weinsier was arrested for allegedlystepping onto school grounds in order to cover a story on school violence.

LPF chairman, Karl Dickey said, “This is a situation where the State oversteps itsbounds when responsible citizens desire to protect themselves. Mr. Weinsier should not be required to give up his constitutional rights simply due to the place he happens to be standing. Having schools as ‘gun-free zones’ is an irresponsible policy as it allows criminals carteblanche to do what they will and leaving responsible citizens unable to protect themselvesand others.” Gun-free zones are “target-rich environments” for criminals.

The Libertarian Party of Florida calls for the dismissal of all charges against JeffreyWeinsier and for the Florida legislature to take up this unjust law in the 2008 session.

lpf.org

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: On Digg

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on 10/25/2007
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Someone posted WPLG’s Terrell Forney report on YouTube which ended up being on Digg and already has 263 diggs

Digg - MIami TV Reporter Arrested for Carrying Gun on School Sidewalk

Weinsier Released Last Night

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on 10/24/2007
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Jeff Weinsier was released late last night on bail. WPLG video

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: More Details

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on 10/24/2007
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In a report that ran at 6pm tonight on WPLG, Rad Berky reported Jeff Weinsier was arrested while standing on the street, on a crosswalk. Something clearly visible on the raw video WPLG posted on their site

Also in the same video, after the first confrontation with police, Jeff Weinsier and photog Frank Debesa can be seen going across the street as asked. Jeff Weinsier is then seen calling WPLG and heard leaving voice mail for WPLG GM Bill Pohovey. One person standing on the sidewalk and another just walking by can also be seen in the video.

According to Rad Berky’s report Weinsier called the newsroom complaining about the treatment. Assignment Editor Sandy Antonio called Ed Torrens from Miami-Dade School Police who according to Antonio told her Weinsier “can walk up and down the sidewalk as long as he’s not interrupting pedestrian traffic”.

Sandy Antonio relayed that message back and that’s when you see Weinsier and photog Frank Debesa going back to where they were before.

Ed Torrens from Miami-Dade school police maintains Weinsier was trespassing and that he was “on the ground, on the grassy side” and that Weinsier should have gone across the street when told where “designated media are” and that “he did not comply” thus getting arrested.

Weinsier’s attorney is challenging the whole case. Photog Frank Debesa has met with a detective to file assault charges against the cop who pushed him.

Regarding the gun: Florida law allows someone to carry a concealed weapon near a school with permit, which Weinsier has. However, Post-Newsweek which owns WPLG has a policy of allowing staff to carry weapons but only with permission from the company. Weinsier had no permission from Post-Newsweek to carry a weapon.

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: The Raw Video

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on 10/24/2007
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WPLG has posted the unedited video of all 8:55 minutes of the confrontation between Jeff Weinsier and the school police. Link below

Local10.com - Raw Video: Unedited Video of Local 10 Reporter Arrest

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: 10’s Glenna Milberg Blogs

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on 10/24/2007
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Channel 10’s Glenna Milberg sounds off on colleague Jeff Weinsier’s arrest in her latest blog entry. And shares her own run-ins with the local police while on assignment like having her cellphone yanked off by a cop while live on the air interviewing someone.

Milberg’s Musings - Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: The Herald Reports

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on 10/23/2007
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The Miami Herald is reporting Weinsier’s arrest as well. Their version has a little more detail.

The Herald is quoting Detective Ed Torrens saying that Weinsier “repeatedly ignored warnings to not step on the school’s grass.”

The detective also says “he believed other TV station’s cameramen only filmed Weinsier being arrested on the sidewalk, but failed to show footage of him on stepping on the grass.”

WPLG says Weinsier carries a gun because he received death threats stemming from his reports on dirty restaurants!

Miami Herald - Channel 10 reporter arrested at Central High

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: NBC6 Reports The Story

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on 10/23/2007
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6 just ran a short report on SFL Nightly News showing Jeff Weinsier’s mugshot.

They cited the WPLG report in which Rad Burke said Weinsier was not on school property

Jeff Weinsier Arrest: CBS4 Reports The Story

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on 10/23/2007
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CBS4 is reporting the Jeff Weinsier arrest and has the story front page on cbs4.com

They are reporting the arrest as Weinsier refusing to leave Miami Central High School grounds. Which of course depends on whether or not school grounds includes the sidewalk.

The report aired at 6:02pm, WPLG aired theirs around 6:10pm

CBS4.com - Police: Ch.10 Reporter Arrested At School With Gun - Video report

Update 7:39pm: They’ve updated the story to reflect the WPLG report and added some quotes from his banter with the cops

Update 10/24: WFOR had a second report on TV last night and apparently had a photog sent out to wait for Weinsier to bond out - video link

Channel 10 Reporter Arrested

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on 10/23/2007
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Got a tip Rad Berky will report on 10 at 6pm. Im holding back to see if it is who i was told it is before I put the name on here.

**//Jeff Weinsier has been arrested for carrying a consealed weapon in a school zone

***///According to the report on Channel 10 Jeff Weinsier was on assignment at Miami Central High School.

He wasn’t inside the school. The confrontation was with school board police for his right to be on a public sidewalk.

Weinsier to cop: Why are moving us from here?
Cop: Because we’re kindly asking you to … the school has requested that you please go across the street
Weinsier to cop: I am asking you. Why are you asking us to go across the street on public property.

The cop then proceeded to shove the photog telling him to turn the camera off.
After the arrest they conducted a search and found the gun. Weinsier has a permit to carry a consealed weapon, he was not inside school property.

He was charged with carrying a weapon on school property and for trespassing after being warned.
Weinsier is being held on $11,500 bond according to WFOR

Update 7:45pm: here’s the charges he was booked on. He was oficially booked at 6:20pm tonight

Charge: TRESPASS/SCHOOL PROPERTY/WEAPON, FIREARM/POSN Bond: $ 5000**

Local10.com - Local 10 Reporter Arrested While Covering Story