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Not even politicians with cameras are safe from assaults



A 61-year-old city councilor from Massachusetts was taking pictures outside of a residence when a 19-year-old punk stormed out of the house and punched him in the jaw.

Revere City Councilman Ira Novoselsky fell to the ground, cutting his head open on the concrete and ended up with a fractured skull and an enlarged brain.

Andrew Alves is now facing a three-year prison sentence for assault and battery on a person over 60, which is a felony in Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe.

Police said there is no indication that Novoselsky was trespassing.

Novoselsky had been investigating complaints from neighbors about late-night construction noise coming from the Beach Street house and took pictures as he checked the dimensions of a wall under construction in front of the residence, police said.

The councilor told police that Alves came out of the house, slapped the camera out of his hands, and said, “Stop taking pictures,” Murphy said.

Then Alves “punched him in the jaw with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground and cutting his head open” on the concrete, Murphy said.

My trial begins Monday



Five weeks after my trial was delayed because prosecutors were unprepared to proceed in front of a news camera, my trial is set to begin again.

This time, the trial is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. on Monday, June 16th, in Courtroom 2-11 in the Justice Building, 1351 N.W. 12th St.

Glenna Milberg from Local 10 said she will be there along with a videographer, so prosecutors were unsuccessful in avoiding the camera, which is ironic considering the actions that lead to my arrest in the first place.

Click here to read all that has happened in the 16 months since I was arrested after photographing Miami police against their wishes.

Former NPPA president arrested and injured by “overly aggressive officer”



A former National Press Photographers Association president was arrested Friday as he was photographing a house fire in Washington.

Tony Overman, a veteran photographer for The Olympian, was charged with “simple assault” on a police officer, according to the newspaper.

However, the Olympian says it was the officer who assaulted Overman.

And judging from the incidents I’ve covered on this blog, including my own incident in which an officer bashed my head into the ground, I am siding with the Olympian on this one.

Olympian Publisher John Winn Miller promised that the newspaper will fight the charges.

“This is a very disturbing incident where a very experienced photographer who knows his limits was apparently accosted by an overly aggressive officer,” he said.

“It was an uncalled-for reaction and interferes with our ability to cover the news in a lawful fashion, and we intend to fight it in court.”

Overman, whose right arm and hand were injured during the arrest, has filed a complaint against the Lacey Police Department.

The Olympian said the arrest unraveled in the following manner:

Overman said that while he was taking photos, an officer put up a police-tape boundary behind him. Overman said that when Lacey detective David Miller told him to move outside the boundary, he complied.

He said that as he walked away, he overheard the detective tell another officer that Overman should be arrested immediately if he crossed the police line.

Overman said he turned around and approached the detective.

“I just wanted to understand why he was singling me out when I had complied with everything he asked me to do,” Overman said Saturday.

“I wasn’t angry,” he added. “I just don’t like seeing the media singled out and picked on.”

Overman said that the two walked toward each other and that the detective screamed at him.

They got so close that their noses briefly touched, Overman said; he says he was shoved backward and arrested.

Detective David Miller has worked for the Lacey Police Department for 14 years. Overman has worked at the Olympian for 11 years. He is a two-time regional photographer of the year and the immediate past president of the National Press Photographers Association.

Massachusetts judge drops charges against “terrorist” photographer



He was a Russian. He had a camera. And he was photographing a natural gas tank.

So naturally police thought he was a terrorist.

Police in Lynn, Mass. became so suspicious of Stanislav Arkhipov, they not only arrested him on trespassing charges, they ended up contacting the State Anti-Terrorism Unit.

And the State Anti-Terrorism Unit ended up calling the Department of Homeland Security, which placed a “detainer” status on the Russian immigrant, forcing him to remain in jail for four nights.

Welcome to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, Mr. Arkhipov.

Adding to the hysteria was journalist Dan O’Brien of the Daily Item of Lynn, who wrote the following lede sentence.

A Russian national was arrested Friday after he was caught taking photographs of the secured liquefied natural gas terminal on Lynn Harbor, touching off an investigation by the state’s Anti-Terrorism Task Force, police said.

Memo to O’Brien: It is not illegal to photograph the gas terminal, so there is no need to use the word “caught”.

O’Brian continued to write what he no doubt thought was going to turn into a terrorist cell crackdown in his own backyard.

Stanislav Arkhipov, 25, of 10 Farrar St. #803, Lynn, allegedly gave police an interesting answer when asked why he was taking pictures of the area.

OK, O’Brien, what was his “interesting answer” that deemed him so suspicious?

“He said he likes to take pictures of industrial sites,” said Lt. Ted Blake, Lynn police spokesman.

No wonder they called Homeland Security. You never know what might happen if someone puts a photo of the Lynn Natural Gas terminal on the Internet, like the one below, which was published in the Daily Item of Lynn last week.

O’Brien continues hyping the incident by writing:

Due to the suspicious nature of the incident, a report of what happened was forwarded to the State Police Anti-Terrorism Unit for further investigation, according to Blake.

Employees of National Grid, the company that owns the 12-million gallon gas tank, called police after noticing the alleged suspicious behavior at about 11 a.m., police said.

How is taking a photograph suspicious?

There is not a shred of evidence during our “War on Terror” that proves a terrorist photographed a site before blowing it up or flying an airplane into it.

So stop this “9/11 changed everything” hysteria, Mr. O’Brien. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. You are contributing to our loss of Constitutional Rights instead of defending them.

After four nights in jail, Arkhipov faced Lynn District Court Judge Michael Lauranzano, who dismissed the single trespassing charge against the Russian.

Thankfully, somebody in Lynn, Massachusetts has some common sense.

Photograpy is Not a Crime: The Movie



You’ve read the blog, soon you will see the the movie.

I have been working with a local film group on a documentary about photographer’s rights and the First Amendment. The title of the film will naturally be Photography is not a Crime.

The movie is in its initial stages, but I have a solid crew who has agreed to work with me on this project, including Bruce Merwin, a veteran filmmaker with more than two decades of professional experience.

So far, we have conducted a few on-camera interviews including one with photojournalist Al Crespo, who is sitting far left in the top photo (I am wearing the headphones and the purple t-shirt).

In 2000, Crespo was photographing a rally during the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles when LAPD officers shot him several times with rubber bullets.

Below is the photo he shot right before he was shot. And below that, is a photo of Crespo’s wound after he was shot.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued on his behalf and won. Because of that incident, the LAPD had to change their policy when dealing with photojournalists.

Unfortunately, the LAPD did not heed that policy during last year’s May Day demonstration because they again turned Gestapo on photographers and demonstrators.

In the movie, we will interview several photographers who have had violent run-ins with police in their line of work. We also plan to interview judges, lawyers, activists and hopefully even police chiefs.

We also plan to have a video camera in the courtroom during my trial, which is now scheduled for June 16th.

And considering there are at least two news stations that also intend to film the trial, the camera shy prosecutors better be prepared because this time, they will not be allowed to delay the trial.

And we will also film scenes in which I am photographing federal buildings from a public sidewalk to see how long it takes for a police officer or security guard to order me to stop. The video camera will be hidden to allow natural interactions.

We are exploring and seeking different avenues of funding and sponsorship. And we are also seeking volunteers who would like to participate.

If interested, please join our Meetup Group.

Liberty, Mississippi is anything but



In a town called Liberty, Edwin Merino was stripped of his First Amendment rights.

The 30-year-old celebrity photographer was arrested in the tiny Mississippi town earlier this week after photographing Jamie Lynn Spears and her fiance at a gas station.

The Los Angeles photographer was standing 200 feet away at the time.

Nevertheless, he was charged with stalking the younger sister of Britney Spears.

Speaking of which, Merino was one of the photographers who captured Britney without panties last year.

Unfortunately for Merino, Liberty deputies did not give him the liberty to get as close to Jamie Lynn.

Merino said that although the arrest prevented him from getting a quality shot, deputies were kind enough to drive him to three ATMs so he could withdraw the $1,143 to bond out.

The Associated Press article doesn’t say whether Merino was surprised to find three ATMs in the one-horse town, which encompasses 2.1 square miles and had a population of 633 during the 2000 census, according to Wikipedia.

Like many small towns, Liberty’s central meeting point is the local Wal-Mart, which is where Merino managed to get a single shot of the young celebrity couple.

“The one picture I got was kind of by luck,” he said. “I got lucky when I saw them at Wal-Mart when I was buying deodorant.”

At least he didn’t stink up the jail cell.

Help Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz make an informed decision



Considering that Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz refuses to comment on last week’s arrest of a news videographer until an Independent Review Panel has seen thevideo, we should make it our civic duty to help the chief decide the fate of the arresting officer.

Thankfully, KOB-TV investigative reporter Jeremy Jojola has set up a poll on his blog titled “What should happen to Officer Guzman?” with the following choices.

  • Written Warning
  • Suspension Without Pay
  • Termination
  • Nothing

Jojola will keep the poll up for the next six days. Afterwards, in case Chief Schultz has not seen the results, I will personally email him the final tally.

And hopefully by then, Schultz will have had enough independent advisement that would enable him to make the right decision.

Albuquerque Journal continues its stance against police department



The Albuquerque Journal published a scathing editorial this week against the Albuquerque Police Department in the wake of last week’s controversial arrest of a news videographer.

The editorial, titled “Is it so hard for ADP to police its own?,” states that Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz is “not taking this seriously enough”.

Schultz insists he cannot comment on the incident until an independent review officer has seen the video.

Guess what, Schultz? It doesn’t take a legal scholar to determine that Officer Daniel Guzman was way out of line in arresting KOB-TV videographer Rick Foley.

According to the editorial, Guzman makes a whopping $58,000 a year, which is an astronomical figure for a rookie cop in one of the nation’s poorest states.

If that figure is accurate, then the Albuquerque Police Department should be in a position to pick and choose the cream of the crop instead of the pig in the poke.

Below is an exert from the editorial:

This is what we’re forking over $58,000 a year for? An officer with a badge and a gun and a temperament that can’t handle a sarcastic comment from a law-abiding cameraman? What happens when a drunk gets belligerent and mouthy? When a criminal is truly dangerous?

Or when there’s no camera to record everything?

Last week, the Albuquerque Journal published an article saying that Officer Guzman “attacked” Foley without even using the word “allegedly”, which is pretty bold for a mainstream newspaper.

Here is the entire editorial. If the Albuquerque Journal requires you to give up your first born before it allows you to read the article as it sometimes does, just click the link below where I cut and paste the editorial.

Is It So Hard for APD To Police Its Own?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video of a rookie Albuquerque Police Department officer lunging at a news photographer on a public street is worth at least an unpaid suspension and consideration of criminal charges.

KOB-TV cameraman Rick Foley was outside a police line early Thursday, covering an officer-involved shooting near Copper and Charleston NE. He says he asked officers repeatedly where to go for the official media briefing. His video shows that when he finally got an answer, he popped off to officer Daniel Guzman, “Was that so hard?” and asked for the officer’s name and badge number.

And that, apparently, was enough to earn Foley a hard shove and 90 minutes in handcuffs. Guzman claims Foley was “sticking his camera in my face,” but the video only shows Guzman pacing like a panther around Foley, then lunging at him.

KOB-TV news director Rhonda Aubrey says the station has been playing the video on its newscasts and Web site because “of the way our photographer was treated. He was out on a public street, he was not interfering with a police investigation, and he was not behind a police line. We are airing (the video) so people can draw their own conclusions.”

One conclusion is that APD isn’t taking this seriously enough. Chief Ray Schultz says he wants the city’s independent review officer to investigate the incident and “if the officer is wrong, we will clearly take responsibility for it and address it.”

As Foley’s camera lens shows Guzman coming at him, then is knocked to focus on the ground, bounced up to show the surrounding neighborhood, then again down to show pavement, here’s something APD can also address:

This is what we’re forking over $58,000 a year for? An officer with a badge and a gun and a temperament that can’t handle a sarcastic comment from a law-abiding cameraman? What happens when a drunk gets belligerent and mouthy? When a criminal is truly dangerous?

Or when there’s no camera to record everything?

Congresswoman steps up for photographers’ rights



Eleanor Holmes Norton, a democratic congresswoman based out of the nation’s capital, has come out swinging after a television news segment showed photographers’ rights being violated at Union Station.

The news segment,which aired last week on FOX5, looked into why security guards were ordering photographers not to take pictures inside the picturesque train station. At one point, as the news crew was interviewing an Amtrak spokesperson, a security guard told them to turn their camera off.

However, he was unable to explain the policy that forbids photography inside Union Station.

Since that segment ran, Jones Lang LaSalle, the company which manages Union Station, provided a list of policies that declared the historical train station “private property”, ensuring they have the right to forbid photography.

This arrogant notion angered Congresswoman Norton, who stated the following:

“I’m astounded that Union Station would be declared private property, when we [Congress] issued the lease,” she said.”The Congress of the United States didn’t realize it was selling Union Station, and it is not.

“We’re going to have hearings because it’s going to be us, the Congress, or it’s going to be the courts. Somebody is going to sue, straight out, and I can tell you that the Supreme Court precedents are as clear as water on this.”

Click here to view a video of Norton’s entire comments.

Joel Lawson, a Washington DC photographer, activist and blogger who was interviewed for the original news segment, is confident that Norton will back her tough talk with tougher action.

“As a former congressional aide and DC civic activist, I’ve known and watched Congresswoman Norton for years. I can tell you, if anyone’s going to mess with civil liberties in any manner whatsoever, or claim ownership over property which the people of America and the District of Columbia in particular hold dear, Eleanor Holmes Norton will not let them pass. Her intellect is powerful, and it is wrapped in tenacity and passion.”

Lawson operates LightboxDC, in which he is “shouting from a lightbox instead of a soap box.”

Albuquerque Journal takes strong stance against videographer’s arrest



It is quite surprising – and refreshing – to see a mainstream newspaper take such a strong stance against last week’s arrest of a news videographer, but the video clearly speaks for itself.

The headline in last week’s Albuquerque Journal article states “City Cop Attacks KOB-TV Photographer”.

And the lede sentence reads “A KOB-TV photographer shooting video near a crime scene early Thursday morning was attacked by an Albuquerque police officer who had ordered him to move.”

Note the lack of the use “allegedly” which is the common journalistic disclaimer that prevents newspapers from getting sued for convicting someone in the press. In this case, the actions of the officer were so blatant, it would be a mockery to say he allegedly did anything.

The Journal also pointed out that last week’s incident marked the second time in two years that an Albuquerque police officer arrested a KOB videographer. In the previous incident, an investigation determined the officers acted inappropriately and were ordered to go through further training.

Obviously, that training was not implemented for all incoming officers.

In last week’s incident, Albuquerque police officer Daniel Guzman is shown circling around videographer Rick Foley before he pounces on him without warning.

Foley is a 25-year veteran. Guzman has been on the force just over a year.

Click below for a cut and paste of the Albuquerque Journal article, as they make you either register or sit through a lengthy video ad to read the actual article.

City Cop Attacks KOB-TV Photographer

By T.J. Wilham

Journal Staff Writer

A KOB-TV photographer shooting video near a crime scene early Thursday morning was attacked by an Albuquerque police officer who had ordered him to move.

And it was all caught on tape, which the station has been broadcasting on its newscasts and its Web site.

Channel 4 cameraman Rick Foley, a 25-year veteran, was covering a police standoff near Copper and Charleston NE when officer Daniel Guzman told him to move to a different location, according to an Albuquerque police report.

Foley at the time was some distance from the police cars blocking the street.

Before the incident, Foley asked Guzman to identify himself, and he asked for Guzman’s badge number.

Shortly after the officer told Foley he needed to move, the video shows the officer pacing and sizing up the photographer, then lunging at him.

Foley was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police car and cited for “refusing to obey an officer,” according to a police report.

KOB-TV said in its newscast that Foley was preparing to pack up his van and leave when the attack occurred, but he had kept the camera running while moving.

Foley was eventually released.

Guzman, who has been with APD a little more than a year, wrote in his citation: “Mr. Foley refused to obey my lawful order to relocate himself to Central and Rhode Island. Foley was asked several times to move as he filmed me, sticking his camera in my face.”

Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said Thursday that he had not seen the video, although he was going to request that the city’s independent review officer investigate the incident.

“If the officer is wrong, we will clearly take responsibility for it and address it,” Schultz said. “This is one of those areas where we do periodic training, and this might be one of those instances we might have to do again.”

The incident marks the second time a KOB cameraman and Albuquerque police officers have clashed in recent years. In October 2006, officers detained KOB cameraman Jeremy Fine while he was filming the aftermath of a balloon crash.

Fine was asked by an officer to leave the area. Fine objected, saying he was allowed to go where the public could go.

Schultz said an investigation into that incident determined the officers acted inappropriately. They were ordered to go through further training, he said.

KOB-TV news director Rhonda Aubrey declined to comment when asked whether she thought there was a systemic problem with the way APD treats news cameramen.

“We felt (this incident) is newsworthy because of the way our photographer was treated,” Aubrey said. “He was out on a public street, he was not interfering with a police investigation, and he was not behind a police line.

“We are airing (the video) so people can draw their own collusions.”

Police spokesman John Walsh said Thursday that he had received complaints from other journalists saying that officers had asked them to leave the area of a crime they were covering.

Walsh said that each time he has addressed the incident with an officer and was able to reach a resolution.

“I don’t believe this is a systemic problem,” Walsh said. “Our officers interact with media representatives on a daily basis and have a very good working relationship.”

Washington DC security guards clueless about photographers’ rights



A television news crew was conducting a segment about how photographers’ rights are being violated at Union Station in Washington DC when a security guard ordered them to turn their cameras off.

Ironically, the man they were interviewing at the time was the Amtrak head spokesman who was informing them that there is no policy in place that forbids photographers from filming or photographing inside the historical train station.

When asked, the security guard was unable to explain why they were not allowed to film inside the station, which is one of the busiest – and most picturesque – terminals in the United States.

Check out the video here.

One of my posts is in the running for “Post of the Month”



My post, Cuba, Castro, Colombia and my Caucasian Dad, which I posted last month on my Magic City Mania blog, is one of five posts in the running for “Post of the Month” on the South Florida Daily Blog.

Please read through all five nominees and vote for which you think is the most deserving for this honor.

New Mexico cop arrests videographer as tape rolls



In a clear example of police abuse, an Albuquerque police officer lost his temper and arrested a news videographer after being asked for his name and badge number.

The entire incident was caught on video.


Click here for better quality raw video which shows the entire incident, including dialog between the reporter and cop after he was handcuffed.

Instead of providing his name and badge number, Officer D. Guzman walked away, only to walk back to the videographer as he was putting his camera back into the news truck.

Guzman then pounced on the videographer, grabbing him from behind as a struggle ensued.

“We’re rolling bud, you hit me,” the photographer said. “It’s all on camera. Quit it, (or you’ll) break a $50,000 camera.”

Guzman has been a cop for 13 months and been on the street for only seven months – apparently not enough time for him to learn not to do anything stupid on camera.

The videographer, who works for KOB-TV, was handcuffed and charged with disobeying a police officer. He was released 90 minutes later.

Albuquerque police refused to comment, but ensured the incident would be reviewed by the Independent Review Office, which will then make recommendations to the police department, according to NBC6.net.

In the meantime, the incident is being reviewed by thousands of online viewers.

Defiant Miami police officer is arrested



Earlier this year, Miami Police Officer Geovani Nunez made headlines when he defiantly told a Miami journalist that his police department could “stick that blue line up their ass” in regards to the Blue Code of Silence that requires officers to remain silent about the misconduct of fellow officers.

On Thursday, he was one of two Miami police officers arrested on drug and stolen merchandise charges, according to The Miami Herald.

Meanwhile, Police Chief John Timoney received a slap on the wrist from the Florida Commission on Ethics after admitting he was wrong for accepting a $54,000 Lexus as a gift, courtesy of the Lexus of Kendall dealership.

Timoney, who admitted that he violated state disclosure laws by not declaring the luxury vehicle he drove for 14 months, was fined $500. He makes more than $214,000 a year.

Help turn South Florida blue

A press release from Annette Taddeo, who is running for Congress against Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Hello friends,

The Taddeo for Congress campaign is making a call for volunteers to help the campaign out tomorrow and Thursday. We will be out at the Miami Beach Convention Center both days registering new voters at the New Citizen Swearing-In Ceremony and we need as many volunteers as we can get for this great event!

This is a great opportunity to help out the Taddeo for Congress campaign as well as to register scores of enthusiastic, new American citizens. Democrats have been out on force registering new voters and in Miami-Dade County there is a definite movement of new voters registering Democrat.

The event will be held Wednesday May 28 and Thursday May 29 from 9:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Miami Beach Convention Center at 1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL. National media will be present and Annette Taddeo herself will be helping out as well on Thursday!

But we still need enthusiastic volunteers like you to come out! Contact us at headquarters at (305) 661-6499 or send an e-mail to christian@voteTaddeo.com to help us out tomorrow and/or Thursday. Together we can help turn South Florida from red to blue!

Start Time: Wednesday, May 28th at 9:45 a.m.

End Time: Thursday, May 29 at 12 p.m.

Location: Miami Beach Convention Center

Address: 1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach.

No wonder they didn’t want me photographing the storefronts

Some of you might remember that a couple of months ago, I had an incident where a store owner overreacted to my photography as I was working on an article for MiamiBeach411.com.

I received a lot of flak over that incident from people accusing me of not respecting the woman’s personal space, never mind the fact she was the one who got in my face.

As I continued working on the article, I learned that some of those shops had been sued by Microsoft for selling unlicensed software. I also learned that at least one shop owner (PC DIY Center) was flagrantly dishonest about his return policy.

As I finished the article, I realized it was no wonder why this one shop owner became extremely paranoid when I started photographing her storefront.

I doubt I will ever return to this area to purchase any electronics. There are numerous reputable places online that rival their prices.

Here is the article.

No wonder they didn’t want me photographing the storefronts



Some of you might remember that a couple of months ago, I had an incident where a store owner overreacted to my photography as I was working on an article for MiamiBeach411.com.

I received a lot of flak over that incident from people accusing me of not respecting the woman’s personal space, never mind the fact she was the one who got in my face.

As I continued working on the article, I learned that some of those shops had been sued by Microsoft for selling unlicensed software. I also learned that at least one shop owner (PC DIY Center) was flagrantly dishonest about his return policy.

As I finished the article, I realized it was no wonder why this one shop owner became extremely paranoid when I started photographing her storefront.

I doubt I will ever return to this area to purchase any electronics. There are numerous reputable places online that rival their prices.

Here is the article.

Another photographer acquitted for the “crime” of taking photos



Texas police tried their hardest to stop photojournalist Nick Adams from photographing an arrest during a Mardi Gras celebration in Galveston County last year.

First they shoved the camera into his face.

Then, after he backed up a few steps and snapped another photo, League City police officer Clifford Woitena hurled Adams to the ground, damaging two $4,000 cameras.

Then Woitena plopped on top of Adams, pushing his knee forcefully into his face.

And finally, after Adams’ was handcuffed, a police officer erased two of the images that Adams took that night.

Last week, a Texas jury acquitted Adams on the misdemeanor charge of interfering with a police officer, according to theHouston Chronicle.

Adams, who was working for the Galveston County Daily News at the time of the incident, is now working for the Appeal-Democrat in Northern California.

He was arrested on Feb. 10, 2007 – 10 days before my arrest for photographing police against their wishes.

He was also offered a plea deal which would have reduced the initial charge of interfering with a police officer to disorderly conduct but he refused.

We’ve had our eye on Wackenhut for a while now



On July 4th, 2007, a Wackenhut executive dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase filled with taxpayers’ dollars, sprinted through the streets of South Beach while being chased by a giant finger and several sets of eyes.

The giant finger pointed at him in an accusatory manner and the giant eyes never let him out of their site, for they knew damn well he was a thief.

No matter how hard he tried, Mr. Wackenhut could not elude the finger and eyes.

And no matter how discrete he tried to be, he could not avoid the stares of hundreds of South Beach patrons, who were being handed fliers informing them that Wackenhut was being investigated for stealing more than $12.2 million from Miami-Dade County.

That was the first Street Theater Action we conducted against Wackenhut. It wouldn’t be the last.

This week, after a three-year investigation, Miami-Dade County officials determined that Wackenhut overbilled the county for millions in taxpayer dollars.

The thievery was not just limited to the head honchos because NBC6 also revealed this week that Wackenhut security guard Fabriciano Baez was videotaped stealing money from Metrorail fare boxes.

And when Wackenhut guards weren’t stealing money from county residents, they were violating my First Amendment rights by ordering me not to take photos on a platform of a Metromover station.

I even wrote an open letter to Wackenhut President Gary Sanders about that incident, but he never responded.

Perhaps Sanders had been sleeping on the job, as many Wackenhut guards were, as you will in the second Street Theater Action we did, a video I am proud to have produced. He resigned within hours after I had posted the video on the Internet.

Here is the video of the first Street Theater Action, which was produced by a fellow Colombian-American who goes by the youtube username, jcfractal. To see more photos I took that day, click (read more) below.

Click here to see the entire collection of photos from the Wackenhut Action.

We’ve had our eye on Wackenhut for a while now

On July 4th, 2007, a Wackenhut executive dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase filled with taxpayers’ dollars, sprinted through the streets of South Beach while being chased by a giant finger and several sets of eyes.

The giant finger pointed at him in an accusatory manner and the giant eyes never let him out of their site, for they knew damn well he was a thief.

No matter how hard he tried, Mr. Wackenhut could not elude the finger and eyes.

And no matter how discrete he tried to be, he could not avoid the stares of hundreds of South Beach patrons, who were being handed fliers informing them that Wackenhut was being investigated for stealing more than $12.2 million from Miami-Dade County.

That was the first Street Theater Action we conducted against Wackenhut. It wouldn’t be the last.

This week, after a three-year investigation, Miami-Dade County officials determined that Wackenhut overbilled the county for millions in taxpayer dollars.

The thievery was not just limited to the head honchos because NBC6 also revealed this week that Wackenhut security guard Fabriciano Baez was videotaped stealing money from Metrorail fare boxes.

And when Wackenhut guards weren’t stealing money from county residents, they were violating my First Amendment rights by ordering me not to take photos on a platform of a Metromover station.

I even wrote an open letter to Wackenhut President Gary Sanders about that incident, but he never responded.

Perhaps Sanders had been sleeping on the job, as many Wackenhut guards were, as you will in the second Street Theater Action we did, a video I am proud to have produced. He resigned within hours after I had posted the video on the Internet.

Here is the video of the first Street Theater Action, which was produced by a fellow Colombian-American who goes by the youtube username, jcfractal.

Click here to see the entire collection of photos from the Wackenhut Action.

Hip hop thugs beat up and rob Florida photographer



A 25-year-old Florida photographer will no doubt win a handsome sum if he decides to sue the thugs who beat him up and stole his camera.

Photographer Luis Santana said the thugs were limousine-riding bodyguards for hip hop artist Chris Brown, a 19-year-old boy wonder who had opened for Kanye West in St. Petersburg Monday night.

Santana, who was shooting for the Tampa Bay Times, took a few shots of Brown’s entourage as they left the Vintage Ultra Lounge to step into the limo.

Before he knew it, Brown’s bodyguards chased him and forced him to the ground, putting a knee on his jaw.

When he tried to push the knee away, the guards stole his camera, which was worth $3,000, according to the St. Petersburg Times, which publishes the tabloid Tampa Bay Times.

“This is outrageous. Our photographer was beaten up taking pictures on a public street,” said Neil Brown, executive editor of the Tampa Bay Times. “We anticipate the police can and will help us get to the bottom of this. We want our pictures back, and we want somebody held accountable for this assault.”

“If You Put That Picture On The Internet I’ll Call My Lawyer”



First he yelled at a homeless man. Then he threatened a photographer who was documenting the situation. And finally, he approached the photographer and grabbed his lens.

San Francisco photographer Jeremy Brooks said the man threatened to call his lawyer if his picture ended up on the Internet.

Brooks posted his picture on the Internet anyway. And so did Thomas Hawk. And so did I.

His picture has also been posted on Digg and the link has been posted on Reddit.

I’ll let you know when his lawyer calls.

The saga continues: Camera shy prosecutors force delay of my trial



The sight of a video camera in the courtroom sent shivers down the spine of the prosecution Monday morning.

As soon as I stepped in front of the judge, the young state prosecutor in my case asked for a 15 minute delay because a Local 10 cameraman had his camera trained on him.

The prosecutor told the judge that he needed to get clearance from his supervisor before he could proceed on camera. Judge Jose Fernandez granted his request.

Then, after more than 15 minutes had passed, in which Local 10 reporter Glenna Milberg had settled into the courtroom, the judge called my case up again, only for the State to ask for a continuance.

The young prosecutor, this time accompanied by his more experienced supervisor, admitted they were not prepared for the case – even though it has been more than 15 months since my arrest.

After all, they said, two of the arresting officers were unable to attend the trial.

Miami Police Officer Marvalyn Reid, second from right in the banner photo, was unable to attend the trial because she is on military leave.

And Miami Police Officer Anthonius Kurver, far right, was unable to attend the trial because he was sick.

How convenient of him.

It’s difficult to believe anything that comes out of Kurver’s mouth because he has done nothing but lie since my arrest.

He lies so much that he not only contradicts the other officers, he contradicts himself because he told one version of the story on the arrest report and told a completely different version during the deposition.

The State said they had no idea that Reid was on military leave until that very morning, which is why they didn’t mention anything during the sounding on April 23rd.

However, the Internal Affairs report, which was finalized in February, stated that Reid has been on military leave since January.

Judge Fernandez granted the State’s request for an extension, as the only officer in the courtroom was Officer Baluja, second from left.

It should be noted that constant delays and continuances are usually the tactics of savvy defendants.

Meanwhile, my attorney, Arnold Trevilla, filed a demand for a speedy trial, which means the trial has to be scheduled within 50 days.

If the trial is not scheduled by June 24th, then Trevilla will file a notice that requires the trial to be set within 15 days, by July 9th, or else the charges will be dropped.

Officer Reid, who is probably fighting Bush’s war in Iraq, is not scheduled to return from military leave until some time in July, according to the Internal Affairs report.

I hope she returns safely, not only because the war has claimed enough American lives, but because out of the three officers who were deposed by my former lawyer, she was the only one who told the truth.

Honored by the Honorable Mention



I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I walked into Tropicolor Photo on Miami Beach on Friday and was congratulated for having received an “Honorable Mention” for a photo I took in the 4th Annual South Beach Photomarathon.

In my competitive spirit, I was hoping for a First, Second or Third place monetary award. Not to mention bragging rights.

But considering my photo was one of six photos chosen from almost 2,500 photos taken by 104 photographers, I guess I am entitled to some bragging rights anyway.

The afternoon was highlighted by the fact that I got in a shootout with a Crime Scene Investigator from the Miami Beach Police Department. But more on that later.

First, check out the photo.

My photo was one of only three Honorable Mentions. Those photos, along with the First, Second and Third place winners, were the only photos that were turned into large prints and mounted on Plexiglass, courtesy of Tropicolor.

The Plexiglass photos, along with the contact sheets of the 2,496 photos that were entered in the competition, will be on display at Tropicolor, 1442 Alton Road, for the month of May.

Then the winning photos will be displayed at various Starbucks through South Beach. And then we get to take our photos home.

The 4th South Beach Photomarathon was organized by Fotomission, a non-profit group based out of South Beach that believes in “photography for social change”. My kind of people.

Chendo Perez, pictured below in front of the winning photo, launched Fotomission with his wife, Pavlova Greber, a few years ago. The idea for the photomarathon was inspired by an annual event held in Madrid every year since 1983, in which now more than 6,000 photographers show up.

This year’s 104 entrants in the South Beach Photomarathon was twice as many as last year’s entrants. Perez believes it can one day reach the level of Madrid’s photomarathon.

The problem is, because they are a non-profit organization running on bare minimum, it’s been difficult getting the word out.

For example, I am involved with several photography groups in South Florida, but I first heard about this year’s photomarathon the night before the event by reading a small blurb in the Miami New Times. And that’s that I already have a set of images from the University of Miami janitor strike on Fotomission’s website.

But Perez and his wife are determined, and I have no doubt this will one day attract thousands of photographers. Check out Perez’s photos of the exhibition here. The fourth photo down is of the winners.

First Place winner of the photomarathon was the extremely talented Alissa Christine, pictured below in front of her photo, who also won an honorable mention for another photo.

Christine operates www.ilovemiami365.com, where she posts a single photo every day that was taken that day.

After the exhibit, I crossed the street with a couple of photographer friends to grab a bite at Lime.

That was when I came across a charming Crime Scene Investigator from the Miami Beach Police Department. She was taking photos outside of Lime, where apparently a crime had been committed, although it wasn’t clear what had happened.

I was carrying my Canon 5D. She was carrying some kind of Nikon. We had a quick discussion about the old Canon vs Nikon debate.

I told her about my Honorable Mention. She said congratulations.

And then we shot each other.



Photo by fellow photomarathon participant Henry Perez who writes and shoots for MiamiARTzine.com

My trial begins Monday



I am finally going to trial, even though it’s been more than a year since I was arrested after photographing police against their wishes.

Much has happened during the 15 months since my arrest, including the slaying of one of the officers; the firing of the prosecutor in my case; and the resignation of the original judge in my case, who is taking on a new TV gig where she will be known as “Judge Karen.”

It also included me switching attorneys to a former public defender named Arnaldo Trevilla, who is very confident about this case. Judge Jose Fernandez, another former public defender, will oversee my case in place of Judge Karen.

The trial begins Monday at 9:45 a.m. in room 2-11 of the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 N.W. 12th Street. If anybody is scheduled for Jury Duty Monday, you might get this case.

The charges I am facing are obstructing traffic, disobeying a police officer, disorderly conducting and resisting arrest without violence. And that’s that they already threw out five other misdemeanors I was initially charged with.

Police are claiming that I was standing on the road the entire time I was interacting with them. They claim I was standing in the street even after I was escorted across the street. They claim they arrested me in the street.

One look at the photo in the blog banner shows that the street was behind the cops when they arrested me. Some people have pointed out that there is no way of knowing the photo was taken right before my arrest.

Perhaps not, but then that would mean that I snapped the photo, then bolted through the line of cops with my two cameras in my hands like a running back in order to reach the middle of the street.

That little detail would surely have been mentioned in the arrest report, which is nothing but a two-page contradiction.

The truth is, I was never standing in the street. That area of Biscayne Blvd was going through intense road construction at the time. Traffic was reduced to two single lanes. There was no median nor bike path. It was 7 p.m. at night.

I would have been struck by a car.

The truth is, I was arrested while standing on the east sidewalk of Biscayne Blvd. The cops were ordering me to continue walking north. They were ordering me to leave an area where I had every right to be.

They had already completed their investigation into the traffic accident they were working when I first came across them. I was standing on a public sidewalk. I was not breaking the law. They had no legitimate reason to order me to leave the area.

The truth is, they arrested me after I snapped their photo.

The main argument on Monday will be whether they can prove beyond reasonable doubt that I was standing in the street when they arrested me.

If they are unable to prove this, then it will be hard for them to prove that I defied a lawful order because ordering me to leave the sidewalk where I was standing would be an unlawful order.

The cops also believe that I committed “disorderly conduct” by snapping a photo of the sergeant as he was escorting me across the street. Any judge with any Constitutional knowledge should laugh this charge out of court.

And finally, they claim I was resisting arrest by not allowing them to place my hands behind my back.

The truth is, they already had my hands behind my back. But because they were so angry with me, they kept kicking my shin in order to trip me forward. I held my ground for a few seconds until they finally brought me down.

If they had been able to contain their volatile tempers, they would have been able to simply handcuff me without knocking me down.

But if they had been able to contain their volatile tempers, they would have never arrested me in the first place.

I launched a new blog

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My new blog is called Magic City Mania and it will be more personalized and localized than my current blog.

Magic City Mania will consists mostly of personal stories growing up in Miami as well as personal reflections as I go about my day in this mad city. My first post starts at the beginning before I was even born; a story on my dad when he lived in Cuba.

Photography is not a Crime will continue to document First Amendment violations as they happen to me or any other person in the United States. It will continue to follow my case, even after I win my case on May 5th because I plan to pursue this in a civil court once they drop the criminal charges against me.

The goal is to turn MCM into a local literary blog while turning PINAC in a national journalistic blog.

Florida prosecutor supports photographers’ rights

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Even a “known drug dealer” is legally allowed to photograph undercover cops as they serve a search warrant, if he takes the photos from a public space, according to a Florida prosecutor.

The photographer was 20-year-old Randy Sievert of Bradenton, who was arrested in February after he stood on a public road and photographed Manatee County sheriff’s officials conducting a search warrant on a private home.

Deputies ordered him to erase the images before they arrested him, charging him with interfering in a search warrant.

He was jailed without bail because the charge violated his probation in two drug cases. Although he is unemployed, he had $1,500 in cash in his pockets.

But Tony Casorias, an assistant state attorney, refused to prosecute Sievert, according to the Herald-Tribune of Sarasota

A person cannot be charged with obstruction or resisting arrest if the police detention is unlawful, an assistant state attorney, Tony Casoria, said in a memo released this week. Sievert did not physically interfere with the search warrant, the prosecutor said.

Casoria said Sievert “took a photograph in a public place, across the street from the home where law enforcement were conducting their search.”

Casorias, who was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2006, pointed to a decision in a federal lawsuit in which a judge awarded a man damages for his arrest for videotaping police, the article states.

In 2003, a state judge in Pennsylvania overturned the harassment conviction of Allen E. Robinson, who had taped police during a traffic stop. Robinson said he was concerned about unsafe truck inspections and set up a video camera.

Robinson, a truck driver, sued the police, saying he was subjected to false arrest, excessive force and malicious prosecution. Robinson won in federal court in 2005.

“The activities of the police, like those of other public officials, are subject to public scrutiny,” a federal judge wrote. “Robinson’s right to free speech encompasses the right to receive information and ideas.”

The police, the judge wrote, citing a case in Texas, do not have “unfettered discretion to arrest individuals for words or conduct that annoy or offend them.”

“Leave now or we will shoot you!”

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A Boston photographer said he was shooting reflections off a window of an unidentifiable building when a voice through a loud speaker ordered him to leave or be shot.

“Leave now or we will shoot you!”

The photo he was taking was a distorted reflection of Boston’s Zakim Bridge.

Daniel Brim told the Bostonist that although he didn’t realize it at the time, the building apparently houses the Massachusetts State Police. However, he also said there were no visible markings or signs on the building.

And even if there was, would it be against the law to photograph it?



According to The Photographer’s Rights, a document frequently updated by Oregon attorney Bert P. Krages II, we are allowed to photograph just about anything that is visible from a public space. However, there are some exceptions to the rule, which are listed below.

There are some exceptions to the general rule. A significant one is that commanders of military installations can prohibit photographs of specific areas when they deem it necessary to protect national security. The U.S.Department of Energy can also prohibit photography of designated nuclear facilities although the publicly visible areas of nuclear facilities are usually not designated as such.

Brim, who describes himself as a 19-year-old Mechanical Engineering student, had a similar experience last year in California, which he described on his blog.

And in another incident in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials ordered Kevin Church from taking photos inside South Station.

Church, who describes himself as a “33-year-old comics writer and commentator as well as a fair-to-middling photographer,” described the incident on his blog.

I’ve already run afoul of Zee Law, who informed me that taking pictures in Boston’s South Station is illegal. I’m fairly sure this is a nudging of my rights, but since I never bothered to read up on these things, I’m just going to nod and smile and thank god the government is looking out for fat guys with wide-angle lenses.

However, the The Universal Hub, a Boston blog, did bother to look it up and learned that MBTA officials were acting in contradiction to its own policy.

And last month in Massachusetts, Harvard undercover police arrested a protester who photographed them as they were photographing the demonstration.

If it is this bad for photographers in Massachusetts, considered one of the most liberal states in the country, I hate to see what it’s like for photographers in Utah.

Internal Affairs clears cops who arrested me; Trial date finally set

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I wasn’t exactly surprised that Internal Affairs cleared the cops who arrested me of any wrongdoing.

But I was surprised that they went as far as interviewing witnesses to the incident and even went as far as obtaining my mug shot from the night of my arrest, which apparently shows my face and neck bloodied.

The witnesses were three men involved in the accident that police were investigating when I approached the scene with my camera. All three were across the street that dark night. More than a half block down the street. All three offered separate accounts of what actually happened.

The report was completed in February 2008, but I just received it this week. The Civilian Investigative Panel will now conduct its own investigation.

The first witness, Erwin Coney, who was the Miami-Dade Transit bus driver cited in the accident, gave an extremely colorful account of my arrest.

“Mr. Coney stated that the first officer to approach the photographer was the heavyset Hispanic officer, who took the photographer’s camera and slammed it to the ground. He was then joined by a slender Hispanic officer and both stepped on the camera.

“Mr. Coney stated that the sergeant slammed the photographer to the ground and placed his knee against his back. He stated that a short officer, later indentified as Officer James Walker, joined the Latin officers in kicking the photographer.”

The second witness, Charles Foote, who was a Miami-Dade Transit supervisor who showed up at the scene, gave another account.

“Mr. Foote stated that he remembers seeing the photographer being restrained, but did not see him get punched, kicked or hit.”

The third witness, Daniel Fushman, who was apparently the driver of the second vehicle involved in the accident, gave another highly fictionalized account.

“Mr. Fushman stated that he observed the photographer on the ground with two officers holding down his shoulders and another trying to handcuff him.

“He said he observed an officer holding the photographer’s camera, as if to prevent damage to it or to use as evidence, while the other officer’s secured the photographer.”

The truth is, the cops grabbed me from behind, kicked my ankle until I fell forward on my right knee and slammed my head into the pavement, causing both of my cameras to come crashing to the pavement.

One of the cops twisted my right hand backwards. Another cop, or possibly the same cop, grabbed my head from behind and continuously slammed it into the pavement, causing the abrasion and swelling that was documented in my mug shot (and no, I haven’t seen it).

Here is an excerpt regarding Officer Anthonius Kurver, the officer on the far right in the banner photo. He was one of the more aggressive cops.

“When Officer Kurver was shown Mr. Miller’s booking photo, he stated that the abrasion on Mr. Miller’s forehead appeared superficial and less obvious than the booking photo.

“Officer Kurver added that the bright flash that was used for the booking photo enhanced marks on Mr. Miller’s face that were not visible while in his custody.”

Here is excerpt regarding Sergeant Ronald Rahming, the commanding officer on the scene who escorted me across the street. His left sleeve can be seen on the far left in the banner photo.

“Sergeant Rahming grabbed the cameras and removed them from Mr. Miller’s neck area as he was being brought to the ground, in order to facilitate the arrest and prevent any injuries. …

“Sergeant Rahming attributed the redness visible on Mr. Miller’s face and neck on the booking photograph to the straps of the cameras rubbing against his face as they were being removed during the arrest.”

Rahming and Kurver are liars. They are a disgrace to the badge. I will prove their lies in court.

My trial is scheduled for May 5th, 2008. Cinco de Mayo.

Montezuma will be on my side that day.

Internal Affairs clears cops who arrested me; Trial date finally set

But I was surprised that they went as far as interviewing witnesses to the incident and even went as far as obtaining my mug shot from the night of my arrest, which apparently shows my face and neck bloodied.

The witnesses were three men involved in the accident that police were investigating when I approached the scene with my camera. All three were across the street that dark night. More than a half block down the street. All three offered separate accounts of what actually happened.

The report was completed in February 2008, but I just received it this week. The [__Civilian Investigative Panel__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Default.asp) will now conduct its own investigation.

The first witness, Erwin Coney, who was the Miami-Dade Transit bus driver cited in the accident, gave an extremely colorful account of my arrest.

> “Mr. Coney stated that the first officer to approach the photographer was the heavyset Hispanic officer, who took the photographer’s camera and slammed it to the ground. He was then joined by a slender Hispanic officer and both stepped on the camera.
> “Mr. Coney stated that the sergeant slammed the photographer to the ground and placed his knee against his back. He stated that a short officer, later indentified as Officer James Walker, joined the Latin officers in kicking the photographer.”

The second witness, Charles Foote, who was a Miami-Dade Transit supervisor who showed up at the scene, gave another account.

> “Mr. Foote stated that he remembers seeing the photographer being restrained, but did not see him get punched, kicked or hit.”

The third witness, Daniel Fushman, who was apparently the driver of the second vehicle involved in the accident, gave another highly fictionalized account.

> “Mr. Fushman stated that he observed the photographer on the ground with two officers holding down his shoulders and another trying to handcuff him.
> “He said he observed an officer holding the photographer’s camera, as if to prevent damage to it or to use as evidence, while the other officer’s secured the photographer.”

The truth is, the cops grabbed me from behind, kicked my ankle until I fell forward on my right knee and slammed my head into the pavement, causing both of my cameras to come crashing to the pavement.

One of the cops twisted my right hand backwards. Another cop, or possibly the same cop, grabbed my head from behind and continuously slammed it into the pavement, causing the abrasion and swelling that was documented in my mug shot (and no, I haven’t seen it).

Here is an excerpt regarding Officer Anthonius Kurver, the officer on the far right in the banner photo. He was one of the more aggressive cops.

> “When Officer Kurver was shown Mr. Miller’s booking photo, he stated that the abrasion on Mr. Miller’s forehead appeared superficial and less obvious than the booking photo.
> “Officer Kurver added that the bright flash that was used for the booking photo enhanced marks on Mr. Miller’s face that were not visible while in his custody.”

Here is excerpt regarding Sergeant Ronald Rahming, the commanding officer on the scene who escorted me across the street. His left sleeve can be seen on the far left in the banner photo.

> “Sergeant Rahming grabbed the cameras and removed them from Mr. Miller’s neck area as he was being brought to the ground, in order to facilitate the arrest and prevent any injuries. …
> “Sergeant Rahming attributed the redness visible on Mr. Miller’s face and neck on the booking photograph to the straps of the cameras rubbing against his face as they were being removed during the arrest.”

Rahming and Kurver are liars. They are a disgrace to the badge. I will prove their lies in court.

My trial is scheduled for May 5th, 2008. Cinco de Mayo.

Montezuma will be on my side that day.

ACLU misses obvious First Amendment violation in Harvard incident

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The real story is not necessarily that undercover police were photographing students demonstrating at Harvard University last March.

The real story is that undercover police arrested one of the students after she photographed him photographing the student demonstrators.

After all, police officers have as much right to photograph civilians as civilians have to photograph them, as long as both subjects are in public view.

Unfortunately, the ACLU is missing the real issue by concentrating on the fact that the Harvard University Police Department is maintaining “an undercover, plainclothes, political intelligence unit”.

As if the undercover cops were the KGB rather than most likely a group of 21 Jump Street cops who jumped at the chance to work out of uniform for a day.

Harvard Crimson staff writer Jamison A. Hill is also missing the real issue by waiting until the 11th paragraph – the second to the last in the article – before revealing that Harvard student Gina Nieves was arrested after photographing the officer and refusing to delete the photo.

The officer was obviously not too concerned about blowing his cover when he readily admitted he was a cop before arresting her, according to the article. He also arrested a second student who protested Nieves’ arrest.

Reinstein said that Nieves noticed a bystander in plainclothes taking photos of the protest and decided to go photograph him. When she did, the man informed her that he was an undercover police officer with HUPD and placed her under arrest for refusing to delete the photos. Kearney said that the officer would have to arrest him if he was going to arrest Nieves and so Kearney was also arrested, according to both Fam and Reinstein.

Neither the ACLU or Hill question how Nieves could have been arrested for disorderly conduct by simply taking a photo. If that is a crime, then the undercover cop should be charged as well. Not surprisingly, the charges against Nieves were quickly dropped.

Meanwhile, the ACLU found it “quite surprising and disturbing” to learn that Harvard Police sent undercover cops to monitor the demonstration. How naive of them.

The ACLU, of all organizations, should know that the First Amendment also applies to police when it comes to photographing subjects in public. Especially when those subjects are openly demonstrating.

And if that’s all the students were doing, then they shouldn’t even be bothered by the fact that police are photographing them. I can’t count the times I’ve been photographed by obvious undercover cops – not to mention militant Cuban exiles – during protests.

The story reminds me of a couple of past articles I’ve written:

Demonstrator assaults photographer after he photographs her: This is how I met my photojournalist friend, Danny Hammontree. I wasn’t even at this protest, but heard about it through South Florida’s photography underground.

Even though I am a liberal activist myself, I ended up gaining the distrust of several South Florida liberal activists by writing this article. The bottom line is, if you don’t want to be photographed, then don’t stand on a public sidewalk protesting.

Undercover University of Miami cops surprise student activists: I had been tipped off that students were about to conduct another student sit-in. I was sitting in the lobby of the Ashe Building with my camera in my backpack waiting for the students to arrive. Across from me, sat a man in his 20s wearing a UM cap and t-shirt, acting as if he was reading the newspaper. He kept looking at me. I kept looking at him. I knew he was a cop. And he knew I was a journalist.

At about 1 p.m., as the students were entering the building from the second floor, he stood up and locked the doors. That was the first time I heard the walkie talkie and saw the badge on his belt. I discretely pulled my camera out and remained seated. Within seconds, another undercover cop dressed as a student was ordering me to leave. I also noticed a third undercover cop, a female dressed in complete UM garb, with a badge.

Once outside, I was able to get a nice shot of two undercover cops throwing three students out of the building. You can see that photo on the top left hand corner of the article.

I was pretty impressed at how police were able to thwart the second sit-in. I later learned that they did so by monitoring students’ emails, which is not against the law considering they were logged on to the university Internet system.

Here are photos from the first sit-in, which took police completely by surprise. It was from this protest that police recognized me the second time around.

The point is, once you engage in activism, you need to be prepared to give up some privacy.

But obviously, some activists have yet to learn this.

“It’s a little unnerving to find Harvard undercover police spying and taking pictures of Harvard students on public property,” said Shareef Fam of the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights, one of the organizers of the Harvard demonstration.

The key words here are “public property”. We can’t fight for our rights to photograph cops on public property while stripping them of the same right.

Denver TV news photographer arrested

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Not much information on this story, but the photographer involved beat police to the scene, which may have ended up in his arrest, according to the AP story, which is posted in its entirety below.

DENVER (AP) — A KDVR-TV executive said the arrest of one of the station’s photographers at the scene of a car accident Friday was unwarranted and the result of a misunderstanding.

KDVR Vice President of News Brad Remington said the photographer was simply doing his job and was not interfering with police when he began taping a car that had fallen into the Cherry Creek bike path early Friday.

Remington said the photographer, Perry Drake, began taping before many officers arrived and that may have contributed to the misunderstanding. Remington said there was no confrontation between Drake and police officers.

“He was just standing there taping,” Remington said. “As more police came, I think they wanted him to move and he did.”

Police Lt. Ron Saunier did not specify why officers arrested Drake, 50.

“We’re not going to go into the details of the case,” he said.

Drake’s car was towed and Saunier said the photographer was held at the police station for “at least a couple of hours” before he was released. Drake was cited with disobedience to a lawful order and interference.

Remington said the television station has a good relationship with Denver police, and that the two sides met and hope to have the matter resolved.

“I think the photographer was just trying to do his job and the police officer was just trying do to his job,” he said.

Photographer who was arrested by English police posts photos of the incident



A British photographer who was arrested while photographing police two years ago finally was able to access the photos he took that day. Below is one photo that lead to his arrest. Many other photos are posted on this site, along with detailed background about his case.

There was a time when British police would not even carry guns on them, much less rapid fire machine guns with deep magazines. Those were the times when photographers ruled the streets of London.

Protest against Liberty City Seven trial planned for Wednesday

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The following is a press release from Miami activist Max Rameau regarding the Liberty City Seven trial.

Greetings:

After several weeks of testimony, the Liberty City 7 retrial is coming to a close. The government put on only a skeletal version of the show they performed during the last unsuccessful trial. So, here is the updated schedule.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008. There is no trial on Tuesday, therefore, we will not be protesting Tuesday morning. Tuesday’s regular protest is cancelled.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008. Protest against the Liberty City 7 trial at 9:00am, in front of the federal courthouse, 301 N. Miami Ave. in downtown Miami. Then, as many people as possible will attend the first day of closing arguements.

Thursday, March 27, 2008. Final day of closing arguements. We need people to attend the final closing arguements.

If you are going into the courtroom, do not bring your cell phone, as they will not let you into the courtroom with a cell phone.

Please come and show your opposition to this witch-hunt and waste of our tax dollars.

forward,

Max Rameau

Store owner overreacts to my photography

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She weighed less than 100 pounds, but that didn’t stop her from aggressively grabbing my lens when I tried to photograph her.

And the only reason I even tried to photograph her was because she had threatened to call the cops on me after I refused to hand over my driver license.

At the time, I had figured I might as well capture this surreal moment as nobody would believe me if I did not have photographic evidence.

It all started last Wednesday when I was working on an article for Miami Beach 411 about the strip of computer stores just north of Miami International Airport.

I had walked into several stores, interviewing various store clerks and customers about how one can find better deals on computer parts and other electronic equipment at these locations that are tucked away in a warehouse district off of Milan Dairy Road.

There was one store that was busier than the rest. I won’t even mention the name of the store because the woman’s husband has already apologized for her aggressive behavior during a phone conversation on Friday (thanks to the Californian diplomacy of Miami Beach 411 editor, Gus Moore, who smoothed the situation out after I informed him of what happened ).

I stopped into the store twice but both times they were swamped with customers and I really did not want to interrupt business for a few basic questions. I had just started working on the article, so I figured I would get back to them later.

I stepped back outside and snapped a few shots, trying to capture the outside as well as the bustling business inside. This is a tricky shot because you need to properly expose the inside as well as the outside. It’s easy to overexpose the outside as it is to underexpose the inside of the store.

When I started walking back to my car, a young Asian woman called after me. I was a little surprised because I had just seen her inside the store and she appeared to have had her hands full dealing with various customers.

She asked the usual question, “why are you taking photos of my business”.

And I responded in a professional, even cheerful, manner by informing her of my article.

“The reason I didn’t say anything was because you were so busy,” I said. “I was going to call you later”.

I gave her my business card, which states my name and company and describes me as a “writer, reporter and photojournalist”.

At this point, a young Asian man had stepped outside and stood behind her. I repeated my story to him in the hopes he would understand the situation. He nodded, but didn’t seem to have authority over the woman.

The woman scanned my business card and informed me that I had no legal right to photograph her business, even if I was standing outside.

Then she demanded to see my driver license.

That is when my cheerfulness began to subside.

I flatly refused to give her my license and I informed her that I had every right to photograph her business.

“In fact, I have every legal right to photograph you,” I said as I reached up with my camera to snap a photo of her (this just infuriates the hell out of people).Update: I did not take her photo with the intent to piss her off. I took her photo knowing it was going to piss her off. I took her photo for the purpose of documenting the altercation for this blog.

I managed to get one shot off before she had her hands wrapped around my Canon 24-7-L f/2.8, a $1,200 lens attached to a $3,000 Canon 5D body.

I pulled the camera out of her hand and raised my left finger, telling her in a very serious tone, “don’t ever do that again.”

Even the Asian guy behind her told her to back off.

She responded by telling him to “call 911″ for the umpteenth time, but he didn’t seem to eager to call the cops.

I informed her I was leaving and started walking to my car, which prompted her to proclaim that I was not allowed to leave the area because the cops were on their way.

Perhaps she was under the impression that the Asian guy had already called 911. Either way, I was not going to stand around waiting for the cops to arrive.

In a normal world, I might have done just that, just to gain the satisfaction of watching the cops inform the store owner that I had every legal right to photograph her business from the outside.

But this is South Florida, where police are just as clueless about photographers’ rights as this store owner.

So as I walked to my car with her yapping at my heels, yelling at me that I was not allowed to leave. I told her to write my license plate number down to give to the cops when they arrive.

This being Miami-Dade Police jurisdiction, that could have been another two hours.

Even after I photographed her as she wrote my license plate number down, we continued to debate about the legalities of photographing her business from the outside.

Finally, she walked away, but not before flicking me off.

Reciting a poem about New Orleans on a Key West street corner

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I became a poet three years ago when I returned to Miami after a ten-year hiatus and enrolled in a creative writing class at FIU taught by James W. Hall, who has always been one of my favorite writers.

Hall showed me that poetry does not have to be an abstract babble of boredom written by dead white men, but sometimes the only method to express what’s in your heart.

I began using poetry as an outlet for my political rage. And I’ve taken this rage up on stage at various spoken word venues throughout town over the last three years.

I became a videographer last year when I visited Key West in April with my then-girlfriend, who had one of those small Canon cameras that allow you to shoot video.

As a born storyteller, I became fascinated with both poetry and videography because they were added elements to the storytelling process.

I was so fascinated with videography after the Key West trip, I ended up buying a Canon TX1 and then a Canon HG10. And I even started getting paid assignments by the end of the year. And now I’m saving up to buy the Canon XH A1.

Here is a clip from that Key West weekend. We had been walking down Duval Street when we came across these jazz musicians from New Orleans. They were in between sets so we asked if we could film them. Yes, I know I didn’t have to ask, but I wanted everybody to be at ease.

When they started playing, I became possessed by the music and started reciting a poem I had written about New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Like many of the decisions I’ve made in my lifetime, my decision to start reciting poetry was purely impulsive. I even caught my ex-girlfriend off guard, which is why she wasn’t even filming me when I started the poem.

There is something spiritual about New Orleans jazz and blues that takes control of my soul. I guess it is that voodoo vibe.

In seeing the video, I realize that I need to slow the poem down to make it more effective.

This was only the second time I had recited the poem without the written words in front of me. The first time was at the Medical Marijuana Benefit Concert in Tobacco Road a few months earlier where I performed with a local jazz band. All the times before that and since, I’ve recited the poem without music and it’s not nearly as powerful.

I think I did a fairly decent job considering this collaboration with musicians was completely unrehearsed and unplanned (the performance at Tobacco Road was planned, but unrehearsed).

I think I was rushing through the poem because on the back of my mind, I was wondering if these musicians were annoyed about me reciting poetry to their music.

They told me afterwards they really liked it. And they were insistent on seeing the video. They said it reminded them of playing in San Francisco where people have walked up to them and started reciting poetry. But nothing like that has ever happened to them in Florida.

I had written the poem in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina drowned New Orleans. I had been in New Orleans only a year earlier as drove back to Miami from Phoenix and the memories were still vivid. And I had been to the Big Easy three times before that, always coming home with memorable experiences.

The poem is actually much longer than what was captured on the video. I posted it in its entirety below.

La Mort á Nouvelle-Orleans (The Death of New Orleans)

Carlos Miller©2005

I remember New Orleans, the first time around

I was underage and you allowed me to drink freely

And for that I respected you dearly.

Those oversize beers. That carefree spirit. Just what an 18-year-old needed.

I remember my uncle wrestling a female stripper in a Bourbon Street bar

As a transvestite ring announcer played guitar

And the man next to me smoked a smelly cigar.

I was under your spell, for that scene never seemed bizarre.

I remember the jazz and the blues and that voodoo vibe, the way you had that jovial jive

I remember New Orleans, the second time around.

Mardi Gras, purple beads, flowing booze, flashing boobs

That girl with the rose tattoo.

Five days and nights of drunken debauchery, derelict duties and depraved deeds.

I remember confusing Cajun with Creole and consuming crawfish in the Quarter,

And kissing a girl named Katrina in a crowded club called Cat’s Meow

Katrina, I told her, your name is so sexy

Corona, she told me, my glass is so empty

I remember the jazz and the blues and that voodoo vibe, the way you had that jovial jive

I remember New Orleans, the third time around.

New Years Eve. Sugar Bowl.

Canes. Gators.

Brawls on Bourbon.

Sweet Superdome. Innocence unscathed.

The horrors to come, years away.

Hurricanes routed, we got rowdy

Hurricane cocktails, fueled the party

The night was spent, boasting on Bourbon.

Canes in the house, don’t even try it

I remember the jazz and the blues and that voodoo vibe, the way you had that jovial jive

I remember New Orleans, the fourth time around

A five-day stop on a road trip home.

I was alone and free to roam.

I played chess with a man named Hal on Canal, the street that drowned living up to its name.

I drank a hurricane in the August rain, still thinking that Katrina was a sexy name.

Beignets at Café du Monde

Muffelata’s from Central Grocery

Shrimp po’ boys from The Alibi.

It was hard to say good-bye, but my money was running dry

And my time was passing by.

I remember the jazz and the blues and that voodoo vibe, the way you had that jovial jive

I remember Katrina when she was just a flirting storm, teasing Miami’s coast like a virgin whore.

I remember inviting her inside, and how she pushed me aside, removing that mask and revealing that bitch inside.

I remember Katrina headed for your coast, I am woman, hear me roar

Show me this city of legend lore.

No longer the virgin whore, but a hardcore witch out for war.

I remember Katrina barreling into the bayou, lashing at you as she swept right by you

Lacerating your levees and liquidating your streets, littering your homes with lifeless limbs

I remember how they left you to die as Nero ate cake and fiddled with his fly.

As you clung to your rooftops, water neck high, telling the world you were still alive.

I remember your cries, your demands for help

Please get us out of here, it’s a living hell

And I remember the crime was broadcast live around the world

La mort à Nouvelle-orléans. Una tristezza

And I remember how on the fifth day after you had passed away

Nero arrived and the band began to play

Oh here he comes, oh here he comes

Oh when the Smirk comes marching in

Everything must stop, for another photo op

Oh when the Smirk comes marching in

And I remember thinking how I will never forget the jazz and the blues and that voodoo vibe, the way you had that jovial jive

And I remember thinking of the people I met the year before, that sultry summer of 2004.

The hustlers, the jokers, the street performers, the musicians, the artists, the waiters, the bartenders

That creative culture of Cajuns and Creoles and Color

That was not afraid to cry out and say

Be free, be yourself, and to hell with everybody else

And I remember realizing how much of you they must despise, which is why they turned a blind eye

Leaving you to your demise

And I remember how they said they’re going to rebuild you, bigger and better than ever

And I knew that meant richer and whiter forever

And I was left mourning.

Too angry to respect your death with a jazzy New Orleans-style funeral procession.

There would be no more dancing on Decatur.

The Ten Legal Commandments for photographers

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I would like to send this in a mass email to every single law enforcement agency in the country.

I. Anyone in a public place can take pictures of anything they want. Public places include parks, sidewalks, malls, etc. Malls? Yeah. Even though it’s technically private property, being open to the public makes it public space.

II. If you are on public property, you can take pictures of private property. If a building, for example, is visible from the sidewalk, it’s fair game.

III. If you are on private property and are asked not to take pictures, you are obligated to honor that request. This includes posted signs.

IV. Sensitive government buildings (military bases, nuclear facilities) can prohibit photography if it is deemed a threat to national security.

V. People can be photographed if they are in public (without their consent) unless they have secluded themselves and can expect a reasonable degree of privacy. Kids swimming in a fountain? Okay. Somebody entering their PIN at the ATM? Not okay.

VI. The following can almost always be photographed from public places, despite popular opinion:

  • accident & fire scenes, criminal activities
  • bridges & other infrastructure, transportation facilities (i.e. airports)
  • industrial facilities, Superfund sites
  • public utilities, residential & commercial buildings
  • children, celebrities, law enforcement officers
  • UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster, Chuck Norris

VII. Although “security” is often given as the reason somebody doesn’t want you to take photos, it’s rarely valid. Taking a photo of a publicly visible subject does not constitute terrorism, nor does it infringe on a company’s trade secrets.

VIII. If you are challenged, you do not have to explain why you are taking pictures, nor to you have to disclose your identity (except in some cases when questioned by a law enforcement officer.)

IX. Private parties have very limited rights to detain you against your will, and can be subject to legal action if they harass you.

X. If someone tries to confiscate your camera and/or film, you don’t have to give it to them. If they take it by force or threaten you, they can be liable for things like theft and coercion. Even law enforcement officers need a court order.

The Ten Legal Commandments for photographers

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The Ten Legal Commandments for photographers comes to us from Photojojo. I would like to send this in a mass email to every single law enforcement agency in the country.

I. Anyone in a public place can take pictures of anything they want. Public places include parks, sidewalks, malls, etc. Malls? Yeah. Even though it’s technically private property, being open to the public makes it public space.

II. If you are on public property, you can take pictures of private property. If a building, for example, is visible from the sidewalk, it’s fair game.

III. If you are on private property and are asked not to take pictures, you are obligated to honor that request. This includes posted signs.

IV. Sensitive government buildings (military bases, nuclear facilities) can prohibit photography if it is deemed a threat to national security.

V. People can be photographed if they are in public (without their consent) unless they have secluded themselves and can expect a reasonable degree of privacy. Kids swimming in a fountain? Okay. Somebody entering their PIN at the ATM? Not okay.

VI. The following can almost always be photographed from public places, despite popular opinion:

  • accident & fire scenes, criminal activities
  • bridges & other infrastructure, transportation facilities (i.e. airports)
  • industrial facilities, Superfund sites
  • public utilities, residential & commercial buildings
  • children, celebrities, law enforcement officers
  • UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster, Chuck Norris

VII. Although “security” is often given as the reason somebody doesn’t want you to take photos, it’s rarely valid. Taking a photo of a publicly visible subject does not constitute terrorism, nor does it infringe on a company’s trade secrets.

VIII. If you are challenged, you do not have to explain why you are taking pictures, nor to you have to disclose your identity (except in some cases when questioned by a law enforcement officer.)

IX. Private parties have very limited rights to detain you against your will, and can be subject to legal action if they harass you.

X. If someone tries to confiscate your camera and/or film, you don’t have to give it to them. If they take it by force or threaten you, they can be liable for things like theft and coercion. Even law enforcement officers need a court order.



Why I removed the previous blog post

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An editor at the New York Post just informed me that whatever happens to me while on assignment for the Post is only for publication in the Post.

In other words, I was being asked to remove the blog post.

Because this was my first assignment with the New York Post and I have yet to sign a contract, I was unaware of this dilemma. Besides, I specifically waited until after the story was published before I wrote about it on my blog.

It is not something I wanted to do, but if I didn’t remove the post, then I would never get another assignment from the New York Post again.

And my whole goal in launching a freelance career a couple of years ago was to maintain a steady supply of assignments from national publications.

So hopefully, they’ll keep calling.

Houston brothers receive $1.7 million in wrongful arrest suit



Two Houston brothers who sued the Harris County Sheriff’s Department after they were arrested for photographing and filming deputies against their wishes received a $1.7 million settlement last week.

The Harris County Commission voted unanimously to approve the settlement rather than take a chance with a jury trial, which would have decided the fate of the Ibarra’s $5 million lawsuit.

The settlement stems from a 2002 drug raid on Ibarras’ neighbor in which Sean Carlos Ibarra grabbed a camera and started shooting photos. When the deputies ordered him to hand the camera over, he refused.

A sheriff’s deputy then hit Sean Ibarra and took his camera, according to the lawsuit. After several deputies then burst into the Ibarras’ home, Erik Adam Ibarra grabbed a video camera and started filming.

Deputies then drew their guns and threatend to shoot Erik Ibarra, the lawsuit claims.

Both brothers were arrested on charges of resisting arrest. Erik Ibarra was also charged with evading arrest. And deputies ended up destroying the photos and video from that afternoon.

It never fails to boggle my mind how people can get arrested for resisting and evading arrest without an initial charge that justifies the arrest. It’s like police can just walk up to anybody and arrest them for no reason at all and if they resist, then they’re charged with resisting arrest.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Commissioner Steve Radack said he voted for the settlement because sheriff’s deputies made mistakes on the day of the incident.

“There were some policies that were violated,” he said. “You had somebody on the street who went beyond what was reasonable.”

Emmett said, “The rational thing to do was to accept this settlement offer. Sometimes you make the best deal you can and move on. It allows the sheriff’s office to get back to being the sheriff’s office.”

One of my blog posts is in the running for “Post of the Month”

Update: And the winner is ……. guess who?



Last month’s post where I included a video of me getting surrounded by a group of angry Cuban exiles and assaulted by a Versailles security guard is one of four South Florida blog posts that is in the running for the South Florida Daily Blog “Post of the Month”.

The South Florida Daily Blog was launched last month by former Stuck on the Palmetto blogger Rick and is described as a blog that “sifts through and reviews most of the blogs based in South Florida and highlights those posts that stand out from the rest of the day’s traffic.”

Readers are encouraged to vote on either my video post or on one of the other three blog posts that are described and linked on this SFDB post.

To vote, click on this link.

Edison High students will protest in front of police station Wednesday



Below is a press release I received about a protest planned Wednesday at 4 p.m. in front of the Miami-Dade School Police Department, 6100 NW 2nd Avenue in Miami.

On Wednesday March 5th, 4:00pmPower U youth and youth from Edison Senior

High School will join together in front of the Miami Dade School Police

Department to protest the unfair arrests that happened Friday February 29th

at Miami Edison, and to demand a completed feasibility study for Restorative

Justice that was promised in January. This study and indecisive

administration stand in the way of implementing Restorative Justice in

schools.

The youth of Power U Center have been demanding the Miami Dade Schools to

implement a program of Restorative Justice in the schools, starting with

Booker T. Washington Senior High as a pilot program. They have been upset

with the treatment of students in school as realized last week with the

situation at Edison. The school Police promised to have a feasibility study

for restorative justice done by January’s School Board meeting.

At February’s meeting School Police Chief Gerald Darling assured us that the

report was done and we would receive it shortly. It has now been 3 weeks

and there is no evidence that a report has even been started. Power U youth

member Travae Brown says “We are tired of waiting for this report and being

disrespected by the School Police. The violence that happened at Miami

Edison shows exactly why we need Restorative Justice in our schools instead

of police who don’t respect young people, especially young Black people.”

It is essential that Restorative Justice be implemented in the schools in

order to decrease schools’ dependence on arrests and suspensions as a way of

solving issues. Restorative Justice is a form of problem and issue solving

that provides everyone involved a voice, engaging the community in order to

address the root of the problem through dialogue.

Punishment, especially in the form of suspension and arrest has been proven

to be ineffective and actually harmful, with high rates of recidivism among

youthful offenders, and increased rates of dropouts amongst students.

Restorative Justice has been utilized in school districts such as Chicago

and Minnesota with amazing results, at times reducing suspensions from

30-50%.

The arrests and beatings that occurred at Miami Edison on Friday were a

tragic and extreme example of a systemic problem that is occurring everyday

in Miami Public Schools, and that is exactly what the students were

protesting. Black students are particularly impacted by harsh discipline

policies and the heavy dependence on police to deal with issues in the

schools, as they are arrested at extremely disproportionate rates. Edison

Senior Chrisford Green states: “We didn’t organize this protest because of

just one incident. We just got fed up. That kind of stuff happens all the

time here.”

Power U Center and Miami Edison Youth will be joined by students from the

University of Miami and by CopWatch as well as other allies.

When: Wednesday, March 5th, 2008, 4 pmWhere: 6100 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL 33127

More STUDENTS Join together to RALLY for demands after Edison uprising.

._,___

Two More Videos Surface of Hillsborough County Jail Guards Abusing Inmates

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One week after a video from a jailhouse surveillance camera showed a Hillsborough County Jail guard dumping a quadriplegic man from his wheelchair, two more videos have surfaced from the same jail, revealing extremely aggressive behavior from jail guards towards female inmates.

In the first video, Marcella Pourmoghani had to be transported to a hospital from the jail on a stretcher after she was severely beaten by a female deputy.

In the second video, Charlana Irving ended up with a broken arm after a male deputy grabbed her from her cell and slammed her against a glass, twisting her arm behind her.

And now a fourth inmate, Tammy Lynn Mojica has come forward, accusing Charlette Marshall-Jones – who dumped the quadriplegic man from his wheelchair – of abusive behavior.

Castro resigns and nobody but the media – and vendors – care

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Still recovering from the festive street party last year after Castro’s second and third “death”, Miami Cubans were a little more reserved Tuesday after Castro announced his “resignation”.

Nevertheless, the media circus was out in full force.

Where else, but Versailles.

Here is the video.

Castro resigns, the media parties from Carlos Miller on Vimeo.

Internet Videos Expose the Dark Side of the Badge

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Is it just YouTube or are cops just more cruel today?

It seems like videos are popping up once a week showing downright sadistic and cruel law enforcement officials abusing, bullying and berating citizens.

This month, we’ve not only seen the Stark County Sheriff’s Department ripping the clothes off a woman in a jail cell in Ohio, but a Hillsborough County detention officer dumping a quadriplegic man on the floor from his wheelchair in Florida.

Last week, a Baltimore police officer was suspended after a video surfaced on the Internet, showing him grabbing a 14-year-old boy in a headlock and slamming him to the ground.

Officer Salvatore Rivieri, who outweighed the boy by at least 150 pounds, spent several minutes berating and threatening the boy. He also confiscated his skateboard. The boy’s crime: he was skateboarding in the wrong area.

We’re not talking violent criminals here.

In the case of Steffey Hope, the woman who had her clothes ripped off, she was actually the victim in an assault case, but ended up getting arrested on disorderly conduct charges.

Perhaps she was distraught when the deputy arrived, but considering she just had a patch of her hair ripped out by her cousin, who could really blame her?

And in the case of Brian Sterner, the quadriplegic, detention officer Charlette Marshall-Jones ended up spending one night in jail on a felony count of abuse of a disabled person.

But even then, the circumstances of his arrest are extremely questionable. I have yet to read an article that fully addressed the actual arrest, even though there are currently more than a thousand articles on the Internet of the incident (no, I did not read them all but most are AP wire stories).

Tampa police arrested him on Jan. 29th on a warrant for fleeing an officer. But that warrant stems from an incident on Oct. 25 where police actually stopped Sterner and wrote him a citation. They even went as far as testing his blood for drugs.

The following is from the St. Petersburg Times:

His Jan. 29 arrest was on a charge of fleeing and attempting to elude law enforcement officers, which apparently stemmed from a traffic stop three months earlier.

Sterner was driving a 2005 silver Mini Cooper fitted with hand pedals Oct. 25 when Tampa police officers on patrol in Ybor City saw him waving his arms and shaking his head from side to side as if dancing, police say.

He had been driving 5 mph in a 30 mph zone. But police lost sight of him until another officer spotted him at Florida Avenue and Columbus Drive. Their reports noted that he made “foolish” statements.

“Although I did not detect an odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from Sterner’s breath, based on his irrational behavior, I suspected the possibility he was under the influence of some type of illegal substance,” wrote Tampa police Officer Peter Charbonneau.

Sterner allowed police to take a blood sample. No illegal drugs were found, police reported. But he was still arrested on a charge of fleeing law enforcement officers.

Unfortunately, the reporters (there are actually four reporters that contributed to this article) fail to report what were the officer’s definition of “foolish” statements. As far as I can see, foolish statements are protected under the First Amendment.

The article states that Sterner allowed the officers to take a blood sample, but of course it doesn’t say whether this was done at the site of the traffic stop or did Sterner have to accompany the cops to another location.

And it doesn’t explain why cops waited three months to issue a warrant for fleeing an officer. At 5 mph.

And the other thing that strikes me is that although police spotted him in Ybor City driving 5 pm in a 30 mph zone, waving his arms and shaking his head as if he were dancing (as if you’ve never done that before), there is no clear indication that they actually ordered him to stop.

So here we have a disabled man getting arrested under questionable circumstances three months after it actually happened, only to have a detention officer dump him from his wheelchair.

Her defense? She thought he was faking not being able to walk. Never mind the fact that the car in which he allegedly fled from officers – at 5 mph – was specially equipped with hand controls.

Thankfully, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee had the common sense to condemn the action and publicly apologize to Sterner.

Unfortunately, Stark County Sheriff Timothy Swanson doesn’t have that much sense. He keeps claiming that his deputies are innocent, even though departmental policy forbids male deputies from strip searching female inmates.

His defense? It wasn’t a strip search.

He’s actually right. It was more of a rape. A “rape without penetration” as Hope’s husband put it.

The Baltimore Police Commissioner is reportedly “disappointed” in officer Rivieri, the 17-year veteran who body slammed a 14-year-old boy for illegal skateboarding. But Riveiri’s lawyer said he had every right to abuse the boy.

“Police officers have a hard job. in this particular video, you don’t see what happened before the officer took the boy down to the ground,” Henry Belsky said. “Until you see the totality of what happened, one really does not know what really happened down there.”

Yes, Belsky, but we’ve seen enough of what actually happened, thanks to a video camera that one of the boy’s friends was carrying.

These incidents were only exposed because they were caught on video. Imagine how police are acting when the cameras are not rolling?

Here are some headlines that ran last week that do not involve a Youtube video:

Trooper who arrested journalist was subject of previous complaints
I blogged about this trooper when he first arrested an Arkansas photojournalist in December. Charges against the journalist were immediately dropped and the trooper was moved to a desk job. It turns out, Arkansas State Trooper Thomas Weindruch had nine citizen complaints against him since 2004, when he became a trooper.

Witnesses: Shackled man hit with taser
Lauderhill police encountered a mentally ill man drinking from a puddle. There was a struggle. Police handcuffed him. They shackled his feet. Officer Joseph Yasko continued using his taser gun on the suspect. Witnesses were shocked, no pun intended, as they heard the mentally ill man scream in pain.

Ex-Miami cop heads to jail for ten years in rapes
Michael Ragusa was a Miami police officer and in uniform when he raped two women and attempted to rape a third.

If this is not an alarming trend, then that means this has been going on forever and it is only now that it is beginning to surface, thanks to websites like Youtube and the Internet itself, which allow us to read news from other communities that would never make our newspapers or local news. The Internet also allows us to share news and research past articles that would otherwise wind up in a newspaper morgue.

Case in point, the video tape of deputies ripping the clothes off Hope has only been broadcast on one network news station. But it has been seen all over the world because of the Internet.

One of the misfortunes that arises from these continual videos and articles is that the law-abiding public develops a general mistrust of police.

But from the years I covered law enforcement for newspapers in Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico, I know that most cops are just working-class people who look forward to a few beers on their own time.

Perhaps there needs to be better training. Or more emphasis on reducing stress among officers. Or maybe just better pay and benefits.

The fact is, many police agencies across the country have been forced to lower their standards because they have had trouble recruiting new officers.

Traditionally, police departments were able to recruit military veterans but today, many veterans have received computer training in the military, which enable them to expand their employment horizons for better paying, not to mention safer, jobs.

So police departments are forced to recruit people who once did not qualify.

Perhaps these are people who are unable to handle stress well. Or people who are unable to cordially deal with the general public. Or even people who were bullies in school.

Which is even more reason why we need to protect our right to photograph and videotape police in the line of duty.

Which is even more reason why we need to police the police.

Photos of Versailles assault incident

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I just acquired the license to be able to run the first photo on my blog, which was taken seconds after the man on the left knocked my video camera down, causing it to shut off.

This second photo, which was taken seconds after the first photo, was posted today on Alejandro Armengol’s blog on El Nuevo Herald.

Copyright © 2008 El Nuevo Herald by Roberto Koltun (both photos)

I will ask photographer Roberto Koltun if he took any photos of the actual assault because now it looks like I’m assaulting him.

But if you read the text on the blog, it says the complete opposite.

It’s in Spanish, so I will try to translate here:

In an unfortunate incident, Cuban exiles attacked a young freelance photographer, Carlos Miller, (right, back to the camera), accusing him of being a “Chavista” and communist, while he was conducting his journalistic work at Versailles restaurant, Saturday, Feb. 9th, during a Code Pink protest in which they demanded that Luis Posada Carriles be placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

New York photographers make a stand despite horrid weather conditions

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Two dozen Brooklyn photographers weathered snow flurries and freezing temperatures on Sunday to make a stand for photographers’ rights.

You gotta love New Yorkers.

The protest was in response to an incident that occurred a week earlier when a Metropolitan Transportation Authority police officer harassed video artist Katherin McInnis, threatening to confiscate her video camera, even though she was filming from a public sidewalk.

And that incident is the latest in a long-line of incidents involving MTA officers.

The photo below was taken by Flatbush Gardener, who gave me permission to post this photo. I like the snow flurries in this photo as well as the way that guy is standing on the railing with the sign that says, “no standing anytime”.

Click here to see the rest of Flatbush Gardener‘s photos or click on the links below to see more photos from other photographers who attended the protest.

The video, the video, where is the video?

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I am dying to upload the video I shot during the Code Pink demonstration in which I got assaulted by a Cuban exile.

However, I am still trying to acquire a photo taken by Roberto Koltun of El Nuevo Herald, who was about three feet from the incident when it happened.

He told me he got some good shots, but the editors chose to run other photos with the article.

The photo would be like the cherry on top of a sundae for the video. It would come on screen as soon as my video camera gets shut down during the melee.

Because everything he shoots is property of the Miami Herald, I have to go through the Herald’s archives department to acquire licensing rights for the photo. And this has taken several days so far.

They need to know what resolution size photo I will need, where I’m going to run the photo, for what duration of time, for what purpose, etc.

And they still haven’t told me how much this will cost. And they might even end up disapproving my request.

I am almost tempted to upload the video without the photo because the video is strong as it is. But I tend to be nitpicky about these things.

If I upload the video today, then end up getting the photo tomorrow, it will just drive me mad.

So please bear with me.

The Miami Herald covers Miami Lakes politics, after all

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The Miami Herald shocked bloggers and Miami Lakes residents Monday night by finally reporting that Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Nancy Simon had been practicing real estate without a license.

However, the long-awaited news was anti-climatic because the Herald did not reveal anything that had not already been known to anybody that actually cares about what is occurring in the suburban municipality in northwest Miami-Dade County.

Unfortunately, the Herald refused to delve into the influential relationship between Simon and The Miami Laker newspaper, which decided to stop covering local politics in December after she raised hell about an article stating that she had been under investigation by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The Herald also failed to report on the status of journalist David Snelling, who ended up getting reprimanded by his editor after reporting the truth about the vice mayor.

Nevertheless, the elephant in Miami Lakes’ living room has finally been acknowledged. And she has a good excuse.

Simon, a three-term councilwoman, said the ordeal stems from a $115 license renewal check she thought she mailed in late 2004 but which was never received by the state regulation department. She also blames an illness that left her hospitalized in August of the same year.

”I have nothing to hide,” Simon said. “The three checks that I cashed, I didn’t do that under the table, I did it through my brokerage firm. Do you think my broker would have cashed it if he didn’t think I was legitimate? I have paid taxes on that money. Everything I have done was above the board.

And despite the fact that the state of Florida considers the act of practicing real estate without a license a third-degree felony, many South Floridians who have been jaded by years of corrupt politicians were quick to blow off the allegations against Simon as a “stupid mistake”.

At least according to the Herald’s comments section, which is usually an accurate reflection of what the community is thinking, although that can be embarrassing at times.

Simon is not the first person this happened to, as a realtor I know several people who were in a similar situation, they got a slap on the had a $1500 fine. It is riduculous (SIC) that her case is getting so much attention, get over it people. She did not hurt anyone or steal money she made a stupid mistake.

Posted by: a realtor

Other readers, however, were not so forgiven.

Another corrupt politician making excuses. Why doesn’t Simon own up to her behavior. Why did she lie to TV and say she never made a dime.

Posted by: Lakes resident

And …

The cause of political power is because the political leaders are no brainers (some of them). They let the power go to their head, and then they think that they are above the law and they deserve everything they want.THEY ARE WRONG. THE PEOPLE ARE WAKING UP AND ARE MAKING CHOICES OF WHO THEY WANT IN TOWN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.NANCY SIMON, YOU CAN FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, BUT YOU CANNOT FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME.

Posted by: A CUBAN EXILE

Another reader insisted that Simon’s “crime” was completely small-time and not worth reporting.

$28k and you say business was “looking good”? You’re crazy. This is barely worth reporting, let alone the top-story treatment you’re giving it. Why indeed is she being crucified over b.s. like this? What is the Herald’s real motive here?

Posted by: Hatchet Job

And what is a Miami Herald comments section without the obligatory crack at someone’s race or ethnicity?

Is she a cuban blond by any chance? Those do not even know how to put gas in the car.

Posted by: LOL

Now that Simon is under investigation for a felony, she will most likely do what any South Florida politician would do in her position.

Run for a higher office.

Residents have long speculated that Simon will run (for mayor), though she has yet to declare her decision.

”I’ve always been the lightning rod for these set of people,” Simon said. “Every time the mayoral race comes up, the heat intensifies. It’s very sad that in a small town, the politics gets this dirty.”

The Miami Herald covers Miami Lakes politics, after all

0

The Miami Herald shocked bloggers and Miami Lakes residents Monday night by finally reporting that Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Nancy Simon had been practicing real estate without a license.

However, the long-awaited news was anti-climatic because the Herald did not reveal anything that had not already been known to anybody that actually cares about what is occurring in the suburban municipality in northwest Miami-Dade County.

Unfortunately, the Herald refused to delve into the influential relationship between Simon and The Miami Laker newspaper, which decided to stop covering local politics in December after she raised hell about an article stating that she had been under investigation by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The Herald also failed to report on the status of journalist David Snelling, who ended up getting reprimanded by his editor after reporting the truth about the vice mayor.

Nevertheless, the elephant in Miami Lakes’ living room has finally been acknowledged. And she has a good excuse.

Simon, a three-term councilwoman, said the ordeal stems from a $115 license renewal check she thought she mailed in late 2004 but which was never received by the state regulation department. She also blames an illness that left her hospitalized in August of the same year.

”I have nothing to hide,” Simon said. “The three checks that I cashed, I didn’t do that under the table, I did it through my brokerage firm. Do you think my broker would have cashed it if he didn’t think I was legitimate? I have paid taxes on that money. Everything I have done was above the board.

And despite the fact that the state of Florida considers the act of practicing real estate without a license a third-degree felony, many South Floridians who have been jaded by years of corrupt politicians were quick to blow off the allegations against Simon as a “stupid mistake”.

At least according to the Herald’s comments section, which is usually an accurate reflection of what the community is thinking, although that can be embarrassing at times.

Simon is not the first person this happened to, as a realtor I know several people who were in a similar situation, they got a slap on the had a $1500 fine. It is riduculous (SIC) that her case is getting so much attention, get over it people. She did not hurt anyone or steal money she made a stupid mistake.
Posted by: a realtor

Other readers, however, were not so forgiven.

Another corrupt politician making excuses. Why doesn’t Simon own up to her behavior. Why did she lie to TV and say she never made a dime.
Posted by: Lakes resident

And …

The cause of political power is because the political leaders are no brainers (some of them). They let the power go to their head, and then they think that they are above the law and they deserve everything they want.THEY ARE WRONG. THE PEOPLE ARE WAKING UP AND ARE MAKING CHOICES OF WHO THEY WANT IN TOWN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.NANCY SIMON, YOU CAN FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, BUT YOU CANNOT FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME.
Posted by: A CUBAN EXILE

Another reader insisted that Simon’s “crime” was completely small-time and not worth reporting.

$28k and you say business was “looking good”? You’re crazy. This is barely worth reporting, let alone the top-story treatment you’re giving it. Why indeed is she being crucified over b.s. like this? What is the Herald’s real motive here?
Posted by: Hatchet Job

And what is a Miami Herald comments section without the obligatory crack at someone’s race or ethnicity?

Is she a cuban blond by any chance? Those do not even know how to put gas in the car.
Posted by: LOL

Now that Simon is under investigation for a felony, she will most likely do what any South Florida politician would do in her position.

Run for a higher office.

Residents have long speculated that Simon will run (for mayor), though she has yet to declare her decision.

”I’ve always been the lightning rod for these set of people,” Simon said. “Every time the mayoral race comes up, the heat intensifies. It’s very sad that in a small town, the politics gets this dirty.”