Facebook Justice League

I found the documentary we watched in class on the Arab Spring highly interesting, and, although I was familiar with the initial auto-arsony, I knew little of the details of the incident. Additionally, I had no prior knowledge on its viral impact in the area and even globally.

I went to Boulder this weekend, and on the car ride over, my friend mentioned to me an incident that reminded me of the documentary.

UC Berkeley campus cop confiscates hot-dog vendor's hard earned cash

I hadn't heard about this story, but it's linked here. In sum,  a campus police officer was caught on video taking money from the wallet of a food vendor on the grounds he was not permitted to sell there. 

The vendor is said to not speak much English, and did not understand the situation or the cop's rationale. He was selling following a campus sporting event, expecting a flood of people and a profitable shift.

The cop seizes the vendor's money, as the law he cites would allow him to do. There is debate on his legality in this case, as he's not able to prove all of the money he took was hot-dog money. 

A customer witnessed the altercation, and began filming on his mobile phone. He's heard in the video questioning the officer, who responds with something like "sorry for protecting and serving you."

The man questioned why students were allowed open containers on campus, despite them not being purchased from the school facilities, but he was taking cash from a man trying to do the same thing as those beverage companies.

He uploaded the video to Facebook and set up a GoFundMe, the proceeds of which would be going to the hotdog vendor and other street vendors as well, depending on its success. 

Many students were upset by the incident, calling for the officer's resignation or firing.

It reminded me of the initial vendor in the documentary, as he was a fruit vendor being harassed for the same kind of thing. 

My friend also talked about the manner in which such confiscations would be distributed. Would such seizure return to the tax payers? To the station?

This was a campus officer, so if it did go back to the station, wouldn't it just be going back to the pockets of UC Berkeley?

One story I read stated that the officer was merely following through on a campus mandated crack-down on unsolicited vendors. However, warnings or citation would seem like a necessary precursor before forcible seizure of assets. 

This incident is obviously vastly different than the Arab Spring catalyst, however, the similarities in the story I felt were worth mentioning.

Although the officer did not outwardly seek a bribe, how different would that have been?

Bribery vs. Finery

If the vendor hadn't allowed the officer to take this cash, the necessary progression of events would be pretty predictable. Had he not allowed the officer to take his money, he probably would have been brought to the station. 

From this point, will he be fined? Imprisoned? Deported? 

The possibility of these grievances all to be minimized in this incident, should the vendor give the officer his cash. 

Sounds kind of like a bribe to me. 

Facebook and vendor justice

The man who took the video, Martin Flores, created a viral spread similar to that noted in the Arab Spring. Although the police corruption in this case is far different from that covered in the documentary, it is interesting to note the similarities in the situation. 

The turn to Facebook, and its effectiveness was another similarity I found especially striking. 

What is it about Facebook that inspires vigilante justice via information exchange? I'm not sure, but the story was an interesting and relevant thing to wander into in a place where every other passerby is yelling "skobuffs" your way.