Caught On Tape: NYPD Assaults Videographer, Steals Camera
It is becoming increasingly undeniable that the NYPD is out of control. Many middle, upper middle class people in the city have been very reluctant to criticize the NYPD the past few years, citing how "safe" the city its now. Safe to drink Starbucks anyway. But here is yet another egregious act by the NYPD, this time tackling and stealing a videographer's camera. The videographer was not charged with anything, was not told he was doing anything wrong, he received no receipt for the confiscated property. Much like the cyclist who was yanked off her bike by Chief Smolka for no reason, this videographer was gang tackled. And it is all on tape. You have to watch the whole thing, they slow it down and go through the whole event step by step with video from other journalists:
Details about the incident from I-Witness Video
Details about the incident from I-Witness Video
On October 30, 2006 at a demonstration protesting the murder of journalist Brad Will in Mexico, members of the NYPD assaulted an independent videographer and stole his videocamera.
That's right, stole. The filmmaker, Flux Rostrum, was not arrested. He did not receive a receipt for seized property. He was not even directly asked for his camera. Instead, without any warning, he was jumped by two police officers, one of whom is an NYPD captain, and knocked down onto the asphalt of 39th Street. One police officer was succcesful in wrenching the camera out of Flux's hands. As Flux crawled around on the ground looking for the eyeglasses which had been knocked off his face during the attack, the cop with the camera quickly conferred with another officer. Then he ran off to hide the camera.
When Flux attempted to get his camera back after the demonstration, he was threatened with arrest by a Lieutenant at the 17th Precinct. His lawyer was told that camera was found "abandoned" at the scene and that it had been turned over to the Manhattan District Attorney's office to be used as evidence against people arrested at the Mexican Consulate demonstration that day....
If police do not have their own videocameras at events will they simply bonk one of us over the head and steal our gear and videotapes? What if they decide that they do not like what the videotape shows? Will they then destroy it as has happened to so many cameras seized by the NYPD over the past couple of years?
That's right, stole. The filmmaker, Flux Rostrum, was not arrested. He did not receive a receipt for seized property. He was not even directly asked for his camera. Instead, without any warning, he was jumped by two police officers, one of whom is an NYPD captain, and knocked down onto the asphalt of 39th Street. One police officer was succcesful in wrenching the camera out of Flux's hands. As Flux crawled around on the ground looking for the eyeglasses which had been knocked off his face during the attack, the cop with the camera quickly conferred with another officer. Then he ran off to hide the camera.
When Flux attempted to get his camera back after the demonstration, he was threatened with arrest by a Lieutenant at the 17th Precinct. His lawyer was told that camera was found "abandoned" at the scene and that it had been turned over to the Manhattan District Attorney's office to be used as evidence against people arrested at the Mexican Consulate demonstration that day....
If police do not have their own videocameras at events will they simply bonk one of us over the head and steal our gear and videotapes? What if they decide that they do not like what the videotape shows? Will they then destroy it as has happened to so many cameras seized by the NYPD over the past couple of years?
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