'First Amendment right': Man plans to fight charge for placing sign identifying license-plate reader

WEST HAVEN — The man arrested for allegedly placing signs on license-plate readers identifying them as such has been formally charged with a misdemeanor in the matter.

David Belnap plans to fight the charge, though. He spent the night in jail following his arrest on Sunday in Marriott-Slaterville and said Tuesday that he's got an attorney to help him challenge the misdemeanor allegation.

"I don't just pay fines when I feel there's an injustice. I feel this was a First Amendment right," said Belnap, who lives in West Haven.

Court records show that Belnap, 59, was issued a citation for altering, defacing, damaging, knocking down or removing a traffic-monitoring device, a class C misdemeanor, in connection with the incident on Sunday. The case was filed in Washington Terrace Justice Court, which has jurisdiction over Marriott-Slaterville.

Belnap's arrest comes amid increasing debate around Utah and beyond about automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, which read the license plates of passing cars. Law enforcement agencies use the devices to track criminal suspects and missing people while critics view them as an invasion of privacy.

Belnap's backers in Ogden Indivisible on Monday were quick to decry his arrest and defend moves to publicly identify ALPRs. The signs he posted, according to photos provided by his backers, read "Flock is watching you." Flock Safety is a major manufacturer of plate readers.

Belnap, for his part, said he placed signs on poles holding nine cameras around Weber County but was careful not to damage the devices.

"I was extremely cautious in my design to make sure that, No. 1, it wouldn't damage the pole and, No. 2, the banner or whatever I'm going to call it wouldn't stick to the pole also," he said. "I don't feel that I should damage anything, and obviously I wasn't trying to damage their equipment or prevent them from recording the things they wanted to record."

He placed the signage, he said, because he frequently gets queries about where license-plate readers are located. People tell him they know they're out there but don't know where exactly.

According to the probable cause affidavit in the matter, filed Tuesday, a Weber County Sheriff's Office deputy was dispatched to 700 South and 2050 West in Marriott-Slaterville on Sunday in response to a report that someone was attaching signage to a nearby Flock camera.

"Upon arrival I observed a sign that was attached to the pole of a Flock camera," the responding officer said in the affidavit.

The person who called in the report described the auto of the man who allegedly placed the sign and the officer found Belnap in a parked auto nearby matching the description, with signs in the backseat matching the sign on the Flock camera pole.

"David stated to me he would not admit to attaching the signs, regardless of the evidence inside the vehicle. After explaining the charges, David asked that I just write a citation," reads the affidavit.

The officer asked Belnap to remove the sign from the nearby Flock camera pole, but he refused to do it. "I explained to David I would take him to jail if he refused to take down the sign. David stated to take him to jail and I transported him to the Weber County Jail to be booked on his new charge," reads the affidavit.

A class C misdemeanor is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $750.

Belnap is part of a contingent made up of reps from Ogden Indivisible and other groups that has protested the federal crackdown on illegal immigration as heavy-handed. He has also been involved in demonstrations outside an Ogden Immigration and Customs Enforcement location and is charged with violating Ogden's noise ordinance, an infraction, for playing loud music outside the facility during one of those protests on May 22.

That case winds its way through Ogden Justice Court, and Belnap said he plans to fight it.

"I'm not going to say I don't push the limits," he said. But, he added, "I don't try to get in trouble."

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