In the modern age, where almost everyone owns a smartphone, recording in a public setting is fairly commonplace. While it’s generally considered legal to record video on a public sidewalk without the consent of individuals, there are a few exceptions that can potentially get you in hot water. Essentially, as long as the camera is in plain view, and not in a private area, such as a restroom, recording should be legally permissible. In Lavonia, Georgia recently, however, a lawyer was caught on camera having a furious meltdown with a man who was allegedly recording on a public street.
The one-minute snippet of footage documents the tense verbal altercation, and over on Reddit, the post is accompanied by the words, “Call 911, I’m being attacked!” Interestingly, the irate man in the video has since been identified as Doug Kidd, who is a local Lavonia lawyer who works for the Law Office of Douglas T. Kidd, P.C. In the video, Kidd is not very pleased with the man who was allegedly filming outside of his Law Office, though he was reportedly doing so on public property.
“When you come by my private office and start filming, I will f*** you up! Run, motherf***er. Run!” yells the Georgia lawyer, sporting a white shirt and brown chinos. The man recording the video fires back repeatedly, “I’m on a public sidewalk, sir!” Continuing to follow and threaten the cameraman, the lawyer shouts, “Run you god d*mn coward!“
While the lawyer claims that the cameraman was recording in his private office, the cameraman clarifies, “I won’t come in your door. I can stand on the public sidewalk and film it through that window, if I could see through it.” Ending the clip, the cameraman turns to a few vehicles that have stopped nearby, and implores the drivers, “Hey, hi. Can you call 911? Call 911, I’m being attacked!“
With the video gaining attention online, social media users took to the comments to weigh in with their take on the situation. One local Redditor who had allegedly hired Kidd as a lawyer a decade ago, stated, “Hijacking top comment to say this is the lawyer Douglas T Kidd in Lavonia Ga. I had him as a public defender about a decade ago and he was absolutely awful. This video does not surprise me.” A second commenter chipped in, writing, “You would think a lawyer would at least know how the laws work.” Meanwhile, a third chimed in, penning, “After investigating this video and referencing geolocation data tables I believe the person filming may have been in public on public sidewalk“.
Currently, there’s no indication whether police arrived at the scene to deal with the heated altercation, and from the looks of things, no one was thankfully hurt. That being said, it’s fair to say that the tense encounter was not exactly a great look for the Georgia lawyer, who may need to take some time to reflect on his anger issues.
