About

"Am I Being Detained?" and "Am I Free to Go?" are questions typically directed toward law enforcement by United States citizens who seek clarification on whether they are being held on suspicion of a crime. Legal advice websites often advocate minimizing communications with police officers, advising citizens to ask if they are being held involuntarily when questioned by law enforcement. Additionally, the questions are often referenced online to mock people who antagonize police officers or members of the sovereign citizen movement.^[4]

Origin

In the United States, police officers cannot detain citizens unless they are being investigated for a crime. Online, many sources advise citizens to ask "am I free to go?" or "am I being detained?" during interactions with the police to determine if the detention is voluntary.

On September 10th, 2012, YouTuber Christina Gonzalez uploaded a video titled "Am I Being Detained," featuring footage of a man being held for questioning by police officers at a subway station in New York City (shown below).

Spread

On October 25th, 2012, the /r/amifreetogo^[2] subreddit was launched for news stories and videos of citizens "asserting their rights" or police officers unlawfully detaining individuals. On April 9th, 2013, YouTuber Gavin Selm uploaded a video of himself interacting with a border checkpoint officer, in which he repeatedly questions whether he is being detained before officers allow him to leave (shown below). Within three years, the video gathered upwards of 960,000 views and 5,800 comments. On June 24th, YouTuber Michael Scott Andrews uploaded a video titled "Top DHS checkpoint FAILS…Am I being detained?", featuring footage of United States citizens asking if they are being detained while talking to officers at checkpoints (shown below, right).

On August 26th, YouTuber skin88p uploaded a montage of clips in which people ask officers if they are being detained (shown below, left). On October 9th, the /r/amibeingdetained subreddit was launched to highlight videos of citizens engaged in arguments with police officers. On September 21st, 2014, YouTuber Ryan Scott uploaded a video in which a police officer opens his door and yells at him for asking "am I being detained?", which gathered upwards of 920,000 views and 4,100 comments in the next year (shown below, right).

On July 13th, 2015, YouTuber Sovereign Citizens BTFO uploaded a montage of clips titled "Sovereign Citizens Getting Owned Compilation," featuring footage of police officers and United States citizens engaged in aggressive confrontations (shown below). On August 1st, 2015, Redditor Solidux submitted the video to /r/videos,^[3] where it gained over 1,700 votes (88% upvoted) and 550 comments.

Search Interest

External References