21/08/2024
In this week’s Observations online:
A video made in Zwolle by a group called Traveling National Transparency has had a good bit of recent interest on YouTube. It can be searched with “Do You Understand the Words That Are Coming Out of My Mouth?” on YouTube.
Traveling National Transparency is a group that has what it calls “auditors” visiting various government agencies to check on and push the boundaries of First Amendment Rights. We do not know what date the group's representative was in Zwolle.
His video shows an employee at the Zwolle Post Office getting out of her car and walking toward the building. The man is there with his camera, and she asks what he is doing. The employees don’t want the man at the post office and call Zwolle Chief of Police Daniel Thomas.
Chief Thomas arrives quickly and is met by the camera. The Chief tells the visitor that the employees don’t want to be photographed and don’t want him around, and he has to leave. The photographer responds that he has a Freedom of Information obligation to be there. They then argue a while, and the next clip shows the interviewer and Chief Thomas at another location.
Thomas asks for the man’s Driver’s license. They argue again for a while, and then he finally gives his license to Thomas.
The two then get into another argument, and Thomas tells the man to stay away from the Post Office because they don’t want him there. “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?” the Chief asks pointedly.
It’s funny to watch. Folks like that travel around and try to get a rise out of public officials. They call themselves “independent journalists,” but the main goal seems to be getting as many eyes as possible on their video content because they also say they are filming for “advertising and commercial purposes.” Some public officials enjoy playing the game with them.
As of Tuesday, Aug. 20, a total of 142,000 viewers had watched this video on YouTube. A narrator set up each portion that was shown, interjecting to comment about how public officials feel “entitled” and act “rude,” among other remarks.
Of note, kudos to the Zwolle Police Dept. On the clip, the narrator says, “Wow, the cops got there quick!”
For all this week’s articles, visit robertgentryobservations(dot)com