Cellphones in hand, 1st Amendment auditors are alive and well in O.C.
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 20. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you today’s TimesOC newsletter with the latest roundup of news and events.
As you’ve gone out and about your daily routine, have you ever encountered a 1st Amendment auditor, a self-appointed provocateur who ventures out with a cellphone in hand specifically to test government workers’ knowledge of personal rights?
I knew of the gun-toting 2nd Amendment auditors who show up in public spaces to assert their right to openly carry arms, but I hadn’t heard of the auditors who go out with the aim of video-taping public workers, especially police, and posting their interactions on social media. I learned about this over the weekend when my colleague Sara Cardine reported on a recent confrontation in Costa Mesa between a 1st Amendment auditor and police. It turns out the officers had been called to the scene by a member of the public concerned about a suspicious man near Vanguard University who appeared to have some kind of device in a holster on his hip.
Cardine writes that as police officers approached the man with their guns drawn, they called out orders over a loudspeaker. She continues: “The subject sat on the ground near an entrance to the Orange County fairgrounds as he was instructed to keep his hands visible and the amplified voice advised him to comply with all commands. When a Costa Mesa police officer asked for his name, the man refused to provide it.
“Once I’m placed under arrest for a crime I will provide my information,” he shouted back. “Until that point, I don’t have to give you jack s—,” Cardine reports.
The man seems to have a firm grip on his 1st Amendment rights. You can be in public and take a video or photo of anything as long as you’re not loitering, trespassing or committing disorderly conduct. His holster held a civilian taser, not a gun.
It’s possible the man is cashing in on this practice. These “auditors” are known to “post the results on social media and in YouTube channels that can have hundreds of thousands of followers and where content is monetized and contain advertisements,” according to Cardine’s research.
In fact, a few days after the incident related above, the man posted a 46-minute video about the encounter titled “I thought my time on Earth was over” that, as of late last week had amassed 32,438 views on YouTube, where people can subscribe to watch similar content provided by the same poster.
Obviously the man survived his encounter. Once the responding officers finished assessing the situation they let him go.
Cardine interviewed public safety officials from other municipalities and learned 1st Amendment auditors have been around for the past few years.
“Such behavior is not uncommon in Orange County, where local law enforcement officials can describe any number of encounters with individuals arriving at crime scenes, DUI checkpoints or even inside police department lobbies — cameras in hand — waiting to capture a 1st Amendment violation,” she reports.
She also interviewed Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Center on Hate and Extremism.
“Some people are opportunists out for social media grandiosity,” Levin said. “There are others who really believe they are establishing the parameters of how far the government can go with respect to people’s presence in particular situations, even if it’s an annoying presence.”
Sgt. Josh Vincelet, who works in internal affairs and professional standards for the Newport Beach Police Department, told Cardine that officers are trained to respect the auditors’ rights. “He said most auditors are not local and use pseudonyms,” Cardine reports. “He advised locals to educate themselves about such behaviors, so they can understand the potential for risk and avoid escalating a situation should it happen to them.”
MORE NEWS
— Orange County has moved into the “high community transmission” level of COVID-19, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. As of Friday, the county’s seven-day average case rate had ballooned to 33.1 for every 100,000 residents — well over the CDC’s average threshold of 20. “To protect those at high risk, we are recommending that O.C. residents continue masking in public indoor settings, especially those who are at high risk or living with loved ones who have comorbidities, are immunocompromised or are prone to getting sick,” said Dr. Clayton Chau, director of the Orange County Health Care Agency.
— In related news, UC Irvine on Monday began requiring all students and staff to wear masks while inside campus buildings, following the lead of other colleges that have chosen to strengthen safety measures in recent weeks as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. UCI’s universal masking policy applies to everyone on campus regardless of vaccination status, according to this news story by my colleague Laura Newberry.
— Another UCI news item, this one not related to COVID-19 and considerably more disturbing, centers on former student Sebastian Dumbrava, who in January 2020 was suspected of planning a mass shooting on the Irvine campus after police found a trove of ammunition, large-capacity magazines and the parts to build an AR-15 in his bedroom. He was subsequently convicted only of having the ammunition and unlawfully possessing a gun and served a brief prison sentence. My colleague Hannah Fry takes a deep dive into Dumbrava’s threats against UCI students, his demands the university pay him money for his perceived loss of future jobs and his continued efforts to amass guns and ammunition. Prosecutors are certain Dumbrava still intends to commit a mass shooting on the UCI grounds. He’s now facing seven felony charges and is back in jail on $1 million bail.
— Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer, in a press conference held Monday morning, said his office has charged 20-year-old Malik Patt of Los Angeles with three murders during the recent string of robberies at 7-Elevens across Southern California that left a clerk, a customer and a homeless man dead. Patt is accused of two killings at 7-Elevens in Brea and Santa Ana on July 11 and the killing of a homeless man July 9 in L.A.’s North Hills. Patt and and his alleged accomplice, Jayson Payne, 44, have been linked to 13 robberies, according to law enforcement officials.
— Huntington Beach police arrested 34-year-old Antonio Padilla on suspicion of homicide after the body of a woman was discovered Saturday at a residence on the 7800 block of Slater Avenue. The Orange County coroner’s office on Tuesday identified the victim as Gina Lockhart, 60, of Huntington Beach.
— Four Orange County sheriff’s deputies were injured at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday after a person suspected of driving under the influence crashed into their patrol cruisers that were stopped in Yorba Linda for an arrest, authorities said.
— An investigation by the Orange County Fire Authority suggests power line sparks were the likely cause of the Emerald fire that in February burned through 154 acres according to a news release issued Monday by Laguna Beach city officials.
— A shark sighting prompted authorities to close part of the Huntington Beach coast on Monday afternoon “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a tweet by city officials at 2:19 p.m.
LIFE & LEISURE
— Five sea lions waddled their way back to sea at Aliso Beach Sunday after months in rehabilitation at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach. All five were young male California sea lions that were found as pups earlier this spring along Orange County’s coast. The center actively seeks donations during its annual Fish Drive to keep its rescued mammals fed. For more information on how to donate, go here.
— Thousands of happy spectators lined up early for their chance to “Feel the Sunshine,” as the 2022 Orange County Fair kicked off Friday morning at the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, writes reporter Sara Cardine, who was there to document the day for posterity. Cardine reports that people lined up more than an hour before the official 11 a.m. opening “just to be there when fair organizers called a countdown and rolled open the Blue Gate entrance to a flood of fairgoers.” Some of the guests scrambled to make last-minute purchases of their tickets online, she noted, the only way one can gain entrance this year.
SPORTS
— Times sports columnist Dylan Hernández writes that on Monday, the eve of last night’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, the American League’s leadoff hitter and Angels standout Shohei Ohtani provided “nonanswers” to questions about whether or not he hopes to be traded from the struggling team. “Regardless of whether he has informed the Angels of his wishes, they shouldn’t trade him,” opines Hernández. “They can’t trade him. Their only choice is to wait and hope that his Japanese sense of obligation keeps him here.”
— An incoming junior at Laguna Beach High, Ava Knepper, scored six goals in the championship match of the Pan American Junior Water Polo Championships on Saturday in Indianapolis, more than enough to help Team USA beat Canada, 17-4, for the gold medal.
CALENDAR THIS
— The Newport Bay Conservancy will hold a family nature walk by Newport Bay on Saturday, July 23. The walk will be along Upper Newport Bay, principally along the paved Bayview Trail. Guides will pause for visitors to take in the sights of birds, wildflowers and other wildlife present. The walk is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Interested parties can visit letsgooutside.org/activities/2022/07/23/family-walk-at-the-bay-8 for more information and to register.
— Shipley Nature Center’s Cool Summer Nights Series presents “It’s a Ceilidh!” on Saturday, Aug. 6, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the center, 17851 Goldenwest St., Huntington Beach. A ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) is a Scottish dance party where you can enjoy lively traditional music and learn some easy, fun dances. No dance experience or partner is needed, and kids are welcome. Admission is free. Wear comfortable shoes and a kilt, if you have one. For additional information visit shipleynature.org, or email samanthasem@yahoo.com.
KEEP IN TOUCH
If you have a memory or story about Orange County, I would love to read it (please keep your submission to 100 words or less).
I’d appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send your memory of life in O.C., news tips or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
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