By William R. Toler
A video posted on YouTube last week made its rounds across the internet Thursday featuring a man being hassled then arrested…over a can of tea.
The video starts with a man identified as Xstrav (identified by LatinRapper.com as Xstravagant, real name Christopher Beatty) standing outside a car with a can of Arizona tea. The video description says Beatty and friend Tino Brown were waiting on friends before going inside the state-run ABC liquor store in Fayetteville.
Shortly after, a man walks up to Beatty asking, “What you drinkin’?” Beatty walks toward the man showing the can and says, “It’s a tea…what’s wrong with you?” The man asks if there’s any alcohol in it and Beatty turns the can around pointing out what it is, “Sweet tea-lemonade.” The man then demands that Beatty hand over the can. It wasn’t until asked that the man identified himself as “police” without showing identification.
The plainclothes “police” man then tells Beatty he has five seconds to leave the property. When Beatty asks why, the man tells him he’s trespassing and says, “You’re not going in there.” Beatty and Brown ask for the man’s badge number. He flashes something on his hip, repeats, “You’ve got five seconds to leave,” and within one second he orders Beatty to put his hands against the car while pushing him toward it.
The man then begins to apprehend Beatty telling him he’s under arrest, takes him to the ground, and adds on “resist, dealy obstruct” never informing the arrestee of his Miranda Rights. As the man with the camera questions the arrest, the “police” man threatens him with arrest for interfering with an investigation.
There had been some speculation as to the validity of the video, so another video was posted showing Beatty being loaded into a squad car. Furthermore, there is a Christopher Beatty listed by the NC Court System as being charged with misdemeanor second degree trespass and misdemeanor resisting public officer.
That officer is Rick Libero, a special agent with the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Agency.
This case should be dropped for a variety of reasons: 1. Libero didn’t identify himself as an leo prior to demanding what was Beatty was drinking. 2. Libero approached Beatty shortly after he got out of his car, before he could enter the store to make a purchase. 3. Libero’s demand of leaving the property in five seconds was unreasonable. 4. Libero’s second demand of leaving in five seconds was followed in one second by demand to place his hands on the car. 5. Libero pushed Beatty, unprovoked, which is assault. 6. Libero did not inform Beatty of his Miranda rights during the arrest.
The only crimes committed were by Officer Libero.
Luckilly for Beatty, the entire event was caught on camera and serves as evidence of no wrong-doing on his part. Otherwise it would have been his word against Libero’s…and we know how that would go down.
[This post originally appeared on IndieRegister.com.]
Thanks for reading. Rapper arrested over canned tea is a post from Carolinas CopBlock
