BSO Shuts Down Extortion Claim With One Phrase: “You’re in Public” — Then Cites Poster 7

You never know how a First Amendment audit will go. Some public employees pass with flying colors. Some fail spectacularly. And sometimes, like what happened at USPS Weston, the government employees cause the problem — and the public follows their lead.

Let’s rewind. A viewer named @craigjacobson158 tipped me off that the Weston, FL post office had a sign posted that read: “The use of cameras or video equipment is prohibited.” That’s a huge red flag. Every federal post office is subject to Poster 7 — the official “Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Postal Property,” which explicitly states that photography is permitted in publicly accessible areas for news purposes.

So I made the trip to Weston and fired up the camera. What followed was a clear example of how misinformation from government employees can ignite confusion — and how law enforcement got it right when it counted.

The Setup

I arrived at the USPS Weston facility on May 16, 2025, with one goal in mind: to test whether employees and law enforcement would honor Poster 7 and the First Amendment right to film in public.

From the start, I noticed a disturbing pattern: postal employees telling both me and other customers that filming was not allowed. Despite Poster 7 being clearly posted, multiple staff members insisted I wasn’t allowed to record.

That misinformation lit the match. Customers who overheard the false claims assumed the staff must be right — and that I must be doing something illegal. That’s when tensions escalated.

The Accusation: “You’re Extorting People!”

One customer, clearly agitated by the staff’s repeated claims that filming wasn’t allowed, decided to take matters into his own hands. He didn’t just ask questions. He accused me of extortion.

Yes — extortion.

He said I was “taking video to make people pay to be removed from it.” Never mind that I was filming in a public building, in plain sight, without targeting anyone. Never mind that I had explained clearly I was with Good Citizen News Network and working on a story. Never mind that he was the one escalating things in a public lobby.

This wasn’t a legal argument. It was a personal attack — and a misinformed one at that.

For the record, no one has ever been forced to pay to be removed from a GCNN video. There was a page on my site offering an optional removal process — an attempt to give people who regretted their on-camera behavior a second chance. That page has since been removed after seeing how trolls and critics mischaracterized it as some kind of paywall or intimidation tactic.

Let me be clear: Filming in public is not extortion. It is a right. And when law enforcement is called to respond to these situations, they have a duty to uphold that right — not bow to complaints from people who simply don’t like being filmed.

Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened.

Law Enforcement Shows Up — And Gets It Right

When Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, I braced myself for the usual round of questions and possible escalation. But from the moment they stepped out of the vehicle, I could tell this was going to be different.

Instead of approaching me with hostility or suspicion, the lead deputy walked in calmly, asked what was going on, and listened.

When the irate customer repeated his accusations — calling me an extortionist and demanding that I stop filming — the deputy didn’t entertain it for a second.

He said, and I quote: “He’s in public. He’s allowed to film.”

And then, like music to my ears, the deputy referenced Poster 7.

That’s right — BSO cited Poster 7 on scene.

They didn’t ask me to leave. They didn’t say it was a gray area. They didn’t try to broker some fake compromise to keep the peace.

They upheld the law.

They honored their oath.

And when it became clear there was no crime being committed — and no legal justification for interfering with my rights — they turned and walked away.

That’s why I call it the “Walk of Honor.”

Why This Matters

It’s easy to highlight audits that go wrong. When government employees freak out, when police abuse their power, when people get detained for simply holding a camera — those videos get views. They go viral. They expose the problem.

But when things go right, it deserves just as much attention.

This audit showed exactly how law enforcement should behave in a First Amendment encounter. The deputies didn’t just tolerate my presence — they affirmed it. They corrected misinformation. And they made it clear to everyone present that filming in public, in accordance with Poster 7, is a protected activity — not a crime.

We need more of that.

Too often, police are criticized for failing to uphold rights, or for siding with the loudest, most emotional voice in the room. But these BSO deputies did the job correctly, even when a customer was yelling, making legal threats, and trying to intimidate me.

To the Trolls and Critics

Let’s address the elephant in the room: the constant trolling I get in the comment section from people saying I’m “extorting” people just by filming in public.

It’s nonsense. It’s also slanderous.

Public photography is not harassment. It is not intimidation. And it is absolutely not extortion.

If you’re in a public place — especially a government building — you have no expectation of privacy. You don’t get to scream “extortion” just because you don’t like the optics of your own behavior.

And if you’re still convinced that I’m doing something illegal, ask yourself this: Why did the deputies walk away?

Why did they cite Poster 7?

Why did they affirm my right to record?

Because they know the law. And they’re the ones enforcing it.

A Shoutout to BSO

I want to give a genuine shoutout to the deputies from the Broward Sheriff’s Office who responded to this call.

You didn’t flinch.

You didn’t overreact.

You didn’t cave to public pressure.

You enforced the law the way it’s written — not the way some angry customer wished it were written. And in doing so, you set an example that other law enforcement agencies should follow.

BSO, you passed this audit with flying colors.

Final Thoughts

What happened at USPS Weston is the kind of outcome I wish I saw more often.

No arrests. No threats. No unlawful orders.

Just citizens exercising their rights, and law enforcement backing them up.

Was there drama? Sure. The customer’s behavior was unhinged. The accusations were wild. And the threats of a lawsuit were laughable.

But that’s what makes this audit so powerful — because even in the face of that noise, the deputies stayed focused on the law.

To everyone watching: let this be a reminder that the First Amendment is still alive — and sometimes, the good guys do show up wearing badges.

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The title isn’t an exaggeration. It’s a pattern. And once again, Broward Sheriff’s deputies have proven that when accountability is needed most, they disappear.

On a recent First Amendment audit at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), I visited all four terminals to test whether airport employees and law enforcement respected the public’s right to record in publicly accessible areas. Most people handled the camera just fine. Some were curious. A few asked questions. But when I arrived at Terminal 3, things took a disturbing turn.

At the JetBlue baggage check, a staff member named Andre objected to my filming and told me I didn’t have permission. I calmly informed him that I was engaged in constitutionally protected activity. But instead of deescalating, a customer he was helping decided to insert himself into the situation. His name was Sean.

Sean told me to stop recording. I asked, “Or what?” and he threatened me by saying my equipment would end up in five pieces. Before I had time to react, he shoved me in the chest.

That’s assault.

And it happened right there in front of JetBlue employees, passengers, and two uniformed Broward Sheriff’s deputies who were approaching as it happened.

When I informed the deputies that I had just been assaulted and wanted to press charges, they did absolutely nothing. They refused to detain the suspect. They refused to take my report. They refused to identify themselves. Instead, they let Sean walk away, unchecked and unbothered.

Let that sink in: I was physically attacked while exercising a constitutionally protected right, and the law enforcement officers on scene looked the other way.

When I attempted to document which patrol cars the deputies belonged to, one of them made a veiled threat implying that I could be arrested if I didn’t back off. So I went back inside the terminal, took a seat, backed up my footage, and called the Broward Sheriff’s Office non-emergency number.

A few minutes later, a real cop showed up.

Deputy G. Aluc arrived, heard me out, reviewed the footage, and called for a supervisor. Together, they took my statement and confirmed the names of the officers who had refused to act. Finally, someone was willing to treat an on-camera assault like the crime that it is.

To be clear, Deputy Aluc didn’t hesitate. He was respectful, attentive, and thorough. That should be the standard. But it stood in stark contrast to the behavior of the first two deputies, who seemed more interested in avoiding paperwork than upholding the law.

The phrase “Cowards of Broward” didn’t start with me. It came out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, where BSO deputies stood outside while students were being gunned down inside. That history matters — not because it’s ancient history, but because the pattern of running from responsibility is alive and well.

And that’s the point here. This isn’t about one bad interaction, or one officer having a bad day. This is about a repeated failure of leadership, culture, and duty. When police officers pick and choose who deserves protection based on personal bias or public perception, they’re no longer peace officers — they’re political tools.

If I hadn’t had a camera rolling, this story might sound unbelievable. But the footage doesn’t lie. It shows who did the right thing, who failed to act, and who stepped up when it counted.

This audit isn’t just about filming in public. It’s about shining a light on public servants who take their oath seriously — and calling out those who don’t.

FLL is a busy, high-traffic airport. There are TSA officers, airline staff, and local deputies stationed throughout. In an environment where security is the priority, it should concern everyone that someone can be assaulted in plain sight and deputies won’t lift a finger.

Whether it’s indifference, laziness, or fear of accountability, it all leads to the same result: a failure to protect the public. And if it happens to one person, it can happen to anyone.

Deputy Aluc was the exception. He did his job. But the two deputies who ignored my report were the norm. That’s the real problem.

It’s not about me. It’s about the precedent. If police can watch an assault happen and choose to do nothing because they don’t like who the victim is, then none of us are safe.

The irony here is that these audits are meant to test the system, but the failures are never staged. They’re real. They happen in front of the lens, and they reflect how easily civil liberties can be dismissed by those sworn to protect them.

As always, you can watch the full video right here on Good Citizen News Network. If you support this kind of work and want to help keep public servants honest, consider buying me an iced coffee at buymeacoffee.com/gcnn.

Check out the links in the description for the full audit video, bonus content, and updates on any public records requests related to this incident. 

Stay vigilant. Stay free.