On October 1st, 2024, while the charge was still pending, Mr. Kitchen was at City Hall when he decided to video record some police cars that were parked in a public area. While he was filming, he found some personal information that was publicly visible and showed the video to Officer Candace Robertson of the Gordonsville Police Department, who had responded to back up Deputy Fields at Mr. Kitchen's original arrest. Mr. Kitchen told The Random Patriot in an interview that a third party got involved in his with Officer Robertson and began to loudly taunt him. >> And in the process of me showing her this video, there was a guy that was standing there talking to her and he started to get mouthy and real loud and I told him, "Hey dude, I'm not talking to you, so you know, just kind of leave me be and let me finish my conversation, so to speak, and let me get out of here." Well, he took a fit to that and began to taunt me and try to, you know, and they're sitting there watching this the whole time. Well, I had stepped back and had my camera in my hand, my phone, and I shook it back and forth and said, "Hey, I'm coming after you guys for what y'all done to me the other day and it was wrong." And she's like, "Well, you just threatened me." And I'm like, "No, ma'am." She took it completely out of context, which is what officers always do. I just get in my truck and leave. Well, as I'm getting in my truck to leave, I look in my side mirror on my door of my truck and he's standing there mouthing and I just reached up, flipped him the bird. Well, I looked I looked beside him and she was right in my view, so she got the bird, too. >> Officer Robertson followed Mr. Kitchen after he left and eventually initiated a traffic stop in his neighborhood. Mr. Kitchen was almost home, so he decided to drive a few blocks to his driveway before stopping. >> Get out of the vehicle. Roll down your window. Roll down your window. >> ROLL THEM DOWN. >> NOW. >> Because you're ordered to. >> Okay. >> Do you have any weapons in the vehicle? >> No, sir. >> Need you to step out. >> For what? >> Now. >> For what? >> Cuz I'm telling you to step out. >> For what? >> For disorderly. Step out of the vehicle. >> Sir, there's no >> You're going to step out of the vehicle or I'm going to bust the glass. Now. >> Dude, man, you can't do this. >> You don't have to take that man's car. >> Y'all can't do this, man. >> Step out. >> You're just mad because I come out here >> Step out of the vehicle. You didn't show me anything. Step out of the vehicle. >> did. >> Is that back window open? >> Is he coming out? Step out. Hands on the bed. >> Put the phone down in the channel of the bed. You got everything on >> I can I can record you guys. >> it down. I don't want your hands on it. >> record you guys. >> Put your phone down. >> I have the right to record. >> Put your hands behind your back. >> What are y'all doing, man? What are y'all doing? Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh. Y'all don't like these cameras. Y'all don't like these cameras. Y'all can't do anything when we're documenting. >> You just cussed me in front of my daughter in a public parking >> dude. No, I didn't. I was talking to that other guy. >> No, you threatened me in front of my daughter. >> No, I didn't. I just said I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to bust you in the mouth, dude. That's what I was talking about. I showed you that. >> I'm going to go there. I'll put it in your pocket. >> So, is that in the car? >> Twice. >> No, I didn't. >> Put it back there everyone to see. >> No. >> And he would get us. Yep. >> of my daughter in a public parking I was in TNT parking lot. Come up to my vehicle. >> To show you that your that your chief >> And I told you that he >> information. Yeah, I was just showing you. And I never cussed you, ma'am. I was cussing that dude. Because he >> I know you're talking about my daughter. >> I didn't see no child in there, man. >> You didn't see the teenager standing beside of my window? >> I didn't see no child in there. >> Look at how you You like >> guys are just making this up, man. Y'all know y'all already got me on disorderly, so you're just making it up. >> You threatened my body camera, didn't you? >> No, I didn't threaten them. >> Stuff in the back. You got them? >> I have a seat. >> I have a charge of disorderly and assault. >> And evading. >> He didn't pull over. He knew it was Bucker. >> So, what did he do here? >> I was sitting here cleaning cleaning talking to my daughter and Ron Hall cuz she works with him. So, we were going to work. And uh he come up to the window and wanted to know who drove the black patrol truck. >> Oh, wow. >> He started showing me pictures. He went around and took a bunch of pictures inside Shannon's truck and there was like a the top of a ticket showing and it had some nice personal information. He's like, "I just want y'all to know that that's illegal and y'all can't do that. You're I'm not going to post this on Facebook, but after the other day, he was like, "I'm after y'all." >> Y'all very young and we're very individual. >> I'm like, "Okay." And I was like, "Well, the chief is the office. You can go and talk to him." He's like, "No, I'm telling you to do it." And then he just like he was getting him and Ryan were getting into it cuz Ryan >> have ever left the gas station if I'd have been on the side. >> And so, he was yelling at him and was cussing and flipping him off and was like threatening us as he's trying to get back in the truck saying that he was going to get us all and and I was like, "Call Shannon." He's like, "If you want to get him for disorderly." But yeah, he was flipping off and he was cussing in front of Anna. >> I would do assault and disorderly. >> So, I followed him. I was talking to Shannon and that's why it took me so long cuz I >> Well, it's time to figure out what we're going to do. >> up trouble if he's going to try to make trouble, but he's also this is the second time he's messed with cops for no reason. Like literally I saw it happen because I backed up Junior and Nathan when they were on that stop because I saw him stop and he jumped out of his truck and started rushing the traffic stop. And Junior was rushing back at him and he was all because he laid on his horn because I guess Junior and him were stopping traffic because of the blue lights and he was pissed at the car in front of him that was slowing down. So he laid on the horn past him and Junior told him stop. So he stopped and was cussing Junior because he was so loud. Obviously he's a sovereign citizen. Short people who He's a sovereign citizen too. What did he say he was a first amendment auditor? >> yeah. That's what they go and do filming inside of patrol cars and >> Mhm. >> and all that. Don't know if there's really a whole lot of legal about it, but it's just >> Yeah, because they're building up their time. >> he make a or What's the violence? What was it he said? >> He said he was he was going he was going to he's going to be on top of us and then he later on he circled back around to it and said I'm going to get y'all. So depends on how you interpret it. >> the words, but he didn't >> follow through. >> Oh, I took it straight I took it that maybe we immediately said it to him and he said it again. He doubled down. >> I guess I would just say it like he was innovating. >> I was about to say it with two roads. He knew we was back here. >> I would have handled it every day. >> Yeah. If we're going to do it, might as well. >> The officers explained that they interpreted Mr. Kitchen's ambiguous statement that he was going to go going to get them as a threat of violence and discussed potential criminal charges to pursue against him. As the Supreme Court explained in the 2003 case of Virginia versus Black, quote, the First Amendment permits a state to ban so-called true threats, which encompass those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals. Section 39-13-101 of the Tennessee Code includes so-called true threats in its definition of assault, stating that {quote} a person commits assault who intentionally or knowingly causes another to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury. Now, there are several issues with applying this statute to Mr. Kitchen's statement. First, the statute requires that the statement put another individual in reasonable fear of imminent or immediate bodily harm. Here, Mr. Kitchen did not specify any sort of bodily harm that he was going to cause, and by waving his camera back and forth, attempted to communicate that he intended to expose the officers, not cause physical harm to them. He did not take any physical actions that would communicate to Officer Robertson that she was in danger of an immediate violent attack, and even explained that he was not threatening her when she accused him of doing so. Accordingly, even if Officer Robertson actually was afraid that Mr. Kitchen was going to cause her imminent bodily injury, it is highly unlikely that a court would conclude that such a fear was {quote} reasonable. >> Where'd y'all light him up at? Two roads over from where we first >> Well, whenever we were still on Upper Berry, and then he turned on Allen. >> And she turned her siren on and he didn't and just pretend like he didn't know, but he knew he was back here. You look at for him, he's in hers. Well, he can't leave this home in the back of it. >> I said I do a disorderly and evading and yeah. >> Yeah, I said I did him with evading. >> Evading, resisting arrest. >> Yeah. >> Cuz he wouldn't give me his arm, yeah. Well, he wouldn't give me his arm, either. I had to pry him loose. >> Yeah, I was like he wouldn't stop. >> He didn't, yeah. That's what I told her. I said that's evading at the very least with a disorderly. After his second arrest, Mr. Kitchen was charged with disorderly conduct, fleeing and evading, resisting arrest, and simple assault. Mr. Kitchen hired an attorney following the incident, and after his initial court date was rescheduled, he eventually reached a deal with the prosecution to dismiss all charges. Mr. Kitchen has no desire to pursue a federal claim against the deputies, and he wishes to move on from this incident peacefully. Overall, both the Smith County Sheriff's deputies and the Gordonsville police officers get an F for demonstrating a fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment and for free expression, maintaining hostile and confrontational demeanors throughout both encounters, and for likely arresting Mr. Kitchen in retaliation for exercising his rights. Deputy Fields set the tone of the first incident by threatening Mr. Kitchen with an arrest for disorderly conduct simply because he honked his horn and made a profane gesture. As mentioned earlier, the Constitution is clear that offensive speech and gestures directed at law enforcement falls squarely within the protections of the First Amendment, with the exception of fighting words or true threats, and Mr. Kitchen's conduct was unquestionably protected. The deputy further escalated the encounter when he framed his demand to leave the area as a {quote} "lawful order" despite Mr. Kitchen being a significant distance from the traffic stop and not interfering with it in any meaningful way. Courts routinely uphold officers' authority to manage an active scene for safety, but in this case, there was no tangible threat or obstruction, making Fields' order legally dubious at best. The conduct of the Gordonsville officers during the second encounter was equally problematic. Although Mr. Kitchen's prior exchange with the officers is not captured on body cam, it is highly unlikely the vague statement that he was {quote} "going to get them" would survive legal scrutiny as a legitimate threat to the officers. The Supreme Court's standard in Virginia versus Black makes it clear that a {quote} "true threat" requires a serious expression of intent to commit unlawful violence, and based on the statements of the officers, it doesn't appear that Mr. Kitchen's conduct met that standard. The decision to follow Mr. Kitchen, initiate a stop in his neighborhood, and escalate matters into multiple charges was totally unnecessary and blatantly retaliatory. Taken together, the actions of these two departments illustrate a pattern of overreach aimed more at punishing perceived disrespect rather than addressing actual criminal conduct. And this interaction highlights how easily statutes can be misapplied when officers prioritize personal offense over objective legality. And why a robust understanding of First Amendment protections is indispensable in modern policing. Mr. Kitchen gets a B+ because although he could have exercised his right to silence more effectively, he was well within his rights to make profane gestures at the officers. He remained relatively calm and collected throughout both encounters, and he followed up these interactions through the proper legal channels. While much of Mr. Kitchen's conduct could be viewed as somewhat antagonistic, particularly in the first encounter, nothing he did was illegal or warranted an arrest in any capacity. When Deputy Fields accused Mr. Kitchen of disorderly conduct for honking and raising his middle finger, Mr. Kitchen did not cower or become belligerent. Instead, he stood his ground and he voiced his perspective while demonstrating both an awareness of his rights and a willingness to challenge the deputy's overreach. Uh during the second incident with Officer Robertson, Mr. Kitchen again faced questionable accusations. And while Mr. Kitchen's statement about {quote} going to get them was certainly ill-advised, the surrounding context made it clear that he was referring to exposing the officers rather than physically attacking them. Nonetheless, it is never a good idea to use ambiguous phrasing while expressing dissent towards anyone, especially members of law enforcement. And this was one of the many occasions throughout these encounters where Mr. Kitchen could have benefited from simply remaining silent. That said, Mr. Kitchen consistently avoided crossing the line into unlawful conduct Despite being followed home and confronted by multiple officers, he did not attempt to flee, resist with force, or lash out verbally at any time. And he did eventually comply peacefully in both interactions. While some of Mr. Kitchens conduct was strategically unwise, nothing that he did was unlawful. And it in no way warranted the response that it ultimately generated. This encounter highlights the notion that citizens can assert their rights and challenge overreach without resorting to hostility. But, doing so effectively often requires carefully balancing speech with silence. Let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic that you would like us to discuss in the comments below. Thank you for watching, and don't forget to check out my second channel for even more police interaction content. >> [music]