Cop Plays Taylor Swift Song During Confrontation, Hoping Copyright Rules Would Keep Footage off YouTube

A California sheriff’s deputy is under investigation after playing aTaylor Swiftsong duringa filmed confrontation with protestersTuesday, admitting he hoped the song would trigger YouTube’s automated copyright system and keep footage of the argument off the video platform.

Protesters had come to the Alameda County Courthouse for a hearing in the voluntary manslaughter case against Jason Fletcher, a former police officer in San Leandro, Calif., charged in the 2020 fatal shooting of Steven Taylor, a Black man holding a baseball bat who allegedly tried to leave a Walmart without paying.

James Burch, a member of the Oakland-based Anti Police-Terror Project, toldThe Washington Postthat police had told him and his fellow protesters to remove banners they’d placed on the steps of the courthouse. Burch said the now-viral video picks up during an argument over the placement of the banners.

At that point, a puzzled Burch asks, “Are we having a dance party?”

Another person off camera says, “Are you playing pop music to drown out the conversation?”

Moments later, a different person off camera says, “You’d only do that if you knew you were being an a——, dude.”

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source: people.com