The key is knowing what could be perceived as interfering with an officer’s duty.
AUSTIN, Texas—The Austin Police Department confirmed that it is investigating after a video surfaced online showing a police officer pushing a woman to the ground during an abortion rights protest earlier this week.
With more protests planned around Austin in the coming days, some might be wondering what is and isn’t acceptable behavior during a protest or rally.
Brad Vinson, an Austin attorney, joined us Thursday to help us sort through what is and is not acceptable under the law.
“You know, the main thing you have to keep in mind is that speech is protected. So that’s what everybody needs to do. They’re there to give their opinion, to express their opinion about what’s going on, and speech is protected.” . Vinson said. “You know, the intersections you’ll often see with law enforcement is when law enforcement believes or alleges that a person may be interfering with her ability to perform her public duty.”
RELATED: Austin Police Department Investigates After Officer Saw Woman Pushing During Pro-Abortion Rights Protest
So what kind of behavior could rise to the level of interfering with the duties of a public servant?
Vinson said that when a person engages in an activity that could be perceived as a danger to others or to themselves, that’s when a problem could arise.
“So something like committing a criminal offense, getting into a fight with another person, any of those things will make the police probably try to make an arrest,” he said. “What we also often see with these kinds of scenarios is someone gets arrested and other people want to interfere with that. Again, it’s all very fact-intensive and it’s very tense within a crowd like that.”
Vinson said it can be difficult to decide if someone is really interfering with an arrest.
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“But if the police think you’re interfering with someone else’s arrest, that would also be interfering with public duties,” he said.
The discussion also bears similarities to incidents from 2020, when many Austin protesters were injured by less-lethal rounds from police. Many lawsuits arose from injured protesters, some of which have already been settled with the City of Austin.
Those cases show that even though charges may ultimately be dropped, an arrest can still be made.
RELATED: City of Austin Approves $10 Million Total Settlement in 2 Civil Lawsuits Related to 2020 Protests
“In law, there are different levels of evidence,” Vinson said. “And the level of evidence required to arrest someone is probable cause. That means an officer believes these are objective facts that indicate a crime has occurred or is likely to occur.”
He added that being convicted is something entirely different.
“That standard is beyond a reasonable doubt. It is the highest load on earth. So arresting someone, maybe that might be the right thing to do at this point, but actually being convicted of that crime is something else entirely,” Vinson said.
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Reference-www.kvue.com