The photographer who was arrested for taking pictures at Penn Station on December 21st has released more details of his story. Click here for the details.

According to the photographer:

If you have had something like this happen to you in an Amtrak Train Station, on an Amtrak Train or on any property belonging to Amtrak that is open to the public anyplace in the country please contact Todd Maisel of the National Press Photographers Association or me about what happened to you. Use “Amtrak Incident on” as the first words of the subject line. Be sure to include as best you can the what, where and why and when of what happened to you. This way a class action law suit can be prepared against Amtrak showing a pattern of violating the public’s civil liberties. Let me know if I have permission to post your data on this web site.

Can you be arrested for making a photograph like this in Pennsylvania Station New York? According to Amtrak Police Officer James Rusbarsky if you decide to ignore his unlawful order to delete your photos, you are are subject to arrest for NYS Penal Code Trespass 240.05. Officer Rusbarsky also states he was just doing his job when he put the handcuffs on me backwards so they caused me discomfort, pain and annoyance. Not only did Officer Rusbarsky violate my civil rights which are protected under the First Amendment he needs to read NYS Penal Code 240.26 Harassment in the Second Degree. I had valid tickets to be on in the station at the time.

Further Officer Rusbarsky stated he was only doing what he was trained to do. So according to Amtrak Police Officer Rusbarsky, Amtrak trains its police officers to not only violate the civil rights granted to the citizens of the United States of America by the Constitution but also to commit crimes in the execution of their duties.

Follow this thread on railroad.net which writes about more photographers being harassed by employees of New Jersey Transit.

ns3010 states:

Has anyone else had a problem with taking pictures? I was confronted by an employee today for taking pictures in Dover. I didn’t know that it was illegal, especially from the platform which is a public place.

Another post writes:

Two of my kids (the railfan ones) were at an NJT station a couple days after Christmas, taking pictures with their new cameras. My wife drove them there and waited in the minivan with a good book (as I’ve said in other previous posts, I happen to be blessed with a spouse who is tolerant of things railfan!)
My kids (early teens) called me at work to say a conductor walked over to them and angrily told them they needed a permit and a flagman to photograph trains. I know this is true because the full encounter happened to be captured on their video camera.

Yet another writes:

I got stoped by an NJT garbageman at Long Branch from taking pictures of a GP40FH-2.

Even more:

I was with my brother at Summit a few days ago, and a new conductor (who admitted it after I watched and listened to the tape again) said 1) we needed a permit 2) we needed a flagman.

These combined with the other earlier reports show that there is a systematic pattern of harassment that the employees of New Jersey Transit are engaged in to prevent photographers from exercising their rights under the laws and the Constitution of the United States.

The NJCLU needs to get involved and file a lawsuit against New Jersey Transit as well as the individual employees responsible for this harassment. It needs to STOP NOW!

A New York City Police Officer told a photographer that taking pictures in the subway is illegal. According to the photographer:

NYPD: You know, it’s illegal to take photos in the subway. I need to see the camera.
Photographer: Is it? Really?
NYPD: Yes. Security measures. Put into place after 9/11.

The photographer knew her rights and challenged the officer (respectfully and politely) upon which time he conceded:

NYPD: Oh, right, well, ummm, yeah, it’s not… it’s not all illegal. I mean… you can take pictures of your friends while you wait for the train, you know. But what you are doing, it’s suspicious activity. Taking photos across the tracks…Photos of strangers. It raises suspicions.

This clearly shows that contrary to some apologists for the NYPD the officers are not simply misinformed as to the photography rules. They are LIARS and they are fully aware that they are LYING and depriving people of their rights under the law.

by equating them with terrorists. According to this brochure issued by MTA Maryland anyone taking pictures should be reported to police. This in spite of the fact that there are NO LAWS currently on the books in the State of Maryland that prohibit photography. Not only does this prevent photographers from engaging in their LEGAL RIGHT to take pictures from public property it encourages the public and police to harass and abuse them.

MTA Maryland needs to explain this OUTRAGE! Photography is NOT a crime!!

And unlawfully deny him his right to photography from public property. According to the photographer:

Click here for the full story

The more disturbing incident came later when we were atop a bridge, again on a public sidewalk, shooting another plant and long exposure bridge shots. Here we were stopped by real cops this time, rather than security guards. The cops in question were from the Long Beach Harbor Patrol. Their officer explained to us that it was his job to monitor the side of the bridge that we were on while L.A.P.D. had jurisdiction over the other side of the bridge.

Basically the conversation went something like this.

Long Beach Harbor Patrol Officer: “I’m going to have to ask you guys to leave.”

Us: “But, why, were simply taking art photographs.”

Long Beach Harbor Patrol Officer: “You’re not allowed to photograph these plants.”

Us: “But we’re on a public sidewalk. What law doesn’t allow us to photograph here?”

Long Beach Harbor Patrol Officer: “You’ll need to come back tomorrow and get a permit if you want to shoot in the Harbor.”

Me: “I’m only down in Long Beach for tonight and won’t be able to do that.”

2nd Long Beach Harbor Patrol Officer (shrugging her shoulders): Oh, well, you’re just going to have to leave. Photography is not allowed here without a permit.”

These were nothing but pathetic fabricated lies designed to prohibit the photographer from exercising his legal rights to photograph anything that can be seen from public property.

We openly challenge anyone at the Long Beach Harbor Police department to cite the specific statutes that prohibit photography. If they can’t or won’t then we openly call them LIARS! It is beyond time that the local chapter of the ACLU took on the challenge and filed a lawsuit against the Long Beach Harbor Police - they have gone on harassing photographers for too long now.

Another photographer was harassed at Penn Station. He was arrested and hurt by the police officer during the arrest - here is a link to his post about the incident.

He has written letters to Amtrak posted here and here

A summary of the incident is in the second letter:

I’m writing you as a result of my experiences in Pennsylvania Station New York on December 21, 2008 at about 12 noon. I had taken New Jersey Transit Train 7826, departing New Brunswick Station at 10:58 and arriving at Pennsylvania Station New York at 11:52. I was in the 2nd to last car of the train which dropped me off on the western end of the platform for Tracks 9 and 10 in Penn Station. At no time prior to 5PM on December 21 was I east of the escalator that is immediately east of elevator B5.

I am an amateur fine art photographer and take photos of subjects I see. I was starting to work on a submission for the “Picture our Train” annual contest which has been run for the previous 5 years. In the previous announcements of the contest there is a section “Safety First”. In this section it states “Stay in public access areas such as stations, sidewalks or parking lots.” So after detraining I wanted to spend a few minutes taking some photographs from the platform.

To get to the platform I did not cross any barriers, did not see any “No Trespassing” signs. I did not pass through any closed doors. I was about to exit the platform at just after 12:01 PM by using the Escalator that is just east of Elevator B5. At this time I was approached by Amtrak Police Officers Rusbarsky and Smith. They asked me what I was doing on the platform; I answered taking photographs of equipment. I had an email from New Jersey Transit that says photographing is allowed from all publicly accessible areas of New Jersey Transit Property and photo ids are no longer needed which is the service I use to get to Pennsylvania Station New York. I showed the paper to Officer Rusbarsky. He stated this is Amtrak not New Jersey Transit. They asked to see my tickets, I showed them my New Jersey Transit Tickets, of course the one I used to ride into the station on had been collected on the train. Officer Rusbarsky then wanted to see the photographs I took. He then demanded that I delete the photographs. I refused to delete my photographs. They also said did I see the “No Trespassing” signs, I asked, “what signs?” and looked around for one. I was then arrested for Trespass NY Penal Code 140.05.

telling a photographer that it is illegal to take pictures at Penn Station. Furthermore threatening not to allow the photographer to ride the train if he continued photographing. The photographer filed a complaint with NJT - hopefully the employee in question will be disciplined. The harassment needs to stop NOW!!

Story here

According to the photographer:

I was taking photos last night on the platform for track 8E in Penn Station New York. The train conductor told me that I wasn’t allowed to take photos there and that I couldn’t take photos of her. I stated the current policy and when I got home I filed a complaint with New Jersey Transit and told them this was a common problem since it’s not the first time it’s happened to me.

The conductor told me if I didn’t stop I could wait for the next train.

An opportunistic Michigan persecutor prosecutor is trying to send a journalist to prison for 20 years for taking pictures of a crash site.

According to the story:

Michigan State Police first arrested reporter Diane Bukowski on a single misdemeanor charge of obstructing an investigation after she allegedly crossed a police line to photograph the scene of a double fatality resulting from a police chase. Prosecutor Kym Worthy
Three days later, Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy decided to charge the Detroit journalist with five felony counts of assaulting, resisting and obstructing a police officer, which carry a possible sentence of 20 years, according to The Michigan Citizen, the weekly newspaper she was working for at the time

This is nothing more than a vendetta against this journalist by the prosecutor because the journalist has been critical of the district attorney’s office and police departments in the past.
According to the Metro Times:

Bukowski says she’s been a reporter for eight years, working exclusively as a freelancer for the Citizen, which bills itself as “America’s most progressive community newspaper.” Her work has frequently focused on allegations of police misconduct. She was the first reporter to shed light on Detroit police officer Eugene Brown. In seven years, Brown shot nine people, killing three. He subsequently became a focus of coverage in these pages and in mainstream media as the issue of questionable police shootings in Detroit came to the fore. Eventually the U.S. Justice Department stepped in and ordered the department to make changes.
Over the years Bukowski has also been critical of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for not bringing criminal charges against officers involved in cases where evidence indicated shootings were unwarranted.
Bukowski says she’s establishing a legal defense fund. Anyone interested in helping can contact her at 313-205-6718.

The motivation of the district attorney can’t be any clearer!!