From: david distefano (zfd@lightspeed.net)
Date: 12/08/02-02:45:39 PM Z
Isn't it fun that in the name of freedom, how fast we are losing our freesdom
with this administration.
Greg Schmitz wrote:
> Perhaps this is off topic - then again it may not be. I've spent most of
> my life as a photographer taking pictures on the street so I don't think
> it's off topic. If you think it's off topic ... well sorry :*)
>
> -greg schmitz <gws1@columbia.edu>
>
> ----------
>
> "The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is
> itself a political attitude."
>
> "Why I Write"
> George Orwell, 1946
> ----------
>
> PHOTOGRAPHER ARRESTED FOR TAKING PICTURES OF VICE PRESIDENT'S HOTEL
> Posted 5 Dec 2002 06:03:48 UTC
>
> An amateur photographer named Mike Maginnis was arrested on Tuesday in
> his home city of Denver - for simply taking pictures of buildings in
> an area where Vice President Cheney was residing. Maginnis told his
> story on Wednesday's edition of Off The Hook.
>
> Maginnis's morning commute took him past the Adams Mark Hotel on Court
> Place. Maginnis, who says he always carried his camera wherever he
> went, snapped about 30 pictures of the hotel and the surrounding area
> - which included Denver police, Army rangers, and rooftop snipers.
> Maginnis, who works in information technology, frequently photographs
> such subjects as corporate buildings and communications equipment.
>
> The following is Maginnis's account of what transpired:
>
> As he was putting his camera away, Maginnis found himself confronted
> by a Denver police officer who demanded that he hand over his film and
> camera. When he refused to give up his Nikon F2, the officer pushed
> him to the ground and arrested him.
>
> After being brought to the District 1 police station on Decatur
> Street, Maginnis was made to wait alone in an interrogation room. Two
> hours later, a Secret Service agent arrived, who identified himself as
> Special Agent "Willse."
>
> The agent told Maginnis that his "suspicious activities" made him a
> threat to national security, and that he would be charged as a
> terrorist under the USA-PATRIOT act. The Secret Service agent tried to
> make Maginnis admit that he was taking the photographs to analyze
> weaknesses in the Vice President's security entourage and "cause
> terror and mayhem."
>
> When Maginnis refused to admit to being any sort of terrorist, the
> Secret Service agent called him a "raghead collaborator" and a "dirty
> pinko faggot."
>
> After approximately an hour of interrogation, Maginnis was allowed to
> make a telephone call. Rather than contacting a lawyer, he called the
> Denver Post and asked for the news desk. This was immediately
> overheard by the desk sergeant, who hung up the phone and placed
> Maginnis in a holding cell.
>
> Three hours later, Maginnis was finally released, but with no
> explanation. He received no copy of an arrest report, and no receipt
> for his confiscated possessions. He was told that he would probably
> not get his camera back, as it was being held as evidence.
>
> Maginnis's lawyer contacted the Denver Police Department for an
> explanation of the day's events, but the police denied ever having
> Maginnis - or anyone matching his description - in custody. At press
> time, the Denver PD's Press Information Office did not return
> telephone messages left by 2600.
>
> The new police powers introduced by the USA-PATRIOT act, in the name
> of fighting terrorism, have been frightening in their apparent
> potential for abuse. Mike Maginnis's experience on Tuesday is a
> poignant example of how this abuse is beginning to occur. It suggests
> that a wide range of activities which might be considered "suspicious"
> could be suddenly labeled a prelude to terrorism, and be grounds for
> arrest.
>
> We will continue to post updates to this story as we learn them.
>
> 2600 Magazine
> P.O. Box 752
> Middle Island, NY 11953
> Telephone: 631-751-2600
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>
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