In viral video, Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris threatens to pepper-spray man who refused to back away

Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris has gone viral with a citizen’s video of Norris asking him to step back before reaching for his pepper spray.

The clip racked up more than 32,000 views by Thursday afternoon, two days after its publication date on the North Idaho Exposed YouTube channel, operated by far-right activist Casey Whalen.

In July, Whalen organized an anti-mask protest outside former Spokane health officer Dr. Bob Lutz’s home. The next month, Whalen arranged an ‘Open carry if you care’ rally in Coeur d’Alene, during which he had a warrant out for his arrest and was taken into custody on suspicion of a prior misdemeanor.

The video, taken Monday by a man who North Idaho Exposed did not identify, according to the caption, shows two patrol vehicles pull up behind a white sedan in the parking lot of the Broken Egg Cafe in Coeur d’Alene.

The man with the phone begins filming from several car lengths’ distance away before approaching. Norris asks the man to step back.

“Shut … up, get back to work,” the man says. “I’m your employer. I’m recording you. I have a right.”

Norris continues to ask the man to back up while the man repeats that he has a right to stand on public property to record “your crimes,” and asks why the deputies had pulled the driver over.

Norris approaches the recording man.

“For our officers’ safety, I’m asking you to step back,” Norris says, before placing his hand on his pepper spray canister.

The recording man asks for Norris’s name and badge number. As Norris gives his name, the man interrupts. Norris then pulls out his pepper spray and walks toward the man with the phone, who starts stepping backward. Once the man has moved a few yards back, Norris puts his pepper spray back on his belt and walks away.

The majority of YouTube commenters, as of Thursday afternoon, indicated they believed Norris was acting reasonably and the filming man was interfering. Some commenters described Norris as tyrannical. Dozens of commenters pointed to “officer safety” as a “catchall” to violate citizens’ rights.

Lt. Ryan Higgins said it’s not uncommon for those posting on North Idaho Exposed to take videos of officers if they feel people’s rights are being violated.

“They have the right to record, and we’re not disputing that,” Higgins said. “And sometimes they’re doing it just to provoke the officer. Still, we tell our guys, let them record.”

In the video, Norris never asks the person who was filming to stop recording.

Taking photos and videos of officers in public spaces is legal, but the American Civil Liberties Union describes a “widespread, continuing pattern of law enforcement officers ordering people to stop taking photographs or video in public places and harassing, detaining, and arresting those who fail to comply.”

The ACLU emphasizes that recording officers is critical to offering an independent perspective of arrests and has led to social change. At the same time, officers can order citizens to stop behavior truly interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations, according to the ACLU’s guide for recording police.

Spokespeople for the ACLU of Idaho did not immediately respond to requests for an interview.

In this case, Higgins said the sheriff had arrived as backup for Coeur d’Alene police. It didn’t seem to Higgins that the recording man was threatening violence, but because the person being pulled over might have been a suspect in a violent crime, the onlooker “chirping” behind officers could cause a safety problem by distracting officers from the driver.

“We have a job to do, and that’s making sure people are abiding the law and that the roads are safe,” Higgins said. “If you let us do our job, you can video record all day long.”