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NHCSO says additional training ordered, but no policy violations found after viral video claims wrongful detention

The YouTube video features footage taken by a man who appears to be detained by numerous New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office deputies. They repeatedly ask for his name and identification, but the man declines, saying the deputies have given no grounds for suspicion and aren’t charging him with anything.

On Friday afternoon, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office posted on social media that the “Sheriff’s Office is aware of the current video on social media of the incident that took place on December 11, 2023” — but didn’t offer any additional context.

The post included a statement from Sheriff Ed McMahon: “I have seen the video on social media and have addressed my concerns with each Deputy involved. I have ordered additional training to be implemented and want to thank the community for bringing this to my attention; we owe our community the highest level of service.”

Other posts on social media quickly identified the ‘current video’ in question: posted yesterday by the YouTube account LackLusterMedia, which has over a million followers and has posted nearly a thousand videos of alleged police misconduct, incompetence, and other bad behavior. A spokesperson for NHCSO confirmed it was the video referenced in the Sheriff's statement.

The post in question was titled “9 Cops For ID Refusal During Unlawful Detainment” and appears to stitch together two earlier videos, which appear to have been posted by the man involved in the incident in mid-December. Unlike the original posts, which had 5,000 and 20,000 views respectively, this post currently has over 200,000 views.

In the video, the man is bicycling at night and stops at a car wash in the North Chase area of northern New Hanover County to put air in one of his bike tires. Two NHCSO deputies approach him and ask for his name and identification; the man repeatedly refuses, citing the 4th Amendment, and berating the officers for not understanding or respecting his constitutional rights.

At one point, the man asks if he's being detained. A NHCSO deputy says he is.

"Am I free to go," the man asks. "Or am I being detained?"

"You're being detained at this time," a deputy says.

"For what crime," the man asks.

"For suspicious activity," the deputy says.

"Suspicion is not a crime," the man reiterates several times.

When a deputy asserts law enforcement is "trying to figure out" what crime he's being detained for, the man responds, "nah, that's not how it works, bro."

According to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, reasonable suspicion to detain a suspect must be based “on specific and articulable facts, as well as the rational inferences from those facts, as viewed through the eyes of a reasonable, cautious officer, guided by his experience and training."

Over the course of the video, five additional NHCSO vehicles appear on the scene, with what appears to be a total of nine deputies. At least one of the deputies does attempt to de-escalate the situation, but repeated requests for the man's date of birth, name, and identification lead the man to argue "you don't have to verify who I am, that's bullshit."

The man does use a considerable amount of profanity, which the deputies protest. However, while the video ends before the situation is resolved, it appears he did not end up cited or arrested.

The narrator of the viral video notes the man involved “said a bit more than you should when speaking to the cops, but he still ended up walking away from the encounter without charges or surrendering much more of his rights.” The narrator also notes that “taxpayers paid for the wages of six police cruisers and nine uniformed members of the Sheriff’s Office" during the reported half-hour the man was detained by law enforcement.

According to a NHCSO spokesperson, the Internal Affairs division investigated the incident but didn’t find any policy violations.

Ben Schachtman is a journalist and editor with a focus on local government accountability. He began reporting for Port City Daily in the Wilmington area in 2016 and took over as managing editor there in 2018. He’s a graduate of Rutgers College and later received his MA from NYU and his PhD from SUNY-Stony Brook, both in English Literature. He loves spending time with his wife and playing rock'n'roll very loudly. You can reach him at BSchachtman@whqr.org and find him on Twitter @Ben_Schachtman.