Unlawful Discrimination and Detainment in Anthem, Arizona
Against an Honorably Discharged Disabled United States Veteran
at Anthem Community Center / Veterans Memorial Park - April 9, 2020
Story Summary
I'm a disabled veteran with Oregon disabled veteran license plates who arrived at the Anthem Community Center at 3:17PM, April 9th, 2020 mainly to wash my windows and walk around the park until it closes at 7pm. At 5:09PM, I was always quiet and walking outside of my vehicle when Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff Robert A. Dietrich approached me and said I need to leave within about 10 minutes because (in summary) he claimed I was there for three hours, they don't like my van, it's private property and the park is closed. Knowing I had a right to be there, was only there a little over an hour and the park is still open for almost two hours, I politely asked the deputy for a business card. He got very upset, said since I want to do this all formally, he will cite me for trespassing, went back to his car to put his vest on, came back, asked me questions, harassed and wrongfully detained me. The deputy went on to elaborate that he wanted to trespass me from the Anthem community (apparently not just the community center) and repeat why they didn't want me there which included my running for president in 2024 and that my van is a threat to females (!?!). I increased my politeness to try to deescalate. It was successful as we increasingly had a cordial conversation. I did so because while under duress, I felt the threat of being illegally arrested or possibly hurt if I didn't soften up to him.
Fact Summary
This was blatant wrongful and/or illegal discrimination and civil liberty rights violation ironically against a disabled veteran at a veterans memorial park. There are no "private property" signs anywhere on the property. It is a public community center. I was there for 1.5 hours upon being approached. Other members of the public were there far longer than I was and were not approached. The park closes early due to COVID-19 at 7pm. I never did anything to cause any reasonable suspicion or probable cause. I have the entire incident on video and audio:
The very first hostile encounter missing due to my windows were up, when he left for his car, I rolled them down for audio.
Erroneous portions edited out due to being very long. Full video available. Another video with commentary pending.
The two community center employees who "cried wolf" and lied about how long I was there, the misbehaved deputy and disabled veteran.
If the two ladies felt threatened by me/my van, why did the walk around it several times?
The "alcohol" mirage (chicken bone broth) - see video
My van I keep clean and maintained inside and out at all times.
No junk. I'm a quiet non-smoker; van has no smoking signs on outside.
Complaints Against Deputy Sheriff
Discrimination and harassment as evidenced in the video.
No probable cause of suspicion to threaten with trespass / false claim of private property and that the park was already closed.
False accusation of being there for three hours and/or camping (I was outside of my van when he approached me). Many other false statements.
Threatened to tow my vehicle and do an inventory or claim could do.
Violated social distancing (sometimes).
Complements For Deputy Sheriff (or the closest I can get to complimenting)
For a long time towards the end the deputy was trusting, open and cordial except there was a shocking interruption of threatening to tow and inspect my vehicle contents which contributes heavily to this complaint. He tried to be informative, but much info he said is wrong.
Even though all accusers were eventually nice to me, none apologized and the discrimination and harassment will not be tolerated.
Resolution Desired - Sheriff's Department
Fire, discipline or at very least retrain the deputy.
Have the deputy's vision (bone broth claim as alcohol - see video) and mental health checked to include anger management.
Retrain all community center employees and volunteers to prevent this from happening to anyone else. You have my permission to use my video for training purposes.
Apology from sheriff's department and community center; offer allowance to return anytime when open.
Resolution Desired - Community Center
Fire, discipline or at very least retrain both employees of the community center.
Retrain all community center employees and volunteers to prevent this from happening to anyone else. You have my permission to use my video for training purposes.
Apology and offer allowance to return anytime when open.
Disabled Veteran Victim
Eric Talaska
(360) 214-4474, eric@econeato.org
Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff
Robert A. Dietrich, badge #S1127
550 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, AZ 85003
(602) 876-1000, (602) 876-1011
Anthem Community Center
info@anthemcouncil.com, (623) 742-6050
Wikipedia - Community Centers are Public
