Update: The photographer’s name is Geraldo Carlos. As of today, he has not been deported.
Carlos Miller
What is it they teach these officers in the police academy anyway?
Obviously not basic First Amendment rights because these arrests continue to happen.
But this case will probably get all the Constitution-quoting xenophobes to side with police because the photographer was an illegal immigrant.
Never mind the fact that the photographer was the one who got police involved in the first place by reporting a body he had come across to his editor, who did what any normal person would do, and called police.
However, when police arrived, they handcuffed Brazilian Voice editor Roberto Lima to a bench until he agreed to hand over the photos that his photographer took, according to his federal lawsuit.
“I offered Newark police the original photographs as long as I could keep copies, but they handcuffed me to a bench until I agreed to give them all copies and originals,” Lima said in a statement. “They ordered me not to publish the pictures, but freedom of the press means that it’s my choice, not the Newark Police Department’s.”
The Associated Press reporter, Jeffrey Gold, neglected to mention whether or not the photographer was also handcuffed.
But he was an illegal immigrant from Portugal so maybe he has no rights.
Or maybe he does.
The lawsuit comes about two months after state Attorney General Anne Milgram said Deputy Chief Samuel DeMaio should be disciplined for questioning Lima and the photographer about their immigration status.
This must have confused DeMaio because it was only a few months earlier that Milgram ordered police to notify federal authorities when they believe a suspect is in the country illegally. However, this was only meant for suspects arrested for “indictable offenses or drunken driving.”
In other words, even Milgram is aware that photography is not an indictable offense.
The policy was prompted after a suspect in the slayings of three college students in Newark was found to be an illegal immigrant who was free on bail on child rape charges when the young people were killed.
Because we all know that child rapists who are in this country legally are safe to walk our streets.
