The video only shows one side of the story (like almost always)...any way don't agree with the reporters manners, certainly looks like he lost it and/or was going for it.
I can't agree, she was obviously with him shooting video of the rally. I can understand something like this happening in a small town, but in NYC? With officers taking no initiative at all? Who paid those officers off to ignore everything that was happening?
It's obvious this guy was trying to 'make his own news story.' If I were the police I would have asked him to move and shoot somewhere else simply based on the fact that he was annoying.
There's no question that men in green shirts came up to the photographer, and the photographer said, "Step away," over and over again. It's on video. The photographer's job is to take pictures. The police's job is to keep the peace. The police should have called for reinforcements and told the "green shirts" to go back to their side of the street. "Inciting" isn't the issue. Intimidation is.
Using your photo blog to advance a political agenda is a punk move, but to feign innocence by proclaiming "No comment!" is just being a coward about it.
I totally understand that he was there to cover the rally, but no photographer should push the participants. If he was getting harassed by the green shirts morons,then move to the other side. Obviously he continue pushing the green shirt guys over and over. Those officers really didn't want to be there, and couldn't care less.
I've been in a lot of protests against the war in Gaza and never saw any photographers being harassed. The pro-Israeli groups are, in my experience, the ones that tend to be on the aggressive side. I've also seen members of pro-Israeli groups photographing pro-Palestinians protesters in order to identify them and add their faces to "black lists".
the photog was out of line. no doubt about it. creating a scene, trying to protest his own thing. There were plenty of other people out there taking photos, why was HE the victim?
The photographer was in the right. Whether or not he had press credentials is irrelevant. The protesters were in a public place and he was photographing them in public. The fact that he *did* have credentials only strengthens his case.
For those wondering why he had someone video taping the action and suggesting that he brought a video person to make himself part of the story, I would suggest that the video shows how important it is to always have someone on hand to document what is happening. Otherwise this guy would have told his story about abuse and people would believe or not believe based on how credible they found him. With the video tape there is no doubt.
The demonstrators displayed remarkable stupidity. You don't harass someone with a camera, particularly someone who has someone else documenting everything. It weakens their stance and hurts their case all the more. If they had left him alone they would have had their protest photos published and that would be that. But since they decided to assault him they are now seen as villains.
As for the police, it appeared to me that they were trying to nullify the complaints on both sides. If they had taken sides the situation could have escalated. They didn't want to be seen as thugs by the protesters or the photographers. So they tried to let things sort themselves out by not getting involved too much. I suspect this photographer will be able to use this in his lawsuit against the city for the actions (inactions) of the police.
11 comments:
What photographer has someone come along with him to take video of him shooting? It looks to me like he was inciting the protesters to make a scene.
Couldn't agree more with the first poster...
The video only shows one side of the story (like almost always)...any way don't agree with the reporters manners, certainly looks like he lost it and/or was going for it.
I can't agree, she was obviously with him shooting video of the rally. I can understand something like this happening in a small town, but in NYC? With officers taking no initiative at all? Who paid those officers off to ignore everything that was happening?
It's hard to dispute video evidence...
It's obvious this guy was trying to 'make his own news story.' If I were the police I would have asked him to move and shoot somewhere else simply based on the fact that he was annoying.
There's no question that men in green shirts came up to the photographer, and the photographer said, "Step away," over and over again. It's on video. The photographer's job is to take pictures. The police's job is to keep the peace. The police should have called for reinforcements and told the "green shirts" to go back to their side of the street. "Inciting" isn't the issue. Intimidation is.
Using your photo blog to advance a political agenda is a punk move, but to feign innocence by proclaiming "No comment!" is just being a coward about it.
I totally understand that he was there to cover the rally, but no photographer should push the participants. If he was getting harassed by the green shirts morons,then move to the other side. Obviously he continue pushing the green shirt guys over and over. Those officers really didn't want to be there, and couldn't care less.
I've been in a lot of protests against the war in Gaza and never saw any photographers being harassed. The pro-Israeli groups are, in my experience, the ones that tend to be on the aggressive side. I've also seen members of pro-Israeli groups photographing pro-Palestinians protesters in order to identify them and add their faces to "black lists".
the photog was out of line. no doubt about it. creating a scene, trying to protest his own thing. There were plenty of other people out there taking photos, why was HE the victim?
The photographer was in the right. Whether or not he had press credentials is irrelevant. The protesters were in a public place and he was photographing them in public. The fact that he *did* have credentials only strengthens his case.
For those wondering why he had someone video taping the action and suggesting that he brought a video person to make himself part of the story, I would suggest that the video shows how important it is to always have someone on hand to document what is happening. Otherwise this guy would have told his story about abuse and people would believe or not believe based on how credible they found him. With the video tape there is no doubt.
The demonstrators displayed remarkable stupidity. You don't harass someone with a camera, particularly someone who has someone else documenting everything. It weakens their stance and hurts their case all the more. If they had left him alone they would have had their protest photos published and that would be that. But since they decided to assault him they are now seen as villains.
As for the police, it appeared to me that they were trying to nullify the complaints on both sides. If they had taken sides the situation could have escalated. They didn't want to be seen as thugs by the protesters or the photographers. So they tried to let things sort themselves out by not getting involved too much. I suspect this photographer will be able to use this in his lawsuit against the city for the actions (inactions) of the police.
I wish him well.
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