The “First Amendment auditor” charged with harassment and disorderly conduct for recording people outside a Havre de Grace post office told his side of the story in a YouTube video posted Sunday.

In a video subtitled “Freedom Frontier V.S Maryland,” the auditor gave an “explanation of my Legal charges.” He disguised his face and altered his voice, but one page of the charging documents he displayed did list the name Logan Patek.

The auditor explained in the video that he has been “stress-testing” Maryland communities to see “how they respond to someone expressing their rights to film in public and to see if they respect the Constitution.”

He also said: “I hope the court system can see what message I’m trying to spread and that I’m not here for any harassing or malicious intent.”

Police charged Logan Patek, Mikael Hill and Garrison Ingram in the Oct. 25 incident at the North Juniata Street post office, after police reported getting more than 34 complaints. A trial for the three men is scheduled for Dec. 16 in Harford County District Court.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service wrote in a statement to The Aegis: “The U.S. Postal Service respects customers’ rights to peacefully express their opinions.”

Charging documents state that the men were “intimidating” and blocked a couple’s entrance into the post office. In another incident, the men surrounded a couple’s car and felt “threatened,” according to charging documents.

The auditor’s response detailed what he explained as a “usual” encounter with police that day. They responded to the call at the post office, went inside to talk to the workers and left, according to the video. The auditor said the police told him on their way out to “have a good day.”

“I want to make a clear note that the police on scene never once told us to stop what we were doing or really asked us any serious questions revolving around the calls made,” he said in the video. “After the cops left, we continued to do what we were doing without any interruption from the police.”

He further explained how he “gives what he gets” in person, and he will reciprocate if someone is rude.

It’s the channel’s first video in about a month. The owner of the page told The Aegis the lack of new content was a decision he made himself while awaiting trial and was not a court order.

He declined to make further comments to The Aegis.

First Amendment auditing is a decentralized nationwide trend that began to take hold after the coronavirus pandemic, said Kristina Wilson, assistant professor of public law and government at the University of North Carolina School of Government.

The auditors record others in public spaces to ensure their freedom of speech isn’t encroached upon. Often, they are also trying to get a reaction out of people to post content online, such as “Freedom Frontier,” who posts the content on YouTube.

One potential avenue for residents concerned about the auditors is to ask the social media platforms to remove the content. According to YouTube’s privacy policy, for someone who was filmed without consent to get a video taken down, they would need to be “uniquely identifiable.”

Wilson, who has written about auditors, said the line between exercising First Amendment rights and harassment is “tough for anyone to draw” and depends on the context. The post office can prohibit solicitation if it finds it impedes traffic, since it is not a traditional public forum, according to a 1990 Supreme Court ruling.

“There’s a little bit more government power over speech there,” Wilson said.

There have been cases across the country where auditors have brought cases before a judge for violations of First Amendment rights after being told to stop filming or being kicked out of an area, Wilson said. The owner of Freedom Frontier said in the video he wouldn’t comment on the actions he will be taking.

Have a news tip? Contact Brendan Nordstrom at bnordstrom@baltsun.com or at 443-900-1353.