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Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

> Veteran never learned: Don't talk to the cops. "Am I being detained? Am I free to go?" Is all he needs to say.

Do you really think this situation would have resolved into “aw shucks, you got me” if he had said this?

Very weird to me that so many people think asserting your rights is some magic incantation that will get you out of any police encounter scot-free. We're commenting on a story in which cops literally stole a hapless man’s money. Is that not a tip-off that they’ll happily break the law when it suits them?

When you start asserting your rights and recording some of the more corrupt cops move on to legally stealing from folks that cooperate. There's really no reason to make the corruption easier to get away with.

I think if he hadn't told the cops he was carrying large amounts of money, and hadn't consented to a search, they probably wouldn't have gotten the money.

personally I'd have been polite but firm and said "sorry officer, I'm uncomfortable answering questions."

Due to Salinas v. Texas, you now need to say "I am invoking my fifth amendment right to remain silent."

For more layperson level detail, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/06/salinas-v-texas-...

I would really like to see some statistically valid results of the various responses.

When I worked for the US Postal Service they gave me a card in case I was ever stopped and asked to be searched, the gist:

  I do no consent to a search but will cooperate if required

or something to that effect -- I'd quote it directly but the person who stole my wallet at gunpoint now gets to use it during their (presumably frequently) encounters with law enforcement.

It's just naivete. The man is a military Veteran, he believes in the system, maybe he's a Blue Lives Matter supporter. Does he know that highway robbery via cop occurs all the time? Does he know not to trust cops who get massive kickbacks? Does he know he's not obligated to answer their questions and submit to their searches without cause?

To me, this all says: naivete, a lack of learning. If the cops want to escalate it and infringe on his rights, he can then lawyer up and fight it.

If you watch any of the multitude of “auditors” (people who record cops) you’ll have a better idea of how a lot of these adversarial interactions go.

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