Posts Tagged 'Tony Overman'

Vandals Have It Out For Olympian Photographer

Published June 10, 2011 Harassment , Photojournalism , Protests & Rallies 1 Comment
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Tony Overman, a longtime photographer for The Olympian in Olympia, Wash., has gotten on the bad side of some local thugs, and they’re not messing around. His home was tagged with anarchist symbols, his tires were slashed, and the paper’s delivery truck was painted with “Overman snitch,” along with paint thrown on the building. Overman believes this is the work of anarchists he’s photographed at rallys — photos which, in some cases, have resulted in their arrest.

As KOMO-TV reported:

Overman was assaulted last year when a woman spray-painted his face and camera as he photographed an anti-police brutality march. His published photos were later used to identify and convict the woman.

The photographer’s images of a man throwing rocks at a bank were also used by prosecutors. Overman believes that group is now sending him a message, but says he won’t be intimidated.

As Overman told the station: “This is an organized effort to name me specifically, and come to my house and terrorize me,” he said. “That’s really freaking scary.”

Last year, Overman described on his Facebook page what happened to him at the rally.

“… got assaulted by a group of anarchist street thugs. Spray paint in my face, cellphone broken, spray paint on my camera, shoved around, threatened to be thrown off the bridge into the water. First Olympia police on scene wouldn’t do anything unless I pulled the assailants from the group myself.”

Scary indeed.

Source: KOMO-TV (via Romenesko)

Charges Dropped for Nose Bump

Published June 19, 2008 Assault , Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment Leave a Comment
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Photo by discarted

UPDATE: Charges were dropped today against Tony Overman, the Olympian photographer who was arrested for bumping a cop with his nose during a heated back-and-forth at a crime scene.

 

It seems that cooler heads thankfully prevailed, but of course there were commenters on the Olympian site who didn’t agree. One in particular said: “This kind of lawlessness is what drives investors out of our fair city.”

 

Lawlessness is WAY overstating things. Did this person even read the original story? In no way was there anything close to lawlessness going on.

 

Talk about hyperbole! This was a case of two tempers that got out of hand and they both probably acted out of line, but to call Overman a “rioter” or say this constituted an “assault on an officer” is so off base.

 

There is actually real crime out there that needs addressing. Tying up the court system with a case like this would have been a gross waste of taxpayer dollars.

 

Article from The Olympian. 

Photographer Arrested for Hitting Cop With Nose

Published June 10, 2008 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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Photo via Discarted

Tony Overman, staff photographer for the Olympian in Washington, was arrested at the scene of a fire on Friday for hitting a Lacey detective in the “nose with his forehead.” That apparently amounts to a charge of simple assault and obstruction.

From Det. David Miller’s perspective, Overman entered a restricted area and was told to leave. Det. Miller told another officer if he did it again he’d be arrested. This prompted a heated exchange between the two, where, Det. Miller claims, the forehead-nose contact took place. His report says:

He appeared to be very upset. He yelled again, ‘What did you say?’ I responded, ‘If you cross the taped area again you will be arrested.’ Overman got inches from my face and yelled, ‘I left didn’t I.’ Overman then hit me in the nose with his forehead.”

As for Overman, he said he did approach the restricted area but did not enter it. He said Det. Miller got aggressive with him and “put his face literally half an inch from my face. I didn’t move. He instigated the contact. He touched his nose to my nose.” He continues:

“When our noses touched, very, very softly, at that point he stopped and slammed me in the chest with two hands, really, really hard.”

Interestingly though, the other four Lacey cops who were at the scene did not mention this physical altercation in their reports. The Lacey Police Department is investigating the incident.

It seems like a MAJOR waste of tax dollars, if you ask us. Not to rail on cops all the time, but that should not have escalated to the point of arrest. Why can’t certain law enforcement keep their egos and tempers in check and keep things in perspective? It was a nose bump for god’s sake! 

By the way, an Austin cop was fired after his department reviewed an incident where he claimed a suspect was aggressive and determined his account wasn’t credible (his dashboard camera told a different story). That is not to say all police fabricate incident reports; it is to say it’s nice when the rotten ones are called out for it.

Article from The Olympian via PDNPulse.

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