Police can be extremely vindictive. For instance, they tried to put this guy away in prison for potentially decades because he recorded phone calls of statement

Police can be extremely vindictive. For instance, they tried to put this guy away in prison for potentially decades because he recorded phone calls of statements they made in an official capacity. I've seen cops make statements that they must have known were not truthful to people's employers, seemingly for no purpose other than to damage the person's reputation after a heated (but legally protected) conversation. I've worked on bills where multiple members of law enforcement turned up to testify to say things that I'm pretty sure they knew were wrong, just to get their way in policy. The sad reality is that there are many cops out there who lie to get their way and hurt people they don't like, and so I really don't find it hard to believe that they would accuse this guy of being a sovcit to damage his credibility. edit: also in this case, remember that they've also accused him of resisting arrest when they went to get him for recording phone calls. So they've also made many claims that WERE about law violations.