who dared to take LEGAL pictures from the Seattle ferries. UNBELIEVABLE!! Our government wasted time and resources to find out a year later that the men they were looking for were simply TOURISTS. Story Here.

Kudos to the Seattle newspapers like Seattle PI and the Seattle Times that refused to print the pictures of the photographers pursuant to an FBI request. Shame on the FBI for insinuating that photography is illegal and suspicious. Further shame for WASTING TAXPAYER RESOURCES on this wild goose chase.

Feeling a need to clear their name:

The men appeared at a U.S. Embassy two weeks ago and identified themselves as European business consultants who were on a trip to Seattle, FBI officials said Monday.

Special Agent in Charge Laura Laughlin said the men took a couple of days off in the middle of the July visit and decided to ride a car ferry. They took photos to show relatives back home, she said.

FBI agents have seen the photos and found them to be innocuous, as were the pair’s business activities, Laughlin said.

by telling him that photography is not allowed in the subway. A railfan observed the event and posted it here. A male and female officer who were patrolling the 33rd Street Station of the #6 Line between 1:45 and 2pm on April 12th 2008 approached a photographer. The person in question showed and read 1050.9(c) to the officers at which time the female officer blatantly and shamelessly LIED saying that those were the old rules. The photographer was intimidated into leaving the station. The officer continued: “We don’t care if people take photos but that is what we are told.”

This is more proof of what I have been saying all along on this blog. Officers are being given instructions by their superiors to harass photographers. The situation must stop and the NYCLU needs to intensify their efforts. We need a class action lawsuit NOW!!!

and force him to delete photos he took of the Koch Refinery. According to the photographer:

Little did I know, this is one of the largest oil refineries in the country. I also didn’t imagine that 3 security SUVs and the police would descend upon me within moments of taking this photo next to a public road. There was no signage about photography, or anything else. […]
I was told this was a “Tier 1 facility” and asked to delete my photos or risk being reported to the FBI and U.S. Coast Guard.

The LYING and INTIMIDATION continues - It is NOT illegal to photograph a “tier 1 facility” or anything else for that matter if it can be seen from public property. The photographer was able to undelete some of the pictures:

In a meeting hosted by the Office of the Sheriff of Shelby County, Tennessee, Richard Pillsbury of the Tennessee Fusion Center, a collaboration between the Department of Safety and the Department of Homeland Security, declared:

“You may think a guy is just shooting pictures, but if you report it to us, we’ll send it on to the FBI and they may have four or five other reports of the same thing,”.

Story Here

This is a picture of the man all visitors /photographers should thank when they are harassed for taking a picture in Tennessee.

Tourists visiting the State of Tennessee will be subjected to detention and harassment by the FBI or worse. All tourists and photographers should BOYCOTT the State of Tennessee until this order is rescinded!

who took pictures from a PUBLIC ROAD. If anyone from the agency I am now calling HomeSICK INSecurity reads this I am openly calling from an explanation from your PATHETIC excuse for a government agency. Why are you trying to harass and intimidate photographers into giving up our freedom to photograph anything we can see from public space? Why are you citing nonexistant laws when you know full well that there is NO LAW against photography? Explain your actions if you can!!!

Note this example posted on Flickr:
According to the photographer who was taken in for questioning:

When I arrived there were three people there to interview me. They just asked me what happened, and again I explained that I am an amateur photographer, and I took some photographs, which I deleted upon request. By the time I was done telling the story a fourth guy showed up to listen.
They told me that its illegal to photograph any infrastructure, meaning power plants, refineries, water treatment plants, sewage plants, etc, etc.

who take pictures OF the George Washington Bridge even though there is NO LAW against it.
According to the photographer who took this picture:

I had a little run-in with the security guard near the lighthouse… as I was taking this picture, he told me I had to show him my pictures, and delete anything containing the structure of the bridge.

Forcing a photographer to delete pictures is a clear violation of Fourth and Fifth amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure and confiscation of property without compensation.
Mayor Bloomberg: STOP THE ABUSE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With confiscation and destruction of their equipment according to this sign posted at the Albequerque rail yards:

What applicable law are they talking about? Assuming that the photographer is taking the pictures from public propery and not trespassing there is

NO LAW

that gives anyone the right to either prevent photography or confiscate photographic equipment!. Any photographer whose equipment is confiscated and damaged in any way should file charges against Albuquerque Studios and the City of Albuquerque for grand larceny.

Albuquerque Studios should take down this outrageous threat immediately!

by intimidating a photographer who took a picture at the scene…
Story Here
According to the photographer:

An officer at the scene asked me who I work for and then the individual told that me it was not legal for me to take photographs. I was also informed (the person assumed I was a member of the press) that “you know why and you should know better”.

with a $150.00 fine for taking this picture:

Continuing the MTA’s harassment of photographers in spite of rules specifically permitting photography on the system….

Story here