Re: OT Photographer Arrested For Taking Pics Near Cheney Hotel

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From: Marco Milazzo (mmilazz1@elp.rr.com)
Date: 12/11/02-08:01:35 PM Z


Stan,

Before you start spreading the word about this alleged atrocity, please consider the source of the story.

"2600" is a magazine for computer hackers -- the people who bedevil us everyday by making us run antivirus and firewall software on our computers so that THEY -- not the government -- won't be able to steal our identities, our inancial information, our passwords, etc. Those are the folks who wrote this story.

It's not a stretch to call computer hacking "terrorism," and to imagine that hackers might be targets of the new Homeland Secirity Dept.

Has any REAL newspaper or news outlet verified this story? If not, please don't spread this misinformation. If it comes to a choice between hackers and the government, I'll take my chances with the government.

Marco

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Stan Klimek
  To: alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca
  Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 4:49 PM
  Subject: Re: OT Photographer Arrested For Taking Pics Near Cheney Hotel

  Thank you for posting this, very scary. I'm going to try and keep it alive by forwarding it to people I know.

  Best - Stan

  ARTHURWG@aol.com wrote:

 
  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

          Subject: [Rollei-user] OT Photographer Arrested For Taking Pics Near Cheney Hotel
          From: Dale Dickerson <vze2g2z8@verizon.net>
          Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 17:47:34 -0500
          To: Rollei-user <rollei-user@beststuff.com>, Kiev88@yahoogroups.com, MF3D.Forum@lists.unh.edu, photo-3d@yahoogroups.com, rolleiflex@yahoogroups.com, rollei@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us, russiancamera-user@beststuff.com, Zenitcamera@yahoogroups.com, ZICG@yahoogroups.com

           Photographer Arrested For
           Taking Pics Near Cheney Hotel
           2600 News
           12-5-2

    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.

    Off the Hook's Editorial Note (excerpted):
    Those who believe such an event cannot happen in our country have simply not
    been paying attention to what's been going on. It seems a foregone
    conclusion that the United States is heading in a direction of increased
    civil rights abuses.

    Now let's turn the tables and examine the other side. We contacted both the
    Denver Police and the Secret Service to find out if the story was true. They
    both took our information and neither of them ever got back to us. Their
    silence has been deafening and it's perhaps the most significant statement
    they could have made.

    We realize that there will still be people who remain unconvinced. And so we
    hereby invite them to help us get to the bottom of this by proving us wrong:
    The Vice President is always staying somewhere and one day he's certain to
    stay somewhere near you. When that happens, simply go down to the hotel he's
    staying at and take as many pictures as you can. Be sure to photograph the
    snipers and the military guard as well. When we receive pictures proving
    that we do indeed have the right to take photos of public places while
    standing in a public place, we will be more than happy to make that known.
    We will also welcome and make public any correspondence from appropriate law
    enforcement agencies who wish to say for the record that such freedoms will
    not be challenged in the future.

    http://www.2600.com/news/display/display.shtml?id=1441
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  stanklimek
27742 W. Frontage rd. #4
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507

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