YouTuber Robert “Harvey Freebird” Harvey stormed into the Joe Max Taylor Galveston Law Enforcement Facility on Tuesday to retrieve his cell phones which were seized during Harvey’s arrest for walking on the wrong side of the street earlier in the month.
Harvey was arrested and had his two mobile phones seized while protesting an identification checkpoint outside of Galveston, Texas. YouTuber Bruce “Galveston Island Transparency” Allen initially had refused to show his identification at the checkpoint, but later complied, enraging Harvey, and the two parked Allen’s vehicle to film police activities.
Despite Harvey’s initial outrage, he meekly complied with instructions from the Galveston County Sheriff’s department while at the scene. It was then a surprise to him as he was arrested for walking on the wrong side of the street as he approached the front of the checkpoint.
Harvey’s previous attempt to retrieve his property at the combined Galveston Police Force and Sherrif’s Department facility was unsuccessful. At that time, he was told by the police officer who was working the property room that Harvey would not receive his property back until the property was cleared by a judge and then after Harvey made an appointment to retrieve his belongings.
Tuesday’s incident played out to have roughly the same result, with Harvey entering the building and skipping his usual mock prayer in front of the wall of dignitaries at the entrance of the building.
Harvey confronted the clerk working the Sheriff’s department customer service window, resulting in the same officer from the property room returning to indicate that circumstances had not changed.
Outraged, Harvey told the clerks that he would give them some time while he was at the station to reconsider their actions and to return his property before he filed a lawsuit at the nearby courthouse.
During this period of “reconsideration,” Harvey wandered over to the Police Department area of the building. He put in a records request for the name and badge number of an officer he had encountered over the weekend who allegedly refused to give Harvey his name and badge number on demand.
After obtaining the officer’s name and badge number, Harvey told his fans that he would be filling out a complaint form about the officer and then featuring the officer in another video when he had the complaint notarized and returned it to Galveston police station.
Returning to the Sheriff’s Department, Harvey saw that his property had not been returned and indicated that he would now file his lawsuit against the Galveston Sheriff’s Department for “stealing” his property.
This is a developing news story.
