Cops Harass Wheelchair-Bound Vet, Take His Cellphone Out of Spite, Arrest Him on Probation Violation After Story Goes Viral

Healthcare through the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) is, for now, the closest the U.S. has to government
healthcare. Like with all things government, the VA has its own
police force. Like other police forces, they seem to have a problem
with being recorded, and disrespected.

Wheelchair-bound veteran Todd MacRae says VA police snatched his
phone from him while he was trying to record them. He says it all
started when he ordered VA cops to leave the room while he was
visiting his doctor. They were called when McRae got upset his
doctor didn’t accept his answer to a question about his drinking
habits. He had calmed down by the time they got there, and the
doctor said she could finish her appointment with McRae. Witness
what can happen when government and healthcare collides in the
worse way.  via Carlos Miller of
Photography is Not a Crime reports:

They accused him of “disturbing the peace,” and ordered
him, along with his dog, to follow them downstairs to their office,
where they could cite them.

“I told them, ‘write me a ticket or shut the fuck up,’” he said,
acknowledging that he doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind to the
cops…

A week later, his 23-year-old daughter dropped him off for his
weekly blood tests, but because she had to attend class at the
local college, she left him two hours earlier than his
appointment.

So he entered the Starbucks on hospital property with his dog,
which is completely allowed, but then one of the cops from the
previous week entered, recognized him, and started hassling him
about his “vicious dog” not being muzzled.

The cop ordered him off the hospital under threat of trespass
arrest, which caused MacRae to miss his weekly appointment for his
blood tests that enables him to survive despite having more than 20
pieces of metal in his neck.

“I had to call my daughter to come pick me up and she had to leave
school,” the former construction worker said.

On Tuesday, he was at the hospital for another appointment, minding
his own business in front of the hospital, when a VA cop walks up
and begins hassling him about his dog.

Unlike the two prior incidents, MacRae began recording with his
phone, only for the cop to lie and say he was not allowed, then
eventually snatching it from him.

Among the problems with this story: state law doesn’t require
service dogs to wear muzzles. Neither is recording police against
the law in Virginia. Nevertheless, cops pointed to a federal statute
prohibiting unauthorized photography to issue him a citation. So
this story has government healthcare, police abuse, and the war on
terror.

Even worse, Carlos Miller reports McRae was arrested on a
probation violation stemming from a decade-old incident just hours
after story went live on Photography is Not a Crime. Read
more and watch the video McRae took
here.