Update: Villarin and some photographer friends will be returning to Pershing Square at 2 p.m. Sunday in protest of the recent harassment from a U.S. Bank security guard. If you’re in the area, grab your camera and join them in support of the First Amendment.
Los Angeles photographer Bryan Villarin said he was harassed and threatened by a U.S. Bank security guard after he started taking pictures underneath the tallest building in Los Angeles, the former Library Tower.
The security guard whose name was “Robert” was then joined by a supervisor who told Villarin and his photographer companion, Alex Orsburn, that they would be placed on some sort of terrorist list if they continued taking photos.
When the photographers insisted on knowing what laws they were breaking, the security guards accused them of being “belligerent.”
Unfortunately, the photographers walked away without photographing the overbearing guards, which is the first step in combating these abuses.
Villarin points out the same area he was photographing is available on Google Maps with a click of a mouse.
This is one of those times when every photographer in Los Angeles should descend upon Pershing Square to give those security guards a lesson on the First Amendment.
