DURHAM, NC (September 4, 2008) – Bob Carey, president of the National Press Photographers Association, has sent a strongly-worded letter to the St. Paul, MN, chief of police objecting to the recent arrests of credentialed, legitimate photojournalists who were covering protesters who were conducting an anti-war march outside the Republican National Convention site.
"We understand the need for police to arrest those persons involved in rioting or causing a public disturbance," Carey wrote to St. Paul police chief John M. Harrington. "Our specific concern is the manner in which law-abiding photojournalists, who were simply doing their job, were targeted by police officers."
Carey goes on to tell Harrington, "News photographers carry equipment that makes us easy to identify. We're obviously media. There's no excuse for physically assaulting or arresting a photographer who is not creating a disturbance. Mere presence in a public place does not qualify as a disturbance. Neither does photographing a news event or a melee."
"As law-abiding citizens, members of the media in this incident readily identified themselves as members of the media," Carey said, "yet their credentials were ignored."
Several photojournalists arrested Monday – Matt Rourke [of the Associated Press, an NPPA member], Jason Nicholas, Jim Winn, Ed Matthews, and Britney McIntosh – have been released from police custody or jail, while Nathan Weber [an NPPA member] is still being held for Gross Misdemeanor charges.
"I was told by one of the photojournalists detained that his arresting officer went to his superior and asked to release the photographer before processing his arrest, and the police officer was told 'no,'" Carey said.
"Photojournalists count on the fact that police presence at protests keeps them safe," Carey told Harrington. "It would be horrible for members of the media to conclude that police presence increases that risk factor."
Carey said, "We deserve to be protected by police, not falsely arrested by them."
In Carey's letter he told the police chief, "Because of the number of photographers who were arrested, we believe that this was not a single incident or a problem with a single officer, but is a systematic problem within your department. We therefore call on you to take a systematic approach to ensuring that this will not happen again. Every officer in your department needs ongoing training in dealing with the media."
Carey said it appears that there is a "department-wide lack of understanding" about the media's basic right to gather news as guaranteed by the First Amendment.
"We should not have to ask a police department, filled with men and women who have sworn to uphold the Constitution, to obey the law," Carey said.
Carey's letter was also sent to the St. Paul police department's Police & Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission, and NPPA executive director Jim Straight today is sending the letter to Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and to Minnesota attorney general Lori Swanson.
