Rally To Support Photojournalist Tony Overman, The Olympian

 

OLYMPIA, WA (June 12, 2011) – After vandals damaged the home and truck of Olympian photojournalist Tony Overman last week, and threw a corrosive substance on the windows of the newspaper's offices and spray painted graffiti, a rally was held Saturday on the Olympian's steps to show support for the photographer who was NPPA's 2006-2007 president.

About 40 people gathered to show support for Overman after this week's incident, whose roots probably go back to April 2010 when the photographer was assaulted by a professed anarchist at an "anti-police brutality" march in Olympia. Clad in black and her face covered by a bandanna, she spray-painted his face and camera lens.

Over the years police have used Overman's photographs published in The Olympian to try to identify anarchists as they committed crimes, such as throwing rocks during marches and spray painting property. The newspaper and Overman point out that only pictures that were published in the paper and on their Web site have been used by police. The newspaper continues to refused law enforcement requests to view any of the unpublished photographs.

This week vandals painted "Overman Snitch" on the newspaper's building, tagged an Olympian vehicle with spray paint, painted an anarchist symbol on Overman's home, painted "snitch" on his truck and slashed the tires. Damage to the newspaper's building was estimated to be between $10,000 to $12,000.

During Saturday's rally some of the participants held signs that said "Journalism Isn't Snitching."

The photographer, who has covered troops from Fort Lewis in Iraq when they were deployed to the war, believes the vandalism was meant to intimidate him, to dissuade him from photographing anarchists during their participation in public marches.

"I'm not going to live in a town where a group of masked thugs gets to just wander the town, terrorizing people. I'm not going to allow that to happen. As a journalist, I'm going to tell that story," Overman told KOMO-TV News.

"The reason why it's so disturbing to me is that you'd think that in a free country, the people who use the First Amendment to express their right to free speech would also respect the First Amendment right of the free press," he told The Olympian.

Overman hasn't been the only photographer target of the anarchists, according to Seattle Weekly. In February a group of anarchists marching in Seattle spit on one of Seattle Weekly's photographers and tried to steal his camera, the newspaper reported.

Olympia police say that they currently have no suspects or leads regarding the vandalism.

NPPA president's blog: Nothing Less Than Terrorism

 

 

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