Assault With a Deadly Camera

[babylonsister]

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/123011.html


Assault With a Deadly Camera

Radley Balko | October 16, 2007, 12:47pm

Frank Waterhouse of Oregon is suing Portland police after he was tasered and shot with a beanbag gun. His offense? Videotaping a warrantless police search on a friend's property. The police report helpfully explains that the force used on Waterhouse (who was standing far off on the edge of the property) was necessary because, "He had refused to drop the camera which could be used as a weapon."

First time I've heard that one.

Waterhouse was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. He was acquitted on all charges.

Video here:
http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1243494890

My article on why it should always be legal to videotape police here:
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,284075,00.html

[JeffR]

1. Weapons of Mass Depiction? n/t

[babylonsister]

2. Give that man a DUZY!

:rofl:

[NV Whino]

3. You've been hanging around the DUzys too long

:rofl:

[aikoaiko]

4. citizen w. camera = revenge of little brother,

:evilgrin:

[Richard Steele]

5. I keep asking "Is it a police state yet?"

It's been a RHETORICAL question for some time now, hasn't it? :(

[Ghost in the Machine]

6. and people wonder why more & more cops are getting brutalized.

Hey, we NEED cops and I have nothing against a cop doing his job, but these rogue jackboots make it hard for ANYONE to trust a cop these days.

[Fovea]

7. Be careful

I don't think the word weapon is allowed here.
Not in a post that mentions politicians or probably even police...

[babylonsister]

8. That came from the police report; really hard to separate the two. nt

[Fovea]

9. I am just bitchy

I had a very carefully thought out post deleted earlier, and I am just taking it out on everybody.

Sorry.

[Liberal In Texas]

10. This story makes for a good reason to post this again: PHOTOGRAPHER'S RIGHTS

Here is a handy guide to carry around about the rights of photographers. Any photographer, not just the media.

Obviously you can't read it here. The PDF: http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf
From this website: http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm
(Mr. Krages deserves a big credit and thank you for having this available.)

As the flyer states, there are not very many legal restrictions on what can be photographed when in public view. Most attempts at restricting photography are done by lower-level security and law enforcement officials acting way beyond their authority. Note that neither the Patriot Act nor the Homeland Security Act have any provisions that restrict photography.

The Photographer’s Right is a downloadable guide that is loosely based on the Bust Card and the Know Your Rights pamphlet that used to be available on the ACLU website. It may be downloaded and printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may make copies and carry them your wallet, pocket, or camera bag to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning confrontations over photography. You may distribute the guide to others, provided that such distribution is not done for commercial gain and credit is given to the author.

There are other websites that discuss photographer's rights (just google) including the NPPA which is more media specific.
(ed: spelling)

[annabanana]

11. Thanks for that link. Everyone with a cell phone who goes on protest marches

should have a copy of that in their pocket.

[Eric J in MN]

12. We need laws regulating when police can taser.

It should only be amid violence, not to force a non-violent person to comply.