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Hammond police seize phones from teen over TikTok video, raising civil rights concerns
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HAMMOND — Police seized a teenager's phones after people reported concerns about a TikTok video showing him dancing to a rap song with lyrics about a shooting.
The video shows 19-year-old Amari Sexton dancing to music with lyrics about a shooting. A caption on the video reads "Y'all ready for the Strawberry Festival?"--a reference to a shooting that injured two people at last year's festival.
According to the Ponchatoula Police Department, "numerous people" expressed concern that the video might be a threat. The Hammond Police Department got a search warrant for Sexton's home and seized his phones.
Jill Craft is a Baton Rouge defense attorney who handles civil rights cases. She said the video might not have been enough to justify a search warrant.
"I don't necessarily think it was enough to get a search warrant," Craft said. "I really think, probably in this day and time with school shootings and stuff like that, it might be enough to go ask questions."
Sexton has not been arrested. Ponchatoula Chief Bry Layrisson told WBRZ there's no telling what they will find in his phones.
"Does that mean if somebody thinks there might be something on my cell phone and they get a warrant for it, what do they do with the content that is completely unrelated as to the purpose of the warrant in the first place?" Craft said.
Eugene Collins is a community activist and former NAACP president. He said the search is a violation of civil rights.
"It's ludicrous but exactly what I expect from Ponchatoula," Collins said.
According to online records, Sexton has faced charges before for aggravated flight from police and having an illegal weapon.
Collins said past charges don't justify violating constitutional rights.
"I don't care what the kid allegedly done in law enforcement's eyes, what the kid was involved in, that still isn't a right to violate his constitutional rights," Collins said.
Craft said the reaction to the video sets a dangerous precedent.
"Was it the type of music? Was it the lyrics of the music?" Craft said. "This is commercially available music, and he doesn't himself utter any kind of threats whatsoever."
Hammond Police Chief Ed Bergeron refused to elaborate on what content was used to obtain the search warrant due to it being an open case.
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