Arrested At Gunpoint For Exercising Too Much Freedom

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On Friday, May 27th, 2016, Michael Picard, Dontrell Brown and Goodman Brown were getting ready to protest a DUI checkpoint in Manchester, CT. Michael and Dontrell were openly carrying, legally and peacefully, as they always do, when a caller reported to the police that he was alarmed at the sight of a gun, although, by his own admission, they were holstered, we weren't threatening and we were "friends...hanging out.". Although we were engaged in legal activity, the responding officer, Jason Wagner, who has been suspended for excessive force before, drew his weapon and forced us to the ground. At that point, Officer Peter Celio arrived, disarmed Dontrell and handcuffed him. A few minutes later, Sergeant Ryan Shea arrived, seized phones, disarmed Michael, knelt on his back and handcuffed him. Eventually Officer Wagner casually put his firearm down by his side, inadvertently pointing his gun at our heads. Once he holstered his weapon, he conducted a search of Goodman Brown, then handcuffed him. As Officer Celio conducted a full body search on Michael, the officers called him by name and made it clear that they knew him. After Michael insisted on knowing what reasonable suspicion they had that they had committed a crime, they were informed that they were being arrested for breach of peace, then they were put in the back of the police cruisers, Dontrell Brown and Goodman brown in one cruiser and Michael in a separate cruiser, with no doors or windows open in either cruiser. Goodman Brown was the first to be let go at 30 minutes into the encounter, but not before the officers surrounded him, as if to intimidate him, . Dontrell was released at about 45 minutes into the encounter. After more than an hour, Michael was let go and they informed them that they would be calling a certain state's attorney, who would issue a warrant for his arrest. No warrant was ever issued. Dontrell's car was towed because his registration was allegedly unregistered, but it wasn't actually unregistered. After we had left the scene, dispatch told the officers to call dispatch on their personal cell phones, which is not subject to public records requests. A call then went out over the radio that we were intimidating people, shining flashlights into cars, etc., which is absolutely false, as we were no longer at the scene, as the officers admitted.

The Manchester, CT officers also refused to give their names and badge numbers, which was obtained later:

1. Officer Jason Wagner

2. Officer Peter Celio

3. Sergeant Ryan Shea

4. Lt. Sean Grant