Are Menacing Posts on Occupy Philly’s Facebook Page from a Philly Cop?
This message was posted and deleted Saturday night. 5:00pm Sunday is the deadline for Occupy protesters to clear off Dilworth Plaza.
Someone going by the name of Mike Sidebotham—whose profile indicates he is a Philadelphia police officer—posted a menacing message to the Occupy Philadelphia facebook page Saturday evening.
He posted the notorious photo of Lt. John Pike, the University of California-Davis police officer filmed casually and cavalierly hosing protesters with pepper spray.
The photo was captioned, “Don’t mind me / Just watering my hippies.”
The post included a personal message: “5 o clock is coming.”
5 p.m. is the deadline Mayor Nutter has given Occupy Philly activists to clear their bodies and belongings out of Dilworth Plaza.
“Do you really feel like it’s a smart idea, as a Philadelphia police officer, to post things like this on publicly accessible Facebook pages?” asked Brooklyn Billmaier, in direct response to Sidebotham’s post.
“This just broke my heart to see this,” chimed in someone going by the handle Occupy a Shower. “Tasers get better reactions!!!”
A few minutes later Sidebotham wrote, “There [sic] just hating on my freedom of speech.”
Sidebotham, whose profile indicates that he graduated Archbishop Ryan High School in 2003, defended himself even further: “Its a picture what am I inciting? Whats it matter what my profession is? Did I do it? No. No where did I promote what happened, I just find the caption funny. People are trying to say because of my profession I cant disagree with what you guys are doing? I never laid a hand on a single one of you guys have i? Nope, so I am exercising my freedom of speech. I think I have earned the right to do so.”
A few minutes later the post disappeared.
Sidebotham didn’t bother, however, to delete his many previous to the Occupy Philadelphia facebook page. At least 10 such posts exist dating back to October.
It was November 2, though—the day nine Occupy Philly protesters were arrested demonstrating in front of the Comcast building—that seemed to launch Sidebotham into a trolling tailspin that includes comments suggestive of prison rape for the arrestees:
November 2, 4:22pm: “Free Nelson Mandela!”
4:32pm: A yearbook photo of a chubby white boy that says, “Man, those were some good tacos,” with the quote attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr.
4:53pm: “Im about to go make some sloppy Joes anyone want some?”
9:13pm: A photo of a black man in an orange jumpsuit. He is scowling. Text on the photo reads: “The soap / pick it up.” Beneath the photo, a personal note: “for those who got arrested at comcasat, enjoy your stay”
Someone asked what was the reason for the photo.
“it makes me laugh,” responded Sidebotham.
Can this post to Occupy Philly's Facebook page really be from a cop?
10:04pm: A photo of what appears to be a Middle Eastern man in the desert. Militant-looking police stand behind him, donning clear shields. The photo, which includes the text “Everyday I’m shufflin’” was posted with a personal note: “occupy iraq?”
10:12pm: Photo of a line of uniformed cops spraying a man holding up a camera in the face with pepper spray or mace. The man is attempting to shield his eyes from the spray. Text on photo: “Go be fat somewhere else.”
11:33pm: A photo of Batman and a note that says “Batman is part of the 1%.”
November 3, 12:06am: A photo of Martin Luther King with two fingers pointing toward the lens. Text on the photo: “pew pew pew pew take that, racism”
November 3, 4:37pm: Photo of an obese man holding a can of Bud Light and a plastic gun. Text reads: “Shitter’s full”
November 5, 1:22pm: A photo of Gaddafi with text: “R.I.P. Carlos Santana 1947 – 2011.”
Sidebotham’s latest post to the Occupy Philly wall links to an insurance commercial.
So far, it is unclear if these posts are really from Sidebotham and if he is a Philadelphia police officer. A request for confirmation of employment is pending with the Philadelphia police department.
If this person is indeed an officer, he is in clear violation of the Philadelphia Police Department’s directive regarding use of social media.
From a memo in May: “At all times, [police should] conduct themselves as representatives of the department and, accordingly, adhere to all department policies and standards of conduct, and observe conventionally accepted protocols and proper decorum.”
Sidebotham, or the person manning the Facebook account, did not return PW’s requests for comment.
Typical piece of shit pig.
This jackass has now deleted his Facebook account.
I saved ’screenshots’ from last night from a facebook post where Officer Mike Sidebotham posted on Occupy Philadelphia’s page : “Occupy my b*lls*ck hippies”. The post includes his friend ‘Occupy a shower’.
I then posted that I learned how to do a ’screenshot’ and I would forward it to his superiors, as did 2 other people.
Occupy a shower says : ‘Mike you are a good man, taser a few of these idiots for me. And, ‘Mike, you can start with Deb’ (my name)
Then Mike S informs another citizen about his proper title is: ‘its corporal uu dumb f*ck’.
Then he proceeds to tell us how he can do anything he wants off duty, etc…
Three people told him we were going to report him, he was arrogant and said go ahead, nothing wrong with free speach on his personal time. I guess one of our emails got through.
This man does not deserve to be an officer. And, he is a disgrace to the Marine Corps – both his service and his badge were proudly displayed on his personal fB page.
His page is gone, as is the post I describe, but I have the screenshots if anyone should need them
As far as I can tell, this Officer Mike was making jokes about what is going on in his hometown. He never hurt anyone, or said that he would. As far as being a disgrace to the Marines, I think you better re-think what you say about the people who serve our nation to give you the freedom to say what you want to say.
As far as I can tell, this racist jackass was being a racist jackass and got called on it. StacyM might defend racist jackasses when they’re wearing a badge, but most people have a little more humanity than that. Cop, marine, or space alien, you will get called out when you post dehumanizing screeds for kicks.
Thanks to the author of this blog for highlighting this asshole, and thanks to all those who reported him. Here’s to hoping his badges are lost as quickly as respect for him has been.
So Americans can no longer take a joke?
To all of u complaining about what he said and how he is such a “disgrace” remember why u have the right to ur opinion….cuz that man had the balls to go to war to defend YOU…shut the fuck up about what he said about these assholes cuz he has every right…maybe these people should go look for jobs instead…again though their right to protest is because people like that Marine fought for this country and gave them that right…so really who is the disgrace? I’m gonna go with these lazy Occupy hippies who have nothin better to do than cause problems for the police and public that have to go by them everyday
hahahahahahha omg.
@TONY P: If this is your brand of humor, you are the scum of the earth.
@GENE: The Occupiers are causing no trouble for the police. The police are actively seeking out trouble to “solve” with violence.
I’m scum because I can take a joke? And where did he physical harm anyone?
@Tony- hahaha apparently yes. but thank you for sticking up for my brother… he is quite the dumbass lol
Racists often complain that people can’t “take a joke.” You might notice that sexist men often make the same claim about women they harass. Oh, and homophobes who bash LGBT folks. “Is humor dead?!” they cry. No, just racist, sexist, gay-bashing jokes.
That a violently unhinged man has a background in the military and a job with the police isn’t particularly surprising, nor does it excuse his violent, racist comments. Whether he meant them to be “funny” is irrelevant to the violent, racist statements they were making.
I am ashamed that such a man ever carried the flag of my nation. There are honorable warriors and there are violent fascists who want permission to shoot people, and this man is clearly the latter.
Phillyist be ashamed of only urself…the reason u get to post ur opinion is cuz of men like mike….take the stick out of ur ass and learn to take a fucking joke….and since ur too scared to post ur name Mr or Mrs anonymous ur blind if u think these people aren’t causing problems…shouldnt believe everything u hear in the news…maybe if u knew the family or the individual u would know its a joke
Gene, I served in the military as well. And racist assholes like Mike give our armed forces a bad name. He should be ashamed of himself, and we should be ashamed that we ever gave him a badge or a rifle.
Besides which, the fact that he once fought in the military doesn’t excuse his behavior now. He gets to post his racist opinions, I get to call him out on his racist opinions. That’s how the First Amendment works, bub.
Wow, reading this makes me sick. Sick in the way that someone is taking the time to attempt to tarnish the title of a Philadelphia officer. For starters, why is this posted? Nothing has been “confirmed” that this is even an actual person. Are you too using the freedom of speech? That’s odd. Last time I checked facebook let me say I was Diana Ross, but we all know that’s not true.
This sounds to me as the beginning of a possible libel suit. Ever hear of libel? Let me make it simple for you. Libel n. to publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others. (Granted its the blog, stay with me, it was apparently on TV) it seems to me as if this person is real or not, if he was/is a Marine AND a officer of this city he has had to deal with some rather intense situations. If I were him, I’d be angry at people literally sitting around too when he not only took the time to protect our freedom and free the streets of criminals here. He is the one you’re all criticizing?
The ones downtown “occupying” are wasting tax dollars that could be funding other vehicles of employment or help for the city. I won’t even get started with all of that. And truthfully the entire time you spent researching Mr unknown and ’screen-shotting’ his posts. That’s valuable time that you could have spent looking for a job and we wouldn’t be in this predicament, now would we. Hats off to the ‘go-to’ news station who had nothing else to report about, but weak slander that is considered free speech and what this country is founded upon. Thank God for 6abc news, credible sources, and the tax dollars I pay to support your sleep overs downtown.
stop bitching and get a ife. you are all losers
sidebotham for mayor!!!! WHO IS WITH ME!!!! TEAM SIDEBOTHAM!!!
While it’s clear that this officer is an arrogant, illiterate asshole, and possibly a racist, he hasn’t done anything wrong and should not be censured. I actually found the “watering my hippies” photo pretty funny, even though I may end up being one of the people being “watered”. Have a sense of humor, please.
That being said, I certainly wish our police force would not hire people like this. Unfortunately, for as long as our society prioritizes the private sector over the public, we simply cannot afford the higher salaries required to attract higher-caliber cops. This is, in part, what the occupy movement is all about. Police officers play very important roles in our society, and I’m sure if we paid them more and consequently discriminated more in the hiring process, we wouldn’t have so many “pigs” mixed in with the majority of good honest cops.
Well if he didn’t do anything wrong, why say you wish the city never hired him? Make up your mind. It was a joke.
He is not the only Philadelphia Police officer violating the departments directives. Philadelphia Police Officer John Sasse Jr’s Facebook page has an interesting post while on duty at the Occupy Philadelphia Protest site on Nov 21st.’
John Sasse Jr.
This occuppy philly detail sucks ass bro
Like · · November 21 at 9:39pm near Philadelphia ·
5 people like this.
Amanda Barnett delete your FB already! You’re boring me….
November 21 at 9:40pm · Like · 2
John Sasse Jr. Hahahahaha!
November 21 at 9:42pm · Like · 1
Jenielle Marie waaaah bro!
November 21 at 9:42pm · Like
Kevin Long Tell those hippie fucks to stop being lazy and get a fucking job.
November 21 at 9:43pm · Like · 1
John Sasse Jr. Kev I know! These assholes are pissing me off. I hope we have a ice storm.
November 21 at 9:48pm · Like · 1
******Richard Kimbal Pepper spray those lazy fucks!
November 21 at 9:48pm · Like · 1******
Chris Devicaris but they have their best and favorite po-po cop on duty and his is John Sasse Jr.
November 21 at 9:50pm · Like · 1
******John Sasse Jr. Thanks Chris haha
Rich, its happening soon…
November 21 at 9:52pm · Like******
Jeff Atherholt I have it 2mrw is it that bad
November 21 at 10:05pm · Like
John Sasse Jr. Its just boring as hell. They were supposed to be moved tonight but now there not moving em. Idk what the hell is going on and plus you don’t get out on time so ill probably be here till 1am.
November 21 at 10:13pm · Like
Xavier Perez Ot yeah.
November 21 at 10:28pm · Like
Kevin Flanagan F them dirt bags!!!!!
November 21 at 11:20pm · Like · 1
Mike Emery lol
November 21 at 11:22pm · Like
******Daniel Bartle Those worthless assholes should occupy the end of a baton
November 22 at 12:05am · Like · 3******
******John Sasse Jr. Soon Dan, soon…
November 22 at 12:07am · Like*******
******Lew Gibson Just open fire no one will miss any of them
November 22 at 1:09am · Like · 1******
******John Sasse Jr. Hahahahha
November 22 at 1:18am · Like******
Robert Sheridan John I will come down there with my power washer and move those hippies for you wait don’t you have fire fighter friends get the hose out on them
November 22 at 7:15am · Like · 1
Whether you like this person’s humor or not, if he is indeed an officer of the law, it’s worthwhile to remember that the police are public servants, and should not display bias or a point of view criticizing those he or she is sworn to protect. It calls into question the policeman’s judgment and the ability to discharge his or her duties effectively for ALL the public, regardless of race, religion, color, origin or orientation. It also appears that the officer was wearing his uniform in the FB profile picture, which indicates he is posting this content as a police officer.
And on another note-the courageous men and women who don the uniform of the USA to fight wars in this modern era are not fighting for our freedom. Let’s be clear- they are fighting for many American interests– including unsustainable energy sources and strategic military and other hegemonic advantages. The people in the streets fight for our freedom- the people who were beaten and sprayed with firehoses in the fifties and sixties, the woman who refused to sit in the back of the bus, the people who marched against wars for oil, and yes, the students sitting together peacefully, being sprayed in the face at point-blank range with toxic pepper-spray by sadistic campus police.
@STACYM This officer is a disgrace to both uniforms he wears, the USMC and the PPD. I’ve spent 12 years deploying to the Middle East to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans. While I do not agree with the manner in which the Occupy Protesters are conducting their protests however the first amendment gives them that constitutional right, as it did when the Tea Party was protesting and holding rallies while openly carrying firearms which is their second amendment right.
@Dianna Ross the PPD confirmed that he was responsible for making the posts. If he was making a joke to his friends then maybe he should edit his FB security settings so that his posts are not public and can be viewed by only the people he want to see them.
As the laws have clarified before yes everyone has a freedom of speech, however public servants/Military Service members as part of their employment voluntarily give up parts of those rights. You can’t walk into a crowded building and yell fire, you will get arrested for enacting a riot. You can’t lie about someone or you will be held liane for slander, and if you are a police officer talking about committing acts of violence or wishing to do so then you are showing the public who pays your salary that you do not hold the moral character that we expect from our Law Enforcement Professionals. I’f you disagree with the protesters that is perfectly acceptable, nobody has to force anyone to agree with them, while I may personally agree with parts of their message, how college tuition, prices for everything, are going up while wages stay the same and unemployment rises. Businesses are sitting on Trillions of dollars of profits while laying off people and shipping jobs overseas. I do not agree with the manner in which the protesters are protesting. The Plaza in Philadelphia is City Property, which means it is paid for with tax dollars, the park has rules, if the rules have park hours then they MUST be followed, if you want to keep protesting after the park closes that is what the public sidewalks are for.
A photo on this guy’s Myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/phillyondown/photos/26093120
I am guessing he has “earned” his freedom of speech by being in an unjust war overseas and then returning home to perpetuate another unjust war. I am starting to see a corollary which lends me to believe the police state will soon have many new recruits. How can this be helped? Better debriefing? How about a few ethics, constitution and philosophy courses as requirements to join an organization that is ostensibly there to PROTECT and SERVE. They must remember, we, as citizens of this great country, are not insurgents.
Sidebotham for mayor
Sidebotham for KING!
Nothing that was posted on the Occupy philly page was not threatening at all. How did this make him become a racist? Mike just likes to have fun. Everything that was posted was hilarious, and just because he is a cop doesnt mean he cant have fun. Mike is a great soldier and a great Cop. The only reason this is becoming “News” is because Philly columnist and news anchors enjoy to make any City Worker look like an asshole. I doubt any of the actual Philly Occupyers care about what Mike posted. But Fox 29 and philadelphiaweekly for some reason care. Anyway whoever thinks Mike is a wrong, Is a Dumbass with no sense of humor. Mike for mayor!!
I have personally met him and until you are either a Police officer or Marine going to war, you don’t have a right to judge whether he has earned any title or not. People do not always make the best out of situations, but get real people. The people downtown are probably saying far worse things than he did. You are all a bunch of hypocrites. Be happy you have the right to even bitch about this. You should thank him instead of degrading him.
“Great people talk about ideas; average people talk about things; small people talk about OTHER people” -Eleanor Roosevelt.
“the people who know you the least are the ones who judge you the most”
you guys are pathetic. you do not know the guy. yes, he may have made some comments that he thought was funny, and other did not. but who are you to judge him? his sense of humor may not be the same as yours but that is NO reason to say shit about him. he didn’t harm anyone, he didn’t say he did that stuff. there’s more serious things going on in the world and all you guys care about is a police officers’ sense of humor? PATHETIC!
right on @TINA
Here is his “support page” http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Mike-Sidebotham/119803264800926
Wow I’m shocked to discover that this guy’s posts are riddled with typos, and he’s posting vaguely racist material as well!
Sadly, this is what I’ve come to expect from the brutish thugs we now call “police officers”. This piece of human detritus apparently enjoys assaulting non-violent students and senior citizens. The state shouldn’t be paying him to enforce laws; it should keep him behind bars where he can’t threaten the public any longer.
I also personally know mike. If I had to choose one person to take over as robin it would be him. Hands down. I also agree with Sidebotham for mayor.
@Tina: When this person’s “humor” involves threatening peaceful members of the public (and apparently enjoying the idea of harming innocent people), and this person’s salary is PAID by tax-payers to PROTECT the public, this is problematic to say the least. This isn’t a case of anonymous internet people “judging someone’s sense of humor”.
There are upwards of 45 videos floating around from the past three months that plainly show cops physically abusing non-violent people, brutalizing a disabled man after they’ve thrown him from his wheelchair, sending senior citizens to the hospital, etc, and then this cop starts posting provocative, threatening words and imagery (or, what you refer to as his “sense of humor”). Do you understand the issue now?
Normally I would say that’s messed up. I’ve worked with you for years Bruce. But I’m going to take the side lines on this one. Mike is a stand up guy and I agree. There is no one better to take my place.
this “batman & robin” joke is really hilarious man!
@ragnar
Was mike in those videos? no.
did mike say he would harm citizens? no.
of course we can keep this argument going on forever because we have different points of views, different opinions.
yes, maybe he shouldn’t have wrote those comments for the public to see, but he did. but it was his sense of humor, why doesn’t fox do stories about the police officers that have actually harmed citizens, rather then the ones who joke around about it. (but never actually say “i’m going to harm innocent people today”) Yeah, maybe he was in the wrongs but you don’t know him, so don’t judge him.
@Tina.
Right, he didn’t literally say the words “I am going to harm innocent people”.
What he did do is post photos of his fellow officers harming innocent people, with comments showing his explicit approval of this behavior, and then posted a warning to the protesters that “5 o’clock is coming soon!”
This person is armed and paid by the state to protect the public, and he’s been expressing publicly how overjoyed he is at the idea of attacking innocent students. This is not okay.
As for doing stories on the police who are literally harming people, (rather than simply implying they want to harm people in a public forum, as Mike did), I agree that there should be more focus on those thugs as well.
This is no joke buddy. And if batman says mike is good! Then dammit mike is good! End of discussion and debate. Ps. Check out the new movie about the story of my life called “THE DARK KNIGHT RISES” coming to theaters summer 2012! Thanks
@BATMAN
hahahahahahahahhah.
@RAG
what ‘REALLY?’ said.
@REALLY?
thanks!
Ragner is correct. It is not about free speech. Mr. Sidebotham has a right to post pictures he finds funny just as much as the next citizen; unless there is a conflict of interests. Although this cop did not say “Hey, I really want ill to come to people who disagree with me or with the status quo”, he does represent an organization paid for by citizens to serve and protect them. A definite conflict of interests. As when he joined the military, when Mike became a cop, he took an oath to defend the Constitution. This cop’s actions, although fairly benign, categorically goes against this oath. Although he was not explicit in his desire to harm protesters, it was implied and it represents a larger social problem our country faces: police brutality.
Not all cops are bad, but when you give the bad ones a little power, it corrupts far beyond control. This is an example. Could anyone really see a good cop (one who is concerned with their oath and protecting citizens) posting the things that this cop did? Exactly.
This guy did nothing wrong, in fact he said he didnt condone what that officer did, he just thought the caption was funny. So why dont the people that think he did something wrong read the whole story. I hope this kid has no disciplinary action taken against him. How many people do you know that can go away from their loved ones for years to fight a war, thousands of miles away, come home and fight a war on the streets against criminals every day of his life. This man is a hero and fought for the rights your excercising today.
I think RAGNER needs to get off the rag. Lets see what happens tomorrow when they all get their asses handed to them for not moving. Walker, Texas Ranger will be all over fox news not Sidebotham.
LOL, Your “humorous” cultural reference points are weirdly dated….”Bat Man” and “Chuck Norris” ???
I was also posting a bunch of stuff of the page of Occupy Philly. I was being rude and a asshole to everyone on there, and on every post i could. All they did was delete the post and they moved on. Why is it that there arent any news stories on me? O right the news media only likes to extort city workers. and @RAGS, none of the police in philly havent harmed any protesters, and the protestors in the other citys that have been harmed deserved it for not listening to Authority. and @RAGNAR these protestors are costing the city more money to pay all these cops overtime. Im also glad at the fact that the cold weather is coming soon and that City Hall cut there electricity off so that they get freezed out. Im hoping all these unemployed Bums freeze to the city hall building to help show how dumb they all are.
Anybody under the assumption that any war since WWII was fought for our freedom (and not for oil, imperialistic motives, or the military industrial complex) should do a history check. I support the troops but never an unjust war. The reasoning that a soldier is owed something because he participated in an unjust war is wrong. A soldier is owed something because of their braveness, discipline, and patriotism. However, patriotism’s etiology is not found in politics… it is found in the idea of America. When one accepts the political view of war, you will find that many amazing soldiers have given everything for a false and unjust war.
A few other lessons:
We do not have a free market system of economics.
We have crony capitalism and social democracy (but the democracy part is fading)
The greatest threat to the Constitution is a central bank.
Modern wars are fought ostensibly for freedom but in reality for protecting corporate interests.
“the protestors in the other citys that have been harmed deserved it for not listening to Authority”
Well that says it right there. The senior citizens who were unlawfully brutalized, the disabled people, etc. They “deserved it” for standing up to “authority”. Disgusting.
A real soldier fights for the man to his left and right, the soldier does not afford the luxury of determining why they are going to war. they do it because they believe in their country, and the men and women who wear the uniform.
“the soldier does not afford the luxury of determining why they are going to war.
Really? I thought the Nuremberg trials proved that “they ordered me to do it” wasn’t always an excuse any more…
NEVER QUESTION AUTHORITY!!!!!!
Its really daunting arguing with irrational and brainwashed people. Alfred and others… seek help. Seacrest out.