Wetumpka PD Becomes Subject of ‘Bama Camera’ Viral Video

The Wetumpka Police Department has been the subject of a viral video produced by Bama Camera operator Lynwood Keith Golden.

On June 2, Mr. Golden came to the Wetumpka Police Department and began filming the building with multiple cameras. Mr. Golden had no visible identification and officers approached Mr. Golden to ask who he was and to request his purpose of filming the department. Mr. Golden refused to identify himself or his reasoning for the film, so his actions were deemed suspicious to the officers.

After a brief investigation, Mr. Golden was deemed to be no immediate threat and released at that time. No complaint to the Wetumpka Police Department has been filed by Mr. Golden at this time.

After filming the interaction with the officers, Mr. Golden posted video to his Bama Camera YouTube website along with contact information of the City of Wetumpka, the City of Wetumpka employees and elected officials. As the Wetumpka Police Department became aware of this, other YouTube videos posted by Bama Camera were identified on the site called 1st Amendment Audits.

Bama Camera has been to multiple government locations, to include FBI buildings, military installations, private secure facilities and local law enforcement locations to perform these “audits.” Mr. Golden posts all these videos to his page and has a following of other activists that focus on the transparency of government.

Bama Camera shares these videos and encourages his associates via internet to begin mass communications to the facilities he films. This sparks computer generated calling to the parties filmed in the videos, social media attacks on the municipalities involved, family members of officers and civilians, emails to the local governments and threats to the officer’s lives. The mass calls jam the phone systems blocking general information calls, alarm company notifications to the department and the inability to call other agencies for assistance.

Due to the structure of the Wetumpka Communications Center, this blocks the Wetumpka Police Department’s ability to notify ambulance and fire service of emergency calls.

Due to the intentional acts of Bama Camera and Keith Golden, the phone system of the Wetumpka Police Department was jammed to the point of crippling our communications system. Calls have been obscene, threatening and racially motivated and hindering dispatchers from answering 911 calls.

The Police Department Facebook page was attacked by Bama Camera affiliates, forcing the department to unpublish the page to prevent our citizen’s from being contacted through private messages with racial slurs and spam emails.

The Wetumpka Police Department emergency domestic violence shelter was also forced to close due to the lack of manpower to properly manage the facility to assist dispatchers in fielding calls.

Due to the chaos created, Lynwood Keith Golden of Coosada, was arrested for Interference with Public Safety Communications on Tuesday, June 7.

The Wetumpka Police Department local 911 line is still functioning properly, so all emergency calls for service can be answered by dispatchers.