Even after numerous news organizations complained last month to the NYPD for harassing their photographers, apparently the NYPD didnt get the memo! It is unconstitutional and against the law to harass photographers including private citizens!
A freelance photographer for the New York Times covering an Occupy Wall Street protest at the World Financial Center on Monday clashed with police officers there.
At least 17 protesters on the scene were arrested in the atrium of the building, according to the Times. A video uploaded to YouTube shows several NYPD officers repeatedly blocking Robert Stolarik–who has been covering the Occupy Wall Street protests for the paper–from taking clear pictures of the confrontation.
Stolarik, who was wearing a press credential, warned officers not to touch him, then took photos and video footage via his iPhone of one officer who refused to give him his badge number.
Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the New York Times confirmed to Yahoo News that the photographer in the video is Stolarik.
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“Credentialed media were identified, segregated and kept away from viewing, reporting on and photographing vital matters of public concern,” New York Times Company vice president and assistant general counsel George Freeman wrote in the letter. “A press pen was set up blocks away and those kept there were further prevented from seeing what was occurring by the strategic placement of police buses around the perimeter. Moreover, there have been numerous instances where police officers struck or otherwise intentionally impeded photographers as they were taking photos, keeping them from doing their job and from documenting instances of seeming police aggression.”
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