In St. Louis, there is a police cruiser losing control and crashing into a bar. Moments later, the police lost control again. As the Advocate headline says, "Police officers first crash their SUV into St. Louis gay bar, then they arrest the bar owner." Here's more from NBC News. Police say around 12:30 a.m. an officer was heading too close to a parked car and tried to correct himself, but lost control of the cruiser crashing into bar PM. Chad Morrison James Pence are the married co-owners of the bar who live above it. I jumped up thinking it was an accident with a vehicle. And then I seen it and it was a St. Louis City Police Department vehicle in the front of our building. Pence says police asked him for ID. He refused and was put into handcuffs. Then he says police made a homophobic slur to his husband. There was one cop that made a very homophobic remark. My husband did put his hand on a cop out of defense because they had already put me in handcuffs for coming out wanting to know what's going on. I was told I had to ID or shut up. Pence's husband is bar PM co-owner Chad Morris. Police claimed in charging documents that after the crash Morris screamed obscenities. One officer wrote that he struck me hard in the chest with an open hand causing me to temporarily lose my balance. Morris then allegedly fled into a gangway between the bar and another building closing a gate on an officer as he did according to the police statement. Morris's lawyer Javid Khazelli says that a 20-minute bystander video of the incident tells its own story. "They unlawfully handcuffed Mr. Pence," Khazelli says. "They falsely claimed that speaking loudly is against the law and they used that as a predicate to arrest Mr. Morris." St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones was recently asked about the incident. Well, that's still under investigation and and soon as I have more information, we'll be able to get that get that information to you as well. In the meantime, neighbors and friends of the bar owners have already pitched in to rebuild the space. Right now we're just literally getting things back to where they can open again. That community spirit is the good news in all of this. The bad news is that bar PM co-owner Chad Morris still faces charges of felony assault and a misdemeanor of resisting arrest. To be clear, if anybody goes hands-on with a police officer or pushes a cop, that person is going to get arrested and charged and they may get roughed up in the process. However, local reporters have looked at extensive surveillance video of this incident say Mr. Morris never pushed the cop and eyewitnesses insist Mr. Morris, the co-owner, simply yelled at the police and poked his finger at one. And again, the cops had just crashed into and wrecked the man's bar. So, the owner's anger and frustration is understandable. Also, if it's true that police used a derogatory slur, one can appreciate why the couple might respond with some loud obscenities. And to be clear, the courts have long held that yelling at police or telling them to do that thing that is anatomically impossible is protected speech. Hopefully, the local prosecutors will look at all of this, drop the charges against Mr. Morris, and encourage the police to apologize. According to police records, the cop who was driving and caused the crash has been on the force for less than a year. He reportedly thought he was traveling too close to a parked car, overcorrected, and lost control. Thankfully, the bar was closed at the time and nobody was hurt including the cops who were in the car. However, clearly feelings got hurt and the police chose to erupt. And this kind of overreaction seems to happen with police in America literally every day. It doesn't seem to matter whether you are a bar owner, an ordinary citizen walking down the street, or a reporter trying to cover a story. Are you are you trying to say I'm criminally trespassing because that's a felony? Well, then please leave me to my duties, sir. In Pennsylvania, on the right, that is journalist Jesse Blackburn. He is educating and shaming Officer John Unruh. >> I understand I'm trying to do a jerk Well, if it's a public area, then you know as a law enforcement officer, you have no right Sir, what is that? What is that? What the heck is this? What is this? Oh my god, it's a camera on your property. Oh my god, I can get public records through the LLRA. So, please leave me alone, sir. You're harassing me. >> Blackburn is not just a courageous and informed reporter. He is also a sworn law enforcement officer. It's funny. I'm a constable myself and I had this constable Unruh try to violate my civil rights. That's crazy. But it gets even worse. Blackburn covers white-collar crime and corruption in Southwestern Pennsylvania's Fayette County on his Facebook page Fayette Exposure. On June 23rd, 2022, he was attending a pre-trial hearing when the judge ended the case for the day. This is Jesse with Fayette Exposure. I'm here covering the Tommy Shafer incident. It has been quite the preliminary hearing. Within moments, an unidentified man interrupted and told Blackburn not to film him. >> mean, it was like Well, we're in public, sir, but I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that, but we are in public. So. Uh people really need to learn their their law regarding public uh you're not making it, sir. Uh people need to learn the law about recording in public. You're allowed to. Don't let somebody tell you you're not. There's, you know, clear case law that goes up to the Supreme Court that says you're allowed to record in public. >> Blackburn is spot-on. So, I don't know who this gentleman was, but that's him leaving. That was trying to confront me over recording. I don't I don't even know who he is. I don't really care about him. He doesn't seem like he's anybody important. >> Still, he got a friendly smile and waved. I'd like to stand out here. Maybe you guys could watch Mr. Shafer as he comes out. >> Two minutes later, while describing a defense strategy, Blackburn was interrupted again. From my from what I seen, there was no denial by Mr. Shafer, so that's This is public access, which I'm doing. I'm not recording inside a building close proximity. The constable off camera is referring to Pennsylvania law which broadly prohibits filming in a courtroom or close proximity. But the actual Pennsylvania codes 201 section 1920 and 5103.1 prohibit recording or taking photographs in the courtroom and areas immediately adjacent. Pennsylvania courts have explained this means all areas within the exterior walls of the building. Outside the entrances and exits to the courthouse are not restricted. Blackburn knows this. The officer interrupting him does not. >> Well, I'm not I'm not in the courtroom, sir. Sir, there's a trooper right there and I'm also a constable myself. I know the law. I know the law. So, I'm not going to stop doing my journalist duties. So, if you feel you need to arrest me on camera, there's a trooper we can go ask him about >> asking you nicely. And I'm telling you that I have a right as a journalist under the First Amendment. Well, that's not within state law. That's not abiding by state law. No, it's not, sir. No, it's not. Go ahead. I'm recording. What's your name? What's your name? Unruh, U N R >> I'll be filing What's your name? Unruh, U N R U H. John Unruh, constable for Brownsville Ward 3. Okay. Okay, I'll be talking to the CC about this. Go ahead. Okay. Well, so I'm recording. I'm I will. I will. And I'll be you know, I'll talk to my attorney Joel Sansone, too, because if you're trying to violate my my civil rights as you are, sir. This is a public access publicly accessible area. If I go over here, tell me what the heck is the difference. If I'm recording from here, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. This is public. Guy's an [ __ ] and I'm going to be filing complaints against him. I don't know who the hell he thinks he is. But anyways, that's the story. Mr. Shafer was told that he should be disbarred by Mr. DeFino before the case was uh recessed to another day. So, we'll be back and I think maybe next time I'll bring my my attorney to educate that uh poorly informed constable. Kudos to Jesse Blackburn for keeping his cool. It's a good reminder to all of us that staying calm with police is important even if the cops don't know the law, are abusing your rights, or have just crashed into you or your business by no fault of your own. By the way, here in Connecticut, folks are still talking about police this year who deliberately smashed into the wrong home. Police misconduct, Warwick. Police misconduct, Warwick. Check out that video at the link below. I'm David Shuster. Thanks for joining us.