Videographer says Gilbert cops hounding him
Apr. 15—A self-described "First Amendment auditor" says the Gilbert Police Department is hounding him, going as far as to serve a search warrant to Google for his Gmail account.
Mesa videographer Chris Ruff claimed police want to find out who in the department leaked him the Officer Awareness Bulletin last year that labeled him a threat to the law enforcement community.
"It's a personal account," Ruff said. "I used to email the Gilbert and Mesa courts with this email with my court stuff.
"Ultimately they are not going to find anything in the email. That's not the concern. What's important is Gilbert is trying to use a felony warrant through Superior Court to access my email to find my contacts."
The March 29 search warrant demanded Google to hand over any and all records associated with Ruff's Gmail account, including the contents of any and all emails stored in the account between June 1, 2023 to July 17, 2023. The warrant does not name Ruff but the Google ID "sushibruja@gmail.com."
Ruff, who calls himself a "guerilla journalist," is notorious among Valley law enforcement for video recording them at scenes where officers are working. He then uploads these videos on his YouTube channel, where he has 285,000 subscribers, and on other platforms.
Using the social media moniker "Direct D," he has said the purpose behind his videos is to catch violations of First Amendment rights and hold police accountable for following rules and procedures. He's not above taunting the cops in his videos.
However, Ruff says he's stopped all video-recording in the state after he was alerted of the bulletin, which he said at the time was like putting a target on his back.
"I have not been arrested or filmed any Arizona police officer in almost a year," he said.
There are, however, recent videos on Ruff's YouTube channel of him filming in other states.
According to Gilbert Police, there was probable cause that supported the issuance of the warrant, which is used to help officers in their investigation. The department would not confirm or refute Ruff's claims.
"The incident you are referring to is an active investigation and we are unable to provide additional information at this time," stated an email from Gilbert Police. "Additional information may be made available at the conclusion of the investigation."
The warrant states that the department received information that someone gained unauthorized access to the Arizona Criminal Justice Information System in July 2023, and released the confidential law enforcement-only threat assessment bulletin that was then posted by Ruff on a social media platform.
ACJIS, which includes criminal history, is maintained by the Arizona Department of Public Safety for users such as police agencies and courts.
"I completely have no open case in Gilbert, no warrants and charges," Ruff said, noting that his last arrest in town was on Mother's Day in 2021 but the case was dismissed.
Police last year said the department's bulletin stemmed from "threatening statements" Ruff directed at the law enforcement community in a video he recorded. Ruff said his comments were directed to four Mesa cops who made threats against his life.
Gilbert Police has said that the bulletin was meant to caution officers who may come into contact with Ruff. Police specified that there was no probable cause to arrest Ruff.
The bulletin warned officers to exercise "extreme caution when conducting enforcement or making an arrest" with Ruff given his recent threats of harm. It also cautioned officers that Ruff is not allowed to have weapons "but it is unknown at this time if he has access to any."
Ruff served a seven-year prison sentence for armed robbery and kidnapping and was released in 2017. Since then his run-in with the law, including jail time, have been over his filming and streaming.
Ruff said that the Gilbert detective who filed the warrant "thinks there's a government official or people who work for the police is leaking me information."
Ruff said he's not going to fight the warrant as it would take money. He added that he stopped using that Gmail account two years ago.
He maintained that he is protected under the federal Privacy Act, which protects people who disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast or other similar form of public communication from seizure of work product material.
"As a journalist, I am protected," Ruff said.
