YOU ARE NOW ON THE NO-FLY LIST: Photographers, A 90-Pound German Shepherd And The Patriot Act

Take photos of one of the most popular tourist spots in Seattle (the Ballard Locks) because you are "working on an assignment for an introductory photography class at Shoreline Community College", talk to some friendly officers of the Seattle police and to agents from the Department of Homeland Security, "all with guns holstered on their hips", who finally take away your pix ("You really don't have a choice") and soon after you are not "allowed to take photographs at the Locks, and that he was not to return to the Locks without advance notice and permission."

This happened to Ian Spiers, a Seattle freelance graphic designer and amateur photographer ("Humiliated, Angry, Ashamed, Brown"). Full report: Seattle Times, "Photo student draws attention of authorities", by Sara Jean Green and Katherine Sather.

The blog of Ian Spiers, "Brown Equals Terrorist", has more details with a link to a recent AP article "Photographer's rights violated?" by Elizabeth M. Gillespie:

The National Press Photographers Association has gotten numerous reports from members who say they've been hassled by police since the Sept. 11, 2001.
In early June, about 100 photographers crowded onto Manhattan subway trains and snapped pictures of each other in protest of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's proposed ban on photos on public transit.
Brian Fitzgerald, the chief photographer at the Yakima Herald-Republic, said a uniformed security officer tried to stop him from taking a picture of an immigration office, citing a "law," then calling it a "directive" that gave the officer the right to confiscate film with photos of federal facilities.
"I'm not outraged because I didn't get to the point where I didn't get my photos," Fitzgerald said. "It just reminds me again how much disinformation there is, even in these agencies that are supposed to know."

Another report from The Stranger: "TAKING PICTURES WHILE BROWN, Securing the Homeland Against Shutterbugs", by Amy Jenniges:

After Spiers snapped a few frames, a security guard walked up and started asking questions. "He wasn't politely asking me questions," Spiers says. "He'd accessorized his ensemble with a 90-pound German shepherd, and was talking at me."
[...]
Spiers hasn't heard back from authorities at the Locks, so he's staying away for now, and throwing all of his free time into getting his story out. "I haven't come up for air. All I'm doing is putting it out there," he says.

What would have happened, if Ian would have used a 5 MP Cameraphone and mailed his pix to a moblog site...would they take down the site?

[© Image by Narushige Shiode, The Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London] (Thx to Leif Skoogfors)

Comments

[suzanne klotz]

i'm just plain white but i got a call from the FBI after someone reported me as being connected to israeli intelligence...after i showed a pro-palestinian human rights digital story i made at a public meeting. I'm an artist. so...i'm on the no fly list too. because of the 9/11 Israeli intelligence officers caught filming the trade center bombings "posing as art students from Bezelel art academy" artists are the current fad target. insanity.
suzanne

[Adam Davis]

Whiteequalsterrorist as well....

I was detained for taking photos.

Fortunately or unforunately depending on the part of the comment you focus on, it's not only minorities being harrassed, intimidated and having there rights trashed for taking photographs.

First allow me to introduce myself briefly. I am Adam Davis, I am a physician at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and a semi-professional photographer. My work can be seen at www.adamdavisphotography.com.

On July 29th at approximately 7pm I was driving south on Larabee, stopping occasionally to take pictures of subjects such as an open fire hydrant and an evening soccer league. I saw the sun setting to my right in front of some high voltage power lines which I thought may have made an interesting photograph. I pulled into the parking lot across from the power station, the parking lot of the district 18 police station. There were police officers milling around and I stepped out of my car and took two to three shots of the sun behind the power lines. I got back in my car exited out the south side of the parking lot and took a right on Elm St. I crossed one intersection when I saw flashing lights pull up behind me.

I pulled over and asked him if I had made a moving violation and he said no. He asked me what I had been doing. I told him I had been taking photographs. He asked me of what. I told him of those power lines and the sun behind it. He asked me why. I told him because I thought it was pretty and I am a photographer and I handed him my photography card. At some point I also told him that I was a doctor at Children’s Memorial Hospital and handed him my business card there as well. He aggressively inquired to as what was I thinking after September 11th of taking photos of a power station and from private property no less. He stated that this was all highly illegal. I told him that I believed what I had done was legal. He stated that I was wrong and that he should have me locked up. I again told him I thought it was legal. He told me if I said that again he would lock me up.

He took my information back to his car and ran my information in the computer and apparently called Children’s as well. He came back to my car told me he was giving me a break because I was a doctor as long as Children’s confirmed my employment there. I said thanks I appreciate the break and asked if I could have his name and badge number before I left. At this point he said alright you’re coming in and asked me out of my car and to his hood where he handcuffed me. I learned later by reading his badge that his name is officer Doyle, badge #10677. At no point did he disclose this to me. Another cop had arrived and I requested that he move my camera equipment to my trunk as my car does not lock and he was obliging but having a difficult time figuring out the idiosyncrasies of my car he asked me questions about how to get the key out and how to open the trunk, when I attempted to answer him officer Doyle threatened that he would spray me. I got into the car.

While bringing me to the holding area he said that normally they call the FBI in cases like this and I was real lucky because if they got involved I’d be in all sorts of trouble. Later he told me that if they called the FBI I would be “practicing in Cuba”.

Officer Doyle locked me to the desk in the holding area and went to talk to his commander. After approximately 15 minutes he returned and told me that because I was a doctor they were going to give me a break and just fill out a contact sheet and let me go. He told me that none of this would have happened if I didn’t run my mouth. I told him at this point that I didn’t run my mouth, I did not swear, I simply asked his name and badge number and I used the analogy of an upset patient asking for my name and my professional duty to provide it. He stated that I threatened him. I stated no I simply wanted your name and badge number to which he replied “for what?” I stated “for whatever I would choose to do with it.” To which he said “No, no you arrogant little fuck, you’re definitely coming in.” He left again to talk to his commander and returned again 10 minutes later to tell me that they were giving me a break because I was a doctor and if not for that I definitely would be locked up. He unlocked my cuffs and escorted me out of the station to my car.

Interestingly, while waiting for him to get my wallet and cellphone I went to the sidewalk to take photos of the moon above the skyscrapers downtown and another cop told me I couldn’t take pictures of the federal building across the street (The Cabrini projects). I did not speak, put my camera to my side and drove home.

The issues as I see it...

1) Perhaps most importantly is the blatant retaliation that I received for asking Officer Doyle for his identifying information. This type of transparency is essential to a free and safe society. At no time afterwards did he provide me with this information.

2) The police officer in this case either does not know the law or made up the law in order to intimidate and harass me. There is indeed no law against taking photographs of federal buildings or power stations.

3) One cannot be arrested for walking across assumed public space such as the parking lot of a police station or the lobby of a hotel unless they refuse to leave after requested. I was already off the property when stopped and never stated that I planned any return trip to the property.

4) Empty threats of my livelihood (the practicing in Cuba comment) as a means to intimidate and harass threaten my ability to have trust in our public institutions and to feel free to be an active member of American society.

5) What if I were not a doctor, at every turn I was told I was receiving a break for being a pediatrician at Children’s, what does that have to do with my actions?

I thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you…

Adam Davis, MD
adam@adamdavisphotography.com

[Jessica]

I was in OKC and two security officers rushed me and my mom telling me it was illegal to take pictures in any city in the United States. I was outraged to say the least, because I was simply doing a photo assignment for my basic photo class. This has gotten out of control. They accused me of possibly doing reconnaissance work for terrorists.