A brief but beautiful video spreading around Twitter shows a woman at the Phoenix airport getting herself arrested after slapping the phone out of another person’s hand for filming her, possibly related to the Trump flag she had draped around herself for some inconceivable reason. The Trump supporter had a big problem with being filmed, repeatedly asking the person she assaulted if they had “permission” to film her.
Arizona is a one-party consent state, meaning that only one individual in a conversation needs to consent in order for the recording to be legal. Once the Trump supporter began talking to the person filming her, she probably waived any right to take legal issue with the recording. The law also states that even the one-party consent rule does not apply in public spaces with no reasonable expectation of privacy, such as parks, public streets, and airports.
Of course, no one is allowed to film you where privacy is an expectation, such as restrooms, locker rooms, and store changing rooms—all places where this Trump supporter was not located in when she smacked the phone.
Either way, she never had the right to assault someone and potentially damage their personal property in retaliation, which is why she should not have done so right in front of the two police officers who arrested her.
After about 15 seconds of the Trump supporter repeatedly asking “are you recording me” and “do you have permission to record me,” she violently slaps the person’s phone onto the floor loud enough that the smack can be heard from the perspective of the other person recording her. A bystander can be heard saying “oh man” at this action as the assaulted individual picks up their phone. That’s when two cops walk into view, one with a line ready.
“Do you have permission to record me?” the Trump woman again demands after the smacking.
“Well, you don’t have permission to smack people’s phones,” says the cop as he and his partner arrest her.
“I don’t care, she don’t have permission to record me,” says the Trump supporter as the officers each take an arm and lead her away. “It’s okay! I already have a lawsuit.”
It’s unclear what “lawsuit” she was talking about, but if the Trump fan thinks she can sue over being arrested for assaulting someone who was not breaking the law by legally recording her in a public space, she’s in for a rude awakening. It’s also unclear what got people filming this woman in the first place other than the fact that you know someone wearing a Trump flag like that in an airport is looking for trouble. You would think that she would welcome the extra attention she got from getting filmed.
In a world where aggressive Trump supporters are somehow still a common thing even after he was kicked out of the White House and off of every major social media platform, his critics are very much enjoying the view.
