Posts Tagged 'downtown'

“No pictures. You could be a terrorist.”

Published June 6, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment 3 Comments
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KG

Keith Garsee was one of the photographers who joined us at the Photographers’ Rights Day rally in Hollywood on Sunday and also one of the inspirations for the event in the first place. He was harassed in the Los Angeles Metro, and we do mean harassed. It’s one thing to be told you can’t take photos, another to be threatened with arrest, and then quite another altogether to be told “F–k you” when you ask a simple question! Perhaps our tax dollars need to be going toward charm school for these security folks?

Here’s just an excerpt.

Him: Hey! It’s against the 9-11 Law to take pictures down here man!
Me: You mean the Patriot Act?
Him: No pictures.
Me: Could you explain? What law do you mean?
Him: You are lawyer?
Me: No.
Him: No pictures. You could be a terrorist. Very strict!
Me: How about I take a picture of you?
Him: F**k you… (I couldn’t believe it either)

Read the full account here.

Via Boing Boing.

Photo by discarted.

And the Harassment Continues…

Published June 3, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment 2 Comments
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Travis Puderbaugh, one of the photographers who came out for NPRD on Sunday, was harassed by authorities shortly after the rally broke up. He was taking photos of California Plaza at Grand and 3rd in downtown LA when he was approached by security officers. They were polite, but still clearly stepping beyond the parameters of their authority in asking him to stop taking photos of a public building — from a public sidewalk. Part of their protocol it seems is to place a call into “Angelwar,” which is apparently an anti-terrorism force, to “just file a follow-up report with them.”

Read his full account here.

Photo by Travis Puderbaugh.

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