Andrew Wimer

Director of Media Relations at Institute for Justice (@IJ). Former Hill staffer, former speechwriter, current Dad. Opinions are my own.

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

"If the United States mean to obtain or deserve the full praise due to wise and just governments, they will equally respect the rights of property, and the property in rights." James Madison, 1792 https://t.co/MrXb2LFiku

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

Best fireworks night in baseball.

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

Reliving my college years. Primanti Bros, Yuengling, and a Pirates game.

[Brendan Keefe - Atlanta News First @BrendanKeefe]

If you have "impeccable past work history" as a police officer & you're "going through a personal issue" you can "use Flock to track a person" & still keep your job in one Georgia department. Chief wrote that future violators will face discipline because it was a "one-off."

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

@TheFP @SulkinMaya The cameras might not be interested, but if you dated a cop, they might be very interested in tracking you. https://t.co/yC92xxa4Rx

[Institute for Justice @IJ]

Leo Feler was far from home when he got an alert from his security camera.

He watched helplessly as Customs and Border Protection agents invaded his property, trying to arrest the workers who were fixing his house.
🧵

[Brendan Keefe - Atlanta News First @BrendanKeefe]

We are now tracking more than 70 cases nationwide where officers or police agency employees have been investigated, fired, resigned, and/or arrested for misusing Flock camera data, mostly for tracking love interests or exes. The list grows every day.
@InvestigateTV @ATLNewsFirst

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

Check out @m_greenberg1 on @ClearlyEstab pod talking about the @IJ fines and fees case headed to the Supreme Court. Can Alaska take a plane over a pack of beer? https://t.co/NEv9p7Zgrx

[Institute for Justice @IJ]

In 2016, the Department of Labor ordered vegetable farm Sun Valley to pay more than $500,000—mostly for fines related to paperwork mistakes that harmed no one.

Now, the support is piling up for IJ's upcoming #SupremeCourt case representing the farm owners.

More than a dozen groups—including former Department of Labor officials from both parties, former U.S. Attorneys General, the U.S. Chamber, @NFIB, and @CatoInstitute—are urging #SCOTUS to rule in favor of the family farm.
https://t.co/4ti7PUrSS3

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

George Retes missed his daughter's third birthday party last year because he was being wrongly held by the federal government. He did not miss it this year as he continues his fight for justice over the unconstitutional detention: https://t.co/fV9l4dtqSA

[Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo]

Last July, federal agents illegally arrested @IJ client George Retes and jailed him for 3 days.

In the process, George was held at a navy base, which reporting now shows was used as a law enforcement staging area.

I'm no expert, but doesn't that violate the Posse Comitatus Act?

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

The amicus briefs in support of @IJ's Sun Valley case have rolled in and my favorite theme is former DOL officials believing the DOL doesn't have the power to demand ruinous fines through its own courts.

There's the brief from a former acting secretary, former deputy secretary, and former counselor to the secretary: https://t.co/v4jKV3mZJk

But there's also the amicus from @NFIBLegal, which is written by a former counselor to the secretary: https://t.co/TNvxrPuOr9

As a former DOL employee myself, it's great to have other agency alums support the Marino family's fight for a fair hearing. More on all the briefs here: https://t.co/6tqoLIpiFR

[Justin Pearson @JustinPearsonIJ]

BREAKING: The Ninth Circuit just ruled that our major First Amendment challenge to the federal government’s ban on truthfully using the term “low-FODMAP” on food labels can move forward! @IJ #FreeSpeech https://t.co/zafJqN6LeY

[Anthony Sanders @IJSanders]

Yeah, sure, whatever, Josh got the PA Supreme Court to overturn the state’s open fields doctrine. But the more interesting part of the story is how his dazzling looks wowed at oral argument. Here was how it ended (edited for clarity & space): 1/4

[Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo]

Today, I’m in New Orleans to watch my @IJ colleague, Marie Miller, argue in the 5th Circuit.

Our case, Rosales v. Lewis, challenges a fabricated traffic stop.

The police were denied qualified immunity, so they get an immediate appeal (to continue stalling this now-4y/o case).

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

The Cybertruck of homes. Fairfax, Va. https://t.co/vtQqqTaFV8 @zillowgonewild

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

Read the story here: https://t.co/UEFOLJo6h6

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

The Flock CEO shrugs off misuse of its powerful technology.

Blackstone: It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer

Langley: Gotta break some eggs to make an omelette.

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

Chicago Homeowner Sues Immigration Officers Over the Warrantless Raid That Damaged His Home

Leo Feler was far from Chicago when he got an alert from his security camera. He could only watch helplessly as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents invaded his property trying to arrest the workers who were fixing his house. His remote pleas to respect his property were ignored and, when he got home, he found damage that totaled more than $30,000. But the violation was deeper than the monetary cost.

Last fall, in the midst of the “Midway Blitz” operation, two vehicles of CBP agents drove the wrong way down a one-way street and leaped out at the house owned by Leo. Four construction workers replacing windows were eating lunch. The sudden raid prompted three of the workers who were on the sidewalk to retreat behind the home’s gate.

Without any hesitation, the agents tried to force the gate open and then scaled the five-foot metal fence. They chased the workers around the property, climbing onto the balcony in pursuit of one worker and chasing another into the detached garage.

While three of the workers evaded capture, the one in the garage wasn’t so lucky. He was apprehended, and in the course of capturing him, the agents damaged construction materials. Inside the home, there was blood from one of the workers injured by the agents.
While onlookers were watching and recording the raid, no one tried to stop the vehicles from leaving. Still, agents popped tear gas canisters with one being caught on camera remarking, “Throw it for fun.”

Leo first tried to report the intrusion to Chicago police, but the first station he visited wouldn’t even let him file a report, and a second said that there was nothing they could do. It’s extraordinarily hard for local authorities to hold federal officials accountable unless the federal government lets a prosecution move forward.

Suing federal officials is also exceedingly difficult, but Leo is trying anyway. This week, he and the Institute for Justice (@IJ) announced his lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). While the raid happened last fall, Leo could not actually file a lawsuit until now because the FTCA requires people to first go through a claims process that gives the government six months to respond. CBP ignored Leo’s claims.

Leo may have plenty of video evidence that the agents violated his Fourth Amendment rights and damaged his property, but his lawsuit will be no cakewalk. It will likely be a long, expensive legal battle. Thanks to IJ’s donors, Leo won’t have to foot the bill. As with our other FTCA cases, IJ hopes that the precedent set by Leo’s case will make it easier for others to get justice.

This case joins the host of others we are pressing across the country: Penny McCarthy, who was wrongly arrested by U.S. Marshals; George Retes, the veteran held for three days without criminal charges; and Cathy George, the Atlanta woman whose home was wrongly raided. In Alabama, Leo Garcia Venegas is both working to stop unconstitutional raids and detentions, and seeking compensation through the FTCA.

The Constitution binds the federal government from violating rights and it is clear that officers cannot violate the sanctity of Americans’ homes without a warrant. When government officials violate rights like those found in the Fourth Amendment, we have to be able to hold them accountable. Otherwise, the Constitution is just a decaying piece of paper.

[Dan King 🇺🇦 @Kinger_DC]

Yesterday, the Oklahoma County District Court denied the state's motion to dismiss @IJ's lawsuit challenging its insane licensing requirements for casket sales!

We'll now make the case on the merits that these restrictions are unconstitutional.
https://t.co/wLWuYjWbpP

[Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer]

Chicago Homeowner Sues Immigration Officers Over the Warrantless Raid That Damaged His Home

Leo Feler was far from Chicago when he got an alert from his security camera. He could only watch helplessly as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents invaded his property trying to arrest the workers who were fixing his house. His remote pleas to respect his property were ignored and, when he got home, he found damage that totaled more than $30,000. But the violation was deeper than the monetary cost.

Last fall, in the midst of the “Midway Blitz” operation, two vehicles of CBP agents drove the wrong way down a one-way street and leaped out at the house owned by Leo. Four construction workers replacing windows were eating lunch. The sudden raid prompted three of the workers who were on the sidewalk to retreat behind the home’s gate.

Without any hesitation, the agents tried to force the gate open and then scaled the five-foot metal fence. They chased the workers around the property, climbing onto the balcony in pursuit of one worker and chasing another into the detached garage.

While three of the workers evaded capture, the one in the garage wasn’t so lucky. He was apprehended, and in the course of capturing him, the agents damaged construction materials. Inside the home, there was blood from one of the workers injured by the agents.
While onlookers were watching and recording the raid, no one tried to stop the vehicles from leaving. Still, agents popped tear gas canisters with one being caught on camera remarking, “Throw it for fun.”

Leo first tried to report the intrusion to Chicago police, but the first station he visited wouldn’t even let him file a report, and a second said that there was nothing they could do. It’s extraordinarily hard for local authorities to hold federal officials accountable unless the federal government lets a prosecution move forward.

Suing federal officials is also exceedingly difficult, but Leo is trying anyway. This week, he and the Institute for Justice (@IJ) announced his lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). While the raid happened last fall, Leo could not actually file a lawsuit until now because the FTCA requires people to first go through a claims process that gives the government six months to respond. CBP ignored Leo’s claims.

Leo may have plenty of video evidence that the agents violated his Fourth Amendment rights and damaged his property, but his lawsuit will be no cakewalk. It will likely be a long, expensive legal battle. Thanks to IJ’s donors, Leo won’t have to foot the bill. As with our other FTCA cases, IJ hopes that the precedent set by Leo’s case will make it easier for others to get justice.

This case joins the host of others we are pressing across the country: Penny McCarthy, who was wrongly arrested by U.S. Marshals; George Retes, the veteran held for three days without criminal charges; and Cathy George, the Atlanta woman whose home was wrongly raided. In Alabama, Leo Garcia Venegas is both working to stop unconstitutional raids and detentions, and seeking compensation through the FTCA.

The Constitution binds the federal government from violating rights and it is clear that officers cannot violate the sanctity of Americans’ homes without a warrant. When government officials violate rights like those found in the Fourth Amendment, we have to be able to hold them accountable. Otherwise, the Constitution is just a decaying piece of paper.