An update to the story of the band who got beat up by cops, the Fork gets the band members’ side of the story: “They were arresting anybody who asked a question,” Vogel said. “All these young kids who were at the show and just wanted to know what was going on, they got arrested.”

Remember kids, you have the right to remain silent. That’s pretty much it. I wish the Fork had asked what the charges were. My guess is “hindering and opposing a police officer.” I was charged with that once for simply asking a cop who invited him into a party I was attending. I spent several hours in jail until my posse rounded up the $500 bond to bail me out. I eventually spent $1,000 on a lawyer and the charges were dropped contingent on me waiving my right to sue for false arrest.

There’s a lesson there, somewhere. But all I got out of it was learning that cops can cost you a lot of money for no good reason at all. Sure, I could’ve taken it to trial, but my lawyer advised me not to; it would have taken a lot of time, and there was very little chance of me being awarded any damages since it really didn’t cost me anything (no missed work, no obvious pain and suffering, etc.).

But I’ll always remember officer Scott Ramburger, GRPD badge #367. And so will karma.

Update: The Houston Chronicle has some more details: “Vogel and Johnson were each charged with interfering with the duties of a public servant, while Kerwin and Kohler were each charged with resisting arrest or search, records show. All of the alleged offenses are misdemeanors.”

Also noteworthy: “No formal public complaints [against the officer] had been lodged as of Tuesday afternoon, according to HPD Capt. Dwayne Ready.” I never filed an official complaint against officer Ramburger, and I’ve regretted it ever since. It would’ve been a pain—you had to go to the police station, and I just never bothered. But I should have. These kids in Houston definitely should.