Border Patrol officer threatens legal observer with arrest for recording in Florida
Nov 20, 2025

A U.S. Border Patrol officer in Key Largo, Florida threatened to arrest a 64-year-old legal observer for following an unmarked CBP vehicle and recording the encounter. The observer, part of a local group monitoring immigration enforcement activity, was warned he would be arrested for allegedly impeding an investigation. Multiple federal circuit courts have upheld the First Amendment right to record police and federal agents, and civil liberties groups say such monitoring is protected activity.
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