KC man cited after filming ‘reckless’ arrest. Council wants to protect such witnesses
Roderick Reed began recording as he watched two Kansas City police officers last year forcibly arrest a black trans woman and kneel on her back. Last month, that video was cited when prosecutors announced a grand jury had indicted the officers.
And yet Reed, 52, has been convicted of failing to obey a lawful order — an ordinance that City Council members now want to change to protect witnesses like him.
The council’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety committee voted unanimously Wednesday to pass and fast-track legislation to amend the ordinance officers used to cite Reed. In its current form, the ordinance says residents shall not “willfully fail or refuse to comply” with a lawful order from an officer. The change would make it clear it doesn’t include “any order or direction that prevents or impedes the witnessing or documenting … of the actions of such officer.”
Put simply, they want to ensure residents like Reed can record the actions of police officers. The full City Council is expected to hear the issue Thursday.
Councilwoman Katheryn Shields, 4th District at-large, said Reed was ordered to move on and stop filming and was cited for refusing to do so. Police say the citation came because he refused to move his car, not because he was filming.
“The purpose of this amendment … is to make it crystal clear that such is not a lawful order for the police to give and that our citizens cannot be prosecuted for stopping either just to observe or to observe and film activities by the police that are going on in the public realm,” Shields said.
Kansas City Police Capt. Scott Simons told the committee that officers use the ordinance in cases where “it may not be necessarily a direct interference with what the police officer is doing at that moment, but it’s a possible interference with something else.”
“That gentleman was not issued a citation because he was filming,” Simons said. “Had he pulled up in front of that police car, behind that police car, walked up on the sidewalk, he could film all day long. We welcome that. We have no problems with that.”
Simons said Reed’s car was parked in the middle of the street, and drivers were trying to get around him.
Councilman Lee Barnes, 5th District at-large, bristled at Simons’ statement.
“I don’t give a damn if he had stopped his car, got on the roof of his car and been filming,” Barnes said. “I don’t care. He should not have been arrested. That is crazy, particularly in this instance — in an instance when the filming resulted in the officers getting arrested.”
Reed was never taken into police custody.
Simons asked that the ordinance be held so that the department could speak with council members.
Councilwoman Heather Hall, 1st District, suggested the same, but Shields said police could use the ordinance in the meantime to arrest people protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
According to Municipal Court records, Reed was cited for failing to obey when officers told him to move his car. He was convicted in municipal court in February and sentenced to 30 days in jail and one year of probation. He immediately requested a new trial, which is pending in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Because he appealed and posted bond, Benita Jones, the Municipal Court’s public information officer, said she didn’t believe he had served any of the jail sentence. Reed’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.
Reed’s video showed officers Matthew G. Brummett and Charles Prichard arresting Breona, or “Briya,” Hill outside Beauty Essence, Barber and Beauty Supply Store at 1319 Brush Creek Parkway on May 24, 2019.
The officers responded to a 911 call from the owner of the store, who wanted to have Hill removed after a dispute. After speaking with the owner, Prichard exited the store and told Hill, who was outside with Brummett, that she was under arrest.
The video starts out showing Hill lying face down on the concrete while at least one of the officers is kneeling on her back and trying to place her hands behind her back. Court records said Brummett is then shown slamming Hill’s face onto the concrete two times and then drops his knee and a portion of his body weight on her neck or shoulder.
Hill was taken to the police department’s East Patrol Division Station, where she was issued citations for trespassing, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia.
An ambulance was called eventually to the patrol station for Hill, who had injuries to her face and complained of pain to multiple parts of her body, according to an affidavit signed by the grand jury, which cited medical records. Hill had a cut above her eye, abrasions to multiple areas of her face and dried blood.
Months later in a separate incident, Hill was shot and killed near a home in the 4300 block of Hardesty Avenue. Police at the time identified her as Brianna “BB” Hill.
In a statement following last month’s indictment, attorneys for the officers said the two “maintain that the force they used was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances.”
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office says the officers each face a misdemeanor fourth-degree assault charge for “recklessly causing pain” to Hill as she was being handcuffed.
The discussion comes after days of unrest in Kansas City — and across the globe — following Floyd’s death. Derek Chauvin, the officer who was recorded kneeling on Floyd’s neck, was charged on Wednesday with unintentional second-degree murder, in addition to earlier charges. Three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting.
Several prominent community groups submitted testimony in favor of the legislation presented Wednesday.
A letter from Gwendolyn Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, says “clandestine” investigations of such cases sow distrust that is “exacerbated when law-abiding citizens are arrested, charged and convicted for using their mobile devices to record the actions of police as they unfold in public settings.”
“It should be noted that without corroborating evidence provided by videos taken by citizens, there would have been no indictment in the … Hill case,” Grant said. “There would be no arrest in the George Floyd case. Ahmaud Arberry’s case would never have come to light, and the list can go on and on.”
The Kansas City chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference also urged the committee to support the ordinance, noting Kansas City police officers do not wear body cameras, which the letter said was among the demands of protesters.
“Are you aware of the civil unrest outside your chambers?” the group said. “Do you understand this ordinance is the kind of reform we are marching about in the streets? Are you paying attention?”
The Star’s Kaitlyn Schwers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 2:46 PM.
