Man arrested for trying to report suspected crime

By Carlos Miller
Photography Is Not a Crime

John Nix pulled out his cell phone after spotting what he thought was a gang of thugs mugging a man in the parking lot of a North Carolina shopping mall last week.

The former city council candidate ended up in jail after the men who were in street clothes turned out to be cops arresting a suspected shoplifter.

They thought he was taking their picture.

Congressman bans cameras, cops commit armed robbery

By William R. Toler

In a shocking display of police state tactics, an Ohio Congressman banned and had cameras confiscated from individuals attending his town hall meeting.

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) allegedly had signs placed in front of the venue banning cameras. After some attendees failed to obey the signs, police officers went through the audience to take them away.

The story was first brought to my attention by Carlos Miller at Photography is Not a Crime. (Click the link to see the crime happen.)

The amature videographers asserted their rights to the cops, but to no avail. An officer told one of the individuals the ban was “to protect the constituents.” The videographer stood his ground saying, “I’m well within my rights” after being asked “Are we gonna do this easy way? Or the hard way?” After protesting a few seconds more, the camera was stolen by the officer.

The officer then walked over to another person with a camera and attempted to steal it as well. “It’s not against the law to film this,” she said. “Yes it is,” the officer replied. “That’s what I’ve been told.”

Why should there be a “hard way?”

More photog false arrests

By William R. Toler

The last time I checked, photography was not a crime. But a rash of arrests this year would seem to suggest otherwise.

Courtesy stockphotopro.com

We’ve already introduced you to the work of Carlos Miller who has documented an alarming number of incidents where people have been arrested, usually for videotaping or photographing the police or federal buildings.

The most recent case involved two reporters, including Reason.tv’s Jim Epstein. Their crime: having cameras at a public meeting of the DC Taxicab Commission. Contrary to most open meeting laws, the Commission bans videotaping because it has “found television cameras to be disruptive to meetings.”

It started when Pete Tucker from thefightback.org was approached by an officer and asked to turn off his camera. “I’m a reporter,” he pleaded with the officer. After refusing and repeating multiple times that he was a reporter and it was an open meeting, Tucker was arrested. Epstein followed toward the door, camera in hand. One lady asked him not to record her. “I don’t give you permission,” she said. Epstein was then arrested himself.

Photography is not a crime

By William R. Toler

Shutterbugs across the country noticed a disturbing trend and some have even found themselves behind bars for doing their job or passion: photography.

Carlos Miller, a “multimedia journalist,” maintains a blog featuring stories of people arrested for photography. Dozens of photo-activists have been incarcirated for videotaping police officers, usually to catch abuse of authority. According to Miller’s website, he has been arrested twice for photographing cops and beaten both charges.

One case that’s been getting a lot of attention from the liberty movement involves John Kurtz, a real estate agent and photo-activist. Kurtz, founder of Orlando Copwatch, was arrested Jan. 1 after police say he interrupted an investigation and shoved an officer, the Orlando Sentinel reports. He faces a maximum of six years for “resisting without violence, battery on a Law Enforcement Officer, obstruction of a police officer.”

Here are the facts according to Orlando Copwatch: