Civil rights attorney and Arkansas State Representative John Walker was arrested September 26 for filming a traffic stop. He came upon the stop with a colleague from his law firm, Omavi Shukur, and began filming it with his cell phone. Police asked him to discontinue filming and, when he wouldn't, arrested him and Shukur, according to Arkansas Online and Mic.
The man being stopped noticed Walker coming and asked him why he was filming.
"I'm making sure they don't kill you," Walker responded.
That drew the attention of the police, who arrested him.
The 79-year-old Walker has made a career out of fighting against injustice dating back to the civil rights movement of the '60s. He says that Black residents of Arkansas are disproportionately harassed by police.
"There's a tendency [among officers] to believe that these people [they've stopped] are worthless and can be treated any kind of way," Walker told Mic in a phone interview.
Though the charges have since been dropped, and apologies issued, it's unclear if the same treatment will be afforded to all people filming arrests or if Walker's case was special because of his political status.
Watch video of the incident below.
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