I'm not going to pretend I fully understand the logic behind this one. From
TPM, Rep. Peter King (R-NY; he of the unending anti-Muslim "hearings" and other bits of wackadoodle) spent a day tagging along with the U.S. Marshals Service and filming the results. The problem is,
you can't do that:
“The policy restrictions which prohibit individuals who are not U.S. Marshals employees or Task Force Officers from filming inside a private residence are intended to be in place during all ride-alongs,” U.S. Marshals spokesman Jeff Carter told TPM in a statement. “We are currently investigating this matter to determine exactly what happened in this instance.”
I don't think Peter King spends a lot of time worrying about federal laws and policies to begin with, given his track record, but the questions are (1) why the U.S. Marshals Service let him do that and (2) no, seriously—why did they let him do that? And:
[Defense attorney Bruce Barket] also questioned King’s attire. “Why was he wearing a police coat and a badge?” he said. “I’m just searching for a legitimate reason why he’d be wearing a badge and a coat like that. If you did it, you’d be arrested for impersonating a police officer.”
Is this like a Steven Seagal/Joe Arpaio thing? C'mon for a little celebrity ride-along while we do some law enforcin'? I can't imagine they considered it to be a dangerous raid, considering they were willing to let a U.S. Congressman and staff wander around the place.
I imagine King meant it to help burnish his tough-on-everything wingnut credentials, but yes, filming it for public display seems pretty sketchy. Hopefully we'll be able to learn why the people involved with this thought it'd be a good idea. Apparently they're not too confident it was a good idea, given that they've now taken down the video, but King is sticking to his (metaphorical) guns.