OCALA, Fla. – How would you feel if a person wearing a face mask got up close to you and started filming you without your permission?
That’s exactly what people say was happening to them outside a post office on Southwest 1st Avenue in Ocala.
The men videoing the people seem to be unbothered, but some people who are being filmed say its uncomfortable and they don’t want any part in it.
In a reverse course, Dylan Atherton began videoing the masked men when she encountered them last week at the post office. She was in the car when she began filming them, and that’s when she says one of the men got up close to her vehicle.
“He pulled out his phone and he had his little tripod and he kept walking up to my car and got super, super close,” explained Atherton.
She shared that video on social media where several other people confirmed they had also seen the men, but not just in Ocala.
“Someone told me they were at the post office in Belleview and even went as far as Dunnellon,” said Atherton.
News 6’s Amy Russo called the Ocala Police Department to see what is going on. They told her the men are first amendment auditors, and what they’re doing is legal.
A first amendment auditor is someone who films in public to test and document whether public officials respect their constitutional right to record.
The recommendation News 6 got from police is if it makes you feel uncomfortable, walk away.
We asked Atherton how she feels about that.
“They could encounter the wrong person and things could escalate,” said Atherton. “You never know what someone is going to do with that footage unfortunately in the world we live in toady. It’s a weird world.”
When News 6 showed other people outside the post office the video of the masked men filming people there were many responses.
“That’s crazy.” “What are they doing?” “That’s very weird, maybe without masks it would be a little less weird.”
If you encounter an auditor, try to stay calm and do not attempt to take their recording device. If they do become threatening in any way, call police.