Woman holding sign warning of police speed trap gets arrested
By Madison Ruppert
Editor of End the Lie
Trying to do your fellow citizen a favor by warning them of a police officer waiting to catch people for going slightly over the speed limit? Think again, unless you want to risk being arrested in the process.
While this ordeal is relatively minor considering that elderly people have been brutally beaten by police for no apparent reason and even killed simply because their spouse called for assistance, it is yet another sign that the United States is completely out of control.
In today’s climate where police get free military hardware including military robots, this case is almost good news seeing as Natalie Plummer only had to spend 12 hours in jail and get charged with a misdemeanor instead of being brutally assaulted or even murdered in cold blood.
Plummer’s experience was still quite absurd and far beyond what is acceptable for a force which is supposed to protect and serve the people, not act as revenue collection agents.
The incident occurred after Plummer noticed police officers pulling cars over as she was riding her bicycle on the way home from the grocery store.
She pulled over, transformed a shopping bag into a sign warning drivers that they were soon going to face what many call a “speed trap.” Essentially, this is an area where police hide out and wait for anyone who might be going over the speed limit or otherwise engaging in illegal activity in hopes of raking in funds from ticketing unsuspecting motorists.
“I was completely abiding by the law,” Plummer explained to a KRTK, a local Houston, Texas-area ABC affiliate. “I was simply warning citizens of a situation ahead.”
Clearly, the police officer who arrested her soon after she began warning motorists did not agree.
Plummer claims that the officer originally threatened to arrest and charge her with obstruction of justice, which is not only a felony but could carry 3-5 year sentence.
However, she was actually arrested for standing in the street when a sidewalk was present, which is only a misdemeanor, a charge she claims to be innocent of.
Personally, I didn’t even know that standing in the street was an offense which could result in arrest.
Jodi Silva, a spokesperson for the Houston Police Department, claimed that officers found Plummer standing in the street, waving her arms while holding the sign warning drivers of what was ahead.
Plummer, on the other hand, denies ever stepping off the sidewalk. She claims that the officer who arrested her simply created a reason to detain her since she was holding a sign which could result in cars slowing down before the speed trap.
“He couldn’t take me to jail for holding up this sign or he would have. So all he could do was make up something fake about it,” Plummer said.
The officer even searched Plummer’s backpack without her consent according to her account of the events.
Oddly enough, some methods of warning other drivers of a police presence are indeed illegal in certain states, while holding a sign isn’t on the books just yet.
For instance, flashing headlights, which is one of the most common warning methods, is illegal in Arizona and Alaska while in Washington motorists can be fined up to $124 for flashing their high beams within 400 feet of another car.
Even more states forbid the flashing of headlights in certain circumstances, while in Washington one can be fined for flashing one’s headlights for any reason whatsoever within 400 feet of a fellow driver.
The police department seems to be brushing off all of the accusations quite easily. For instance, Houston’s executive assistant police chief Michael Dirden simply said that Plummer should file a complaint with the Houston Police Department’s internal affairs division if she believed that the police acted in an inappropriate manner.
Currently Plummer is waiting to have her day in court after being released on bond having spent 12 hours in jail.
As mentioned before, this is far from the most disturbing case which has come up recently, especially when compared to horror stories such as that of Andrew Messina.
Nevertheless, it provides a perfect example of how our police force is increasingly moving away from their mandate to protect and serve and increasingly towards their new duty as thugs and revenue collection agents.
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Madison Ruppert is a Los Angeles-based independent journalist and researcher as well as the founder, owner, administrator and editor of EndtheLie.com. He has no affiliations with any government agencies, political parties, non-governmental organizations, or economic schools. He is available for freelance writing assignments and appearances or interviews in any format. He can be reached by emailing
Wow. How can anyone deny that cops are nothing but revenue collection agents nowadays?
It’s not a speed “trap” if you’re not speeding idiots!! If someone is speeding, they are driving carelessly. Do you want a loved one injured or killed by these careless people?? Think about it.