From the Daily News:An amateur photographer is suing the Department of Homeland Security, saying his arrest for filming a political protest outside a Manhattan courthouse was illegal.
Antonio Musumeci, a 29-year-old software programmer, videotaped the arrest of a Libertarian activist outside Manhattan Federal Court last year.
His lawsuit says that even though he was standing in a public plaza next to the courthouse, an inspector with the Federal Protective Service told him he was under arrest.
Musumeci was forced to sit on the sidewalk for 20 minutes, he says. His camera memory card was confiscated and he got a ticket for filming on federal property, a violation.
The ticket was later dismissed in Manhattan Federal Court, court papers say. His memory card was never returned.
Musumeci, himself a member of the Manhattan Libertarian Party, later returned to the courthouse to videotape other political protests organized by the group and made sure to stand on the public sidewalk.
Even so, he was again threatened with arrest, according to the lawsuit the New York Civil Liberties Union filed Thursday on his behalf.
"In our society, people have a clear right to use cameras in public places without being hassled and arrested by federal agents or police," said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman.
"We understand the need for heightened security around federal buildings, but the government cannot arrest people for taking pictures in a public plaza."
Calls to the Federal Protective Service and the Department of Homeland Security were not immediately returned.
24 comments:
Yes he has a right to use his camera but good luck getting your memory card back from the police.The amount of journalists and photographers who had their camera taken and never returned from the RNC convention in Manhattan in 2004 was huge.
"Musumeci was forced to sit on the sidewalk for 20 minutes, he says"
how horrific.
Actually - the Department of Homeland Security did the RIGHT thing here - obviously they thought his behavior threatening. The memory card probably had pics on it of undercover security, etc. - he's wasting his time suing.
Goons
Leave it Babs to approve of communist behavior without any proof of such. There is NO LAW against photography in public and this was the supposed reason he was detained and his memory card stolen. I guess everyone who gets hassled by the police anywhere deserves it because they must have done something.
I have to laugh at the signs by the Mid-town tunnel that say photography and video are forbidden. Do you know how easy it is to surreptitiously do this?
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[x] Male
[x] No, not of Latino, Hispanic or Spanish origin
[x} White
"Do you know how easy it is to surreptitiously do this?"
I'm sure they do - what it gives them the right to do though is to pull people over who they suspect is taking photos i.e. anybody - anytime.
fascists.
Actually - the Department of Homeland Security did the RIGHT thing here - obviously they thought his behavior threatening. The memory card probably had pics on it of undercover security, etc. - he's wasting his time suing.
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Are you retarded??? Why are you so quick to give up your rights???
Leave it Babs to approve of communist behavior without any proof of such.
Look fella, I don't have any time to debate this issue. I'm going to Soho this afternoon and shop in a few chi chi boutiques. After that, I'm going to hob nob in a sophisticated wine bar with my girlfriends, just like Sex and the City!
I've always been opposed to those pesky photographers, they get in my way when I'm shopping.
However, if you want to knock up your girlfriend and get her pregnant, do what you feel baby!! I'm not worried about that, just raise taxes on the rich!!
Rights? Rights? We don't need no stinkin' rights!
I don't have any time to debate this issue. I'm going to Soho this afternoon and shop in a few chi chi boutiques.
Hope you pick out a nice dildo. Maybe we can share?
Hope you pick out a nice dildo. Maybe we can share?
Sure thing, big boy!
Just do what you feel, baby!
"Sure thing, big boy!"
Ha Ha I think you're gender conflicted! Of course, it's always about YOU!
Babs...real or not...you're just an annoying cunt.
I got boot jacked in Flushing meadow park during the US Open.
Cops handcuffed (detained) me and took me to a trailer and ran my ID then took my 2 Gig media card.
I had a SLR and a bag of assorted filters.
They called "Professional Photography"
I couldn't argue with them because I had a Kalashnikov knife in my boot.
I always carry it when I go to that park or King of Corona
The nerve of you taking photos of a popular event in a public park.
The back and forth between Babs, Blabs and the Real Babs is very entertaining. Maybe the "real" Barbara should register a Blogger account because I am getting confused about her politics. I remember her saying she was a liberal, yet Babs approves of these autocratic tactics.
Babs is very wrong on this but the juvenile comments are just dumb and never intelligent when you can so easily refute what she says cause the the guy has the right to take photos.
i was told that my photographing the blocking of a boulevard ,in front of a public school by parents vehicles,was illegal. the teacher was going to call the police on me.
is photographing school areas prohibited by law ?is blocking traffic,so motorists and buses, fire trucks,ambulances and police cars are stopped,against the law ?
I remember her saying she was a liberal, yet Babs approves of these autocratic tactics.
Who said that about me? Babs?
Or was it Blabs?
I'm a loyal member of the party, and I wholeheartedly approve of that photographer being detained. If you have to break a few eggs on the road to utopia, so be it!
What's up with The REAL Babs and her sex toys? That's counter-revolutionary activity that I disapprove of!
Maybe Babs should start her own blogsite and let the adults have a chance to communicate with each other.
I miss primadonna!
Maybe Babs should start her own blogsite
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She can call it Chicks with Dicks.
Der Chicks mit Dicks. Schtopp it, schtopp it. Hahr-hahr.
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