Mark Fiorino, accosted & abused by Philly police - NOT GUILTY

[yellowtail3]

Mark Fiorino was taking a walk in his Philly neighborhood one day, carrying his Glock openly - this is legal in PA - when he was accosted by one of Philly's Phinest. The officer addressed him as junior while aiming a weapon at him, then launched into a profanity-laced tirade, threatened to kill Mr. Fiorino if he didn't immediately lay on the ground.

http://www.copblock.org/2187/mark-fiorino-nearly-shot-by-philly-pd-for-open-carrying/

Mr Fiorino violated no laws. The police were mildly disappointed to discover this, but remained unapologetic for their thuggish behavior. Afterwards, an angry & embarrassed DA vengefully filed charges against Mr Fiorino when he learned that the entire incident had been recorded, and the recording released to the public.

It seems that LEO/Prosecutors (State) don't like their incompetence/thuggishness to be made public... and if you do it, they just might use their power to show you Who Is Boss.

Well... trial date has come, and Mr. Fiorino is NOT GUILTY.

http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=MC-51-CR-0017077-2011

He never was guilty of any crime, of course - the charges were an abusive 'we'll show you not to mess with us!' act of vengeance on the part of the prosecutor. One wonders how much money it cost to extricate Fiorino from the maw of the beast. That's one very regrettable thing about the power of LE/prosecutors - they can screw over a law-abiding citizen, pretty much with impunity. Even if they can't convict that ham sandwich, they can cost him a lot of money and grief. And there will almost never be an apology, or any accountability.

Latest word is, Philly PD will continue this behavior, when encountering citizens with firearms.

[magooch]

Typical liberal gun-grabber, power crazed, entitlement mentality. 

[Cabin4]

No surprise as the power hungry liberals that create and operate public policy in places like Philly, will continue this. Accosting people Rights is perfectly fine with the liberals as long as that Right is one they want to take away from you. The press will either not report on this or if they do, they will focus the reporting on how "outrageous" the right to carry law is and the risk it poses to police and citizens.

[Hooker]

What they need is  500 - 1000 or so march of legally armed citizens walking through down town.
Then see what kind of bravery those jack booted brown shirts exhibit.

Pat
 

[jimster]

Same thing happened in Detroit Michigan and a couple other large cities, Michigan is an open carry state as well.  The city police eventually got the message, as it cost them money to harass people for this.  We heard the State police had to send out info to some cities reminding them open carry was legal.  There have been court cases as well where the police lost trying to use "brandishing laws", so after that brandishing was clarified in court, and open carry was not considered brandishing at all.  The only way to beat this behavior is to challenge it until it stops.  The police are supposed to protect the law, not interpret it to what they want. 
 

[OldSchoolRanger]

The only way to beat this behavior is to challenge it until it stops.  The police are supposed to protect the law, not interpret it to what they want. 
 

Agreed, but you guys have to understand the average street cop is in favor of gun rights.  There will always be "idiots" that are looking to bust chops.  Then there are agencies where the street cop is told what laws to "interpret".  These are usually big urban centers like Detroit, Chicago, Philly, NYC, etc. where the Police Commissioner (or his equivalent) is a liberal, and appointed by a liberal mayor.  Cops in those places get their "marching orders" from the top. The average cop will find a way to "ignore" the bad laws, so don't blame the rank & file, blame the politicians, in power.

[briarpatch]

I would think the man could sue for restitution. Rodney King won a lot of money, it would seem the precedent was set.
He would however have to spit outside the circle when he got a lawyer. Anything around that town would throw him to the wolves.