Antonio Buehler Antonio Buehler is a political activist in Austin , Texas , most well known for his activism in police accountability , which stemmed from his controversial arrest in Austin on New Year ' s Day , 2012 , after he witnessed a woman he alleges was being abused by Austin police officers . His activist work is funneled through the Peaceful Streets Project he founded with the help of other local activists . Early life and education . Antonio Buehler was born in Fayetteville , North Carolina in 1977 to Paul Buehler and YeSun Wiltse . He has a younger brother , Leo Buehler . Buehler was primarily raised by his father , Paul Buehler , and his aunt , Cathie Mazzuca . He attended Pottsville Area High School in Pottsville , Pennsylvania where he was an All - Anthracite football player . Military . After graduating from West Point , Buehler was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army . Buehler graduated from Engineer Officer Basic , Ranger School ( Class 8 - 00 ) , and Airborne School . As a member of Charlie Company of the 40th Engineer Battalion , Buehler led the turnaround of two underperforming 27 - soldier platoons in Kosovo and Germany . Subsequently , as a member of the 1st Armored Division Engineer Brigade , Buehler turned around the administration and logistics of a 67 - soldier company , and executed the movement of thousands of U . S . soldiers from Europe and the United States to Iraq . Then , in a position normally reserved for senior officers with much more experience , Antonio solved critical supply shortages for the U . S . Army in the early days of the Iraq war . Buehler worked with numerous American military units , foreign militaries , civilian contractors from half a dozen nations , and Shia , Sunni and Kurdish Iraqis to fix roads and bridges , restore power generation and water supply , emplace force protection barriers , and build and reinforce bases throughout central Iraq . Antonio was commended for his actions and awarded a Bronze Star . Buehler was honorably discharged from the military in 2004 so that he could attend the Stanford Graduate School of Business . Finance . After graduating from Stanford in 2006 , Buehler took a position with Houlihan Lokey as an Investment Banking Associate in New York City . After one year , Buehler left Houlihan Lokey to launch Cardinal and Crimson Capital , a search fund structured private equity fund . Buehler partnered with an MIT and Harvard Business School graduate that he met while interning at Infosys in India during business school , but opted to exit the partnership after his partner sourced only one investor . In March 2008 , Buehler launched Trophy Point Capital , a private equity fund focused on acquiring and actively operating middle - market businesses . Buehler received the backing of private equity investors , business leaders and academicians , including Paul Milgrom , Jim Southern and Jerry York . Homeschooling . While operating Trophy Point Capital , Buehler found himself focusing on the education sector . He served as the Treasurer and Board Member of A Caring Hand , a child bereavement non - profit in New York City . Previously a supporter of charter schools and vouchers , Buehler came to the conclusion that traditional schooling oftentimes did more damage to the development and future potential of children than it did good . Buehler began to research homeschooling and unschooling as alternatives to traditional schooling , and soon found himself a leading proponent of homeschooling . In late 2010 , Buehler decided to move to Austin where he could position himself in a geographically - centric location to influence the homeschooling movement . In July 2012 Buehler was chosen to receive the Texans for Accountable Government annual Activist of the Year award . New Year ' s Day 2012 incident . In the early hours New Year ’ s Day 2012 , Buehler , the designated driver that night , pulled into a 7 - 11 in Austin , TX for gas . While fueling up , he and his passenger observed a DUI stop in progress , with a woman in high heels performing a field sobriety test ; according to Buehler , they heard a female screaming and turned in time to see officer Robert Snider pulling the female passenger out of the vehicle and throwing her to the ground . Buehler yelled out to the police , asking them why they were assaulting her . After twisting her arms behind her back , the officers arrested her . Then officer Patrick Oborski approached Buehler , pushed him forcefully several times in the chest , and arrested him . Oborski later claimed Buehler spit on him , a felony charge that carries up to a 10 - year prison sentence . However , witness video evidence does not show Buehler spitting , Oborski did not wipe his face , and APD spokesman Cpl . Hipolito admitted to KEYE news that he could not see Buehler spitting on the officer . His grand jury date was postponed numerous times . After an online appeal by Buehler to find witnesses to the event , several witnesses came forward and a videorecording of the incident surfaced . APD has not released the dashcam video to the public . Nearly 6 , 800 people have joined the Free Antonio Buehler Facebook page , with supporters flyering the city and organizing rallies in support of Buehler , and posting daily stories of American and international police abuse . Despite a half dozen witnesses , two videos and audio evidence of what happened on New Year ' s Day , the District Attorney did not convene a grand jury in 2012 . The grand jury convened on March 5 , 6 and 7 , 2013 . Four weeks later , the District Attorney finally informed the public that the grand jury failed to indict Antonio Buehler on the any of the crimes he was charged with . They instead indicted him on four Class C misdemeanors for " failure to obey a lawful order " related to his New Year ' s Day incident , two follow on arrests and a fourth incident in which he was never arrested . The grand jury also indicted Norma Pizana for resisting arrest . Pizana is the woman that Buehler felt was being abused on New Year ' s Day 2012 . Peaceful Streets Project . In the months following the incident , a group of activists from a range of backgrounds joined Buehler to start the Peaceful Streets Project , an all - volunteer , nonpartisan , grassroots effort for police accountability . The group holds free community trainings on knowing your rights during police encounters , and held a day - long Police Accountability Summit in Austin , TX on July 14 , 2012 where they handed out 100 handheld videocameras to trained activists who now actively film police encounters with residents of Austin . The Peaceful Streets Project has also stepped up efforts to work with and ally with other community organizations , and have participated in protests in solidarity with victims of police abuse nationally . Buehler ' s efforts to expose what he considers to be police violence and the inherent corruption of the justice system have resulted in numerous bloggers taking up his cause . In addition , numerous cities around the country have reached out to Buehler and the Peaceful Streets Project looking to set up local franchises . Peaceful Streets Project chapters now exist in nearly a dozen cities to include Houston , Dallas - Fort Worth , New York City , Manchester , Honolulu , San Antonio and Eunice , LA . Buehler has continued to wage a public fight against his criminal charges . He has claimed that the city and the Austin Police Department are intentionally engaged in a cover - up and that corruption runs throughout the city government and the police department . The Austin Police Department , meanwhile , has gone on the offensive against the Peaceful Streets Project . In addition to arresting Buehler twice more , they have also arrested three other police accountability activists ( Lynn Foster , Joshua Pineda , Sarah Dickerson ) who were filming on - duty police . The charges against Foster and Pineda have since been dropped by prosecutors . Dickerson , who was arrested while filming Buehler ' s third arrest , still has charges pending . APD has also confiscated four cameras from Peaceful Streets Project volunteers , two from Buehler , one from Dickerson and one from Foster . APD was forced to return the camera that they confiscated from Foster when his charges were dropped . In November , Austin Chronicle readers voted Antonio Buehler as Austin ' s Best Activist and the Peaceful Streets Project as the Best Grassroots Movement for 2012 . On June 24 , 2013 , Fox 7 ran a piece on Antonio Buehler wherein the President of the Austin Police Association alluded to possible violence in the future should Buehler continue to escalate his cop watching tactics . The Peaceful Streets Project responded by organizing several more public cop watch events , Know Your Rights Trainings and announcing their intentions to hold a national police accountability summit in Austin on August 17 , 2013 . Follow - on arrests . In the early morning hours of August 26 , 2012 , while cop watching with members of the Peaceful Streets Project in downtown Austin , Buehler was arrested for " interfering with public duties " . He was released about 17 hours later . Austin Police Department claims that he refused to back away from an arrest , causing the suspect of the arrest to become uncontrollable . Buehler claims that APD was simply looking for a reason to arrest him . APD refused to return Buehler ' s camera to him after the incident , claiming that it was of evidentiary value . However , another member of the Peaceful Streets Project was able to videorecord the arrest and posted it online before Buehler was released from jail . It was later determined that the APD Officer ( Justin Berry ) who arrested Buehler was the same officer that Buehler outed as an undercover cop engaged in a sting to arrest underage women on August 24 , 2012 . In the early morning hours of September 21 , 2012 , while " cop watching " with members of the Peaceful Streets Project in downtown Austin , Buehler was again arrested , this time with fellow police accountability activist Sarah Dickerson . Video indicates that both Buehler and Dickerson were silently filming and were further back than APD ' s self - described desired distance from a scene . According to Buehler and other witnesses , after refusing an order to walk toward the arresting officer and the suspect in order to join other members of the Peaceful Street Project , and despite continually asking how far he needed to move back , and continuing to move back away from the scene , Buehler was given an ultimatum to either join other members of the Peaceful Streets Project , or leave . When Buehler said he was leaving , he was arrested . As Dickerson filmed Buehler ' s arrest , she too was arrested . Both were charged with " interfering with public duties . " Austin Police Department confiscated both Buehler and Dickerson ' s cameras and have not yet returned them . This most recent arrest has drawn the ire of the National Press Photographers Association which sent a letter to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo criticizing the actions of APD toward those who film police . The Travis County Grand Jury reviewed all of Buehler ' s arrests when considering the felony charge related to the New Year ' s Day incident . The grand jury declined to indict Buehler on every charge that Austin Police Department used to justify their arrests . Instead , Buehler was indicted on Class C misdemeanors for failure to obey a lawful order . Dickerson was also not indicted for her original charge of interference for public duties , and was likewise indicted for failure to obey a lawful order . Antonio Buehler was arrested twice more in 2013 . He was arrested in Gonzales , TX for alleged Disorderly Conduct , a Class C misdemeanor , and in Austin , TX for alleged Criminal Mischief , a Class B misdemeanor . Both incidents were captured on video by members of the Peaceful Streets Project and posted online . Buehler has indicated that he will take all of his six pending charges to jury trial if they are not dismissed . On June 5 , 2013 , Buehler defended himself pro se against the charge of Disorderly Conduct in Gonzales , TX . After a seven hour trial , the jury found him guilty and assessed a $ 1 fine . Buehler has indicated that he will appeal the verdict .