New York City police are continuing their
crackdown against photographers and journalists during the Occupy Wall
Street anniversary protest, arresting a photographer this morning
because she did not have NYPD-issued press credentials, according to
reports on Twitter.
Julia Reinhart, who is also a member of the National Press
Photographer Association, was wearing her NPPA identification at the
time when she stopped to take a photo.A photo of her in handcuffs was posted on Instagram by Moccupychi.
It is not clear what charges she is facing but another photographer who was arrested Saturday night was released after four hours and said he was never informed of the charges against him.
Reinhart has been covering the protests since Saturday night, posting almost 400 photos on Flickr under the following description:
On Saturday, September 15 2012, occupiers from around the country gathered in New York City in Washington Square Park for a town square meeting of education, discussion, and general reunion. After a peaceful day spent catching up with one another, the group went on a march to downtown Manhattan and Zuccotti Park. NYPD aggressively intervened with a peaceful march, randomly arrested people for wearing bandanas, carrying signs, carrying banners, marching on the sidewalk, standing on a sidewalk, and finally sleeping on a sidewalk. All in all 35 protesters were arrested throughout the day.Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, gave the following statement:
NPPA has been receiving reports from a number of our members who are covering the OWS demonstrations in NY. We are deeply concerned and troubled by the aggressive and indiscriminate manner in which officers and command staff are allegedly treating those exercising their First Amendment rights to photograph and record matters of public concern on the streets of NY. These acts of intimidation, detention and sometimes arrest continue to occur despite Commissioner Kelly's Finest message (reminding 'members of the service of their obligations to cooperate with media representatives acting in a news-gathering capacity at the scene of police incidents'), issued last year in response to the arrests of journalists covering the events in and around Zuccotti Park, as well as specific directives in the NYPD Patrol Guide regarding the rights of "Observers at the scene of Police Incidents."The New York Daily News is reporting that 63 people were arrested as of 10 a.m. this morning.
It should also be noted that whereas the Tampa and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Departments chose to work with NPPA and other organizations in order to prevent these incidents during the recent political conventions held in those cities (where no journalists were arrested), the NYPD has declined to accept similar offers of training. While NPPA appreciates the fact that NYPD has adopted the above referenced guidelines, without proper training and appropriate disciplinary action, those directives are just pieces of paper.
Please send stories, tips and videos to carlosmiller@magiccitymedia.com.
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