Black Man who Monitored and Taped Police Seeks Dismissal of Case

The attorney for a Champaign man charged with eavesdropping filed motions Tuesday in Champaign County Circuit Court to have the charges dismissed and for a special prosecutor to be appointed. Public Defender Randy Rosenbaum represents Patrick Thompson, 35, who listed an address on Southwood Court in Champaign. Thompson is one of the founding members of a group called Visionaries Educating Youth and Adults. Thompson and his colleague, Martell Miller, 43, also of Champaign, started videotaping the actions of local police in the spring as they interacted with young black men. Their intention was to edit the tape into a documentary to be shown on local public access television. As they were taping in the summer, the two men recorded the actions of Champaign police Sgt. David Griffet while he was talking to a man at the Mac's on North Neil Street in Champaign. The recording of Griffet's voice resulted in the Class 1 felony charges. Although the charges against Miller were dropped several weeks later, Thompson remains in jail on both the eavesdropping charge and charges of home invasion and sexual abuse from an unrelated case. His wife, Maria Thompson, said he is being unfairly singled out because he is a known police critic. [more ]