Later today, as part of the National Day of Action Against FBI Repression, there will be a rally in downtown Los Angeles to protest the FBI’s September 24 raids of well-known anit-war activists in Minneapolis and Chicago.
Today marks the day that some of the activists were ordered to appear in US Federal Court in Chicago to be questioned about their anti-war activities. Officials have indicated that the activists are being investigated for their possible support of terrorism.
Date: Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Time: 4:30 pm
Location: Downtown Federal Building
300 N Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles, CA
This Wednesday, the ANSWER Coalition is staging a rally at the Hollywood Military Recruitment Center in Los Angeles to protest the U.S. Invasion of Afghanistan that was launched nine years ago.
From their website:
On Oct. 6, veterans, anti-war activists, students, military families, and working people will converge on the Hollywood Military Recruitment Center to protest and take action.
We will be at the Military Recruitment Center to demand an immediate end to the U.S./NATO war on Afghanistan. We will also demand an end to the U.S. military preying on working-class youth, especially youth of color. Young people are struggling to get access to a college education, jobs, and benefits, yet the war machine continues to send them to kill and die in this criminal war. Military recruiters must get out of our communities!
So if you’re in the Hollywood area on Wednesday afternoon with a camera dangling around your neck, be sure to find your way over to the recruitment center for some protest fun.
Date: October 6, 2010
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Hollywood Military Recruitment Center
7080 Hollywood Blvd.
(Corner of Hollywood & La Brea)
Los Angeles, California 90028
You know what, Carol Williams, I don’t care if you lose your job because you were dumb enough to step in front of a moving vehicle and have your gorilla foot run over by Paris Hilton’s boyfriend because he was blinded by hundreds of your buddies’ strobes. If I was there during your pleas to not be photographed, I would’ve shot away and posted your image all over the place because you are not partially at fault for this accident—this was ALL YOUR FAULT! And thankfully your image IS being plastered all over internet because of your stupidity.
What a hypocrite you are to tell someone not to photograph you while in public! When your own job requires you to chase down celebrities and photograph them against their will. More important, in the process of harassing celebrities, you violate various laws to get your precious photos. Just curious, would you have stopped photographing Ms. Hilton if she had asked you to stop?
And how do we even know that you didn’t intentionally get run over so you could file a frivolous lawsuit against Cy Waits and Paris Hilton and settle out of court for some big payout that you don’t deserve? Personally, I can’t wait to see you get fired and charges pressed against you and your photog gang for being a menace.
For the record, I strongly support photographers (including law-abiding paps) and their right to photograph people in public without consent. But when someone breaks the law to get their images, gets injured in the process, and then tells people not photograph her (as if the rules don’t apply anymore). Well, that just irks the hell out of me.
Here’s another angle of the accident with a nice long shot of Carol Williams—the law-breaking paparazzi who caused this mess.
Seeing that 30 Rock premiered last night, it seemed appropriate to post this photo. However, it would’ve been better if I posted it yesterday—I was not thinking yesterday though.
Anyway, frames like this are just one of the perks when you shoot street in Hollywood.
While YouTube is great fun for silly cat videos and clips of kids freaking out after the dentist, it’s also fertile ground for angry, arrogant, illiterate people. Exhibit A:
“your a dick ? what would u wanna video/pictures? a dead guy.. what the fuck are you gona do with the video of a dead guy.. get a life you fuking cunt,”
Interestingly, the comment was left by AbawiTariq, a sergeant with the LAPD, according to his YouTube profile.
Nothing but the best in Los Angeles. Seriously, Chief Beck – that is who you want representing your force?
I see something that I’ve never seen before. I bend down in the middle of the street as cars, attempting to avoid the bumper to bumper orgy on Western Avenue take a hard right down La Mirada Ave., and speed past behind me—their hot exhaust fumes graze my back. I’m invincible holding this camera.
Me: Is it loaded?
William (watching a movie): Boy, you ask some stupid questions.
I move my camera and crouch lower. My right knee cracks, and then the shutter as a Beamer lays on its horn and keeps going.
William: I got an M-16 too, but that’s buried in the back.
The above video was recorded on February 21, 2010 in Hollywood, CA. As you will see from the footage, the officer’s behavior is deeply disturbing and should cause alarm within the Los Angeles Police Department.
And despite what the officer claims in the video, it is completely legal to photograph and videotape anybody, including police officers, when an expectation of privacy does not exist. It is the public’s right to photograph and record police activity that occurs on our streets and in our neighborhoods, and we should not be subjected to verbal assaults, illegal detainment, or threatened with an unlawful arrest if we choose to do so.
This encounter could have been a non-issue.
To voice your concerns regarding this officer’s behavior, contact the following individuals and offices:
Internal Affairs – Los Angeles Police Department
304 South Broadway, Suite 215
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Office: 213-485-1486
Fax: 213-473-6420
Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles
Email: mayor@lacity.org
Eric Garcetti, City Council President
5500 Hollywood Blvd., 4th Floor
Hollywood, CA 90028
Phone: 323-957-4500
Email: councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org
Tom LaBonge, Councilmember, District 4
Hollywood Field Office
6501 Fountain Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Phone: (323) 957-6415
Email: councilmember.labonge@lacity.org
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