These cops accidentally recorded themselves trumping up false charges against a protester

Last September, police officers in Connecticut accidentally recorded themselves plotting to fake charges against a protester after they confiscated his cell phone and failed to realize it was still recording.

The incident began when a man named Michael Picard protested a highway sobriety checkpoint police set up near his home, something he has done for years because he believes it is a waste of tax dollars. He made a sign warning drivers of the cops ahead and sat with it by the side of the road while armed with a handgun for which he has an open-carry permit.

The police at the checkpoint confronted Picard, and when he tried to record the encounter on his phone, the officers took the device — but didn't turn off the recording app. That's how Picard's phone ended up recording about eight minutes of the cops debating how to charge the protester because, as they put it, "Gotta cover our ass." They decide to lie and say he was waving the gun in the air, making up imaginary reports of multiple motorists who observed this behavior but mysteriously refused to give an official statement.

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This misconduct has come to light now because Picard has finally succeeded in getting criminal charges against him dropped, and, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, is suing the state of Connecticut on First and Fourth Amendment grounds.

Watch an abbreviated version of the recording released by the ACLU below. Bonnie Kristian