Activists respond to police, plan cop watch

(KXAN) AUSTIN - The YouTube video of activist Antonio Beuhler videotaping an arrest in Downtown Austin, only to be arrested himself, has made the rounds. Now, the Peaceful Streets Project is speaking out yet again, calling the arrest police misconduct.

Austin Police Department held a news conference earlier this week explaining their reasoning behind the arrest .

A group from PSP held its own news conference outside of APD headquarters Thursday morning, speaking up on the group's action against police misconduct.

Beuhler, the man at the center of it all, says he's continuously targeted by police and arrested for reasons with no legal backing.

The YouTube video shows the incident on East 6th Street early Sunday morning when police say Beuhler and members of the PSP began videotaping an arrest in a dispute between a man and a woman. The group frequently videotapes arrests as a way to keep a check on the department.

Officers told Beuhler to step back several times and said he was interfering with their investigation. Eventually they arrested him.

Police held a news conference Monday saying they're working on guidelines for situations like that, and right now they say officers in general need 50- to 60 feet of space when making an arrest.

Buehler had his own message Thursday.

"I'm not even worried about this recent arrest. Neither is my lawyer. It has no basis in the law. It's quite clear that the cops acted out of control, but what's interesting about it is, despite how pathetic of an arrest it was -- not grounded in law -- the Austin Police Department is willing to push forward with it and even hold a press conference on a class B misdemeanor," he said.

Members of the PSP maintain they've not obstructed police activity by the legal definition. And they say the 50- to 60-feet rule is purely speculation.

PSP plans a massive cop watch Thursday at 10:30 p.m.