in order to censor a news report that in her opinion was “not showing proper respect to people in the accident.’”

Story here

According to the report:

“A couple CMPD officers started shouting orders at him to stop shooting. And they approached and continued to shout orders to take his camera down.

“He felt like he was doing his job. He asked them why. A female officer stepped up and started to grab the camera out of his hands, and it fell to the ground. She told him, ‘Because you’re not showing proper respect to people in the accident.’”

Washington was then handcuffed and put into a cruiser, where he was held for about an hour before being released without charges. He was treated afterward at an emergency room for a minor back injury related to the confrontation, said Milligan, who went to the scene after the station’s assignment desk alerted him.

As long as the photographer remained outside of the “crime scene” tape then he was fully within his rights to photograph anything he could see. The police acted as CENSORS in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. There is no statute either Federal, State or Local that demands that a reporter show “proper respect to people in the accident”. What does that term mean anyway? Who is to judge that? Compounding the issue the officer physically assaulted the photgrapher, injuring him and causing thousands of dollars of damage to his equipment. Why isn’t she under arrest for attempted grand larceny and destruction of property?

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