Today I received a DVD from the DHS lawyers which has the video files from my memorycard which was confiscated on 2009-11-09 after I was arrested for filming on federal property the arrest of Julian Heicklen. Below is footage from the interview performed minutes before the arrest and of the arrest itself. Footage from the secondary camera I wore can be found here.

Original story: http://blogofbile.com/2010/10/18/settlement-with-department-of-homeland-security-reached/

• LENS, New York Times: You Can Photograph That Federal Building by David W. Dunlap
• Courthouse News Service: U.S. Settles Lawsuit Over Courthouse Photo Ban by Barbara Leonard
• NECN: Settlement announced in NY lawsuit over photo ban
• Pixiq: Feds Agree to Settlement That Photography of Public Buildings is Legal by Carlos Miller
• Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Photography Now Officially Permitted Outside Federal Court
• The Olympian: Feds: People can snap photos outside courthouses
• Reason: Right to Take Photos of Federal Buildings Vindicated
• MSNBC: Feds: People can snap photos outside courthouses
• Harald Online: Feds: People can snap photos outside courthouses
• The Washington Post: Photographer wins settlement over arrest
• The Gothamist: Photographer’s Rights Upheld In Court
• PDN Online: Homeland Security To Allow Photography Outside Federal Buildings
• The DCist: Feds Affirm Photographers’ Rights
• The Washington Post, Federal Eye: Right to photograph federal buildings upheld
• Amateur Photographer: PHOTOGRAPHERS FORCE PICS IN PUBLIC POLICY U-TURN
• LA County Libertarian Examiner: Homeland Security settles with liberty activist, pays damages and concedes public’s right to film
• BoingBoing: Feds forced to admit that it’s legal to take pictures of federal buildings
• We Love DC: Photographers get a win
• Federal Jack: You Can Photograph That Federal Building
• British Journal of Photography: US Homeland Security deparment settles photography rights case
• Change.org: Court Rules It’s Safe to Take Pictures of Federal Buildings — But is It?
• The Washington Post: A win for shutterbugs
• About.com: Is It Illegal To Photograph Federal Buildings?

If you lived in New York City you could carry this 2009-04-03 NYPD Operations Order around to help protect yourself from NYPD officers harassing you for filming around the city.

If you were on “Federally Owned and Leased Facilities”, specifically land used by the DOT, you could use this bulletin to try to scare off the DHS.

Now if you happen to be on federal courthouse property (and likely any property covered by CFR Title 41, Subpart C, § 102-74.420) you can carry this. My settlement with the Department of Homeland Security regarding my arrest on November 9th, 2009. Below is a summary of the settlement.

1. The DHS admits that the § 102-74.420 does not “prohibit individuals from photographing (including motion photography) the exterior of federal courthouses from publicly accessible spaces, such as streets, sidewalks, parks and plazas; and FPS has not construed any other federal regulation or federal statute to prohibit such photography of the exterior of federal courthouses, though it makes no representation about local rules or orders.”
2. “FPS will provide a written instruction to its officers and employees engaged in law enforcement, stating that for federal courthouses under the protective jurisdiction of FPS, there are currently no general security regulations prohibiting exterior photography by individuals from publicly accessible spaces, absent a written local rule, regulation, or order. The instruction will also inform FPS officers and employees of the public’s general right to photograph the exterior of federal courthouses from publicly accessible spaces.”
3. “Nothing in this agreement precludes FPS or the United States, or any department, agency, agent, officer , or employee of the United States (collectively, the “Government”) or any law-enforcement officer from taking any legally permissible law-enforcement action, including but not limited to approaching any individual taking photographs and asking for the voluntary provision of information such as the purpose of taking the photographs or the identity of the individual, or taking lawful steps to ascertain whether unlawful activity, or reconnaissance for the purpose of a terrorist or unlawful act is being undertaken.”
4. FPS will pay the plaintiff $1500.
5. FPS will pay $3350 in legal fees.
6. I’ll get my memory card back when Julian Heicklen’s case is over.

NYCLU press release below:

Read More…

http://www.libertyontour.com/2010/08/06/dhs/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/nyregion/28about.html

In November, Antonio Musumeci, a member of the Manhattan Libertarian Party, was given a ticket while videotaping a political protest in the plaza outside the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Citing a federal regulation that dates to 1957, agents of the Federal Protective Service gave Mr. Musumeci a summons as he recorded a man who was handing pamphlets to potential jurors. The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on Mr. Musumeci’s behalf, arguing that the rules that govern photography on federal property were vague and unconstitutional. The lawsuit says people routinely take pictures on the plaza after new citizens are sworn in at the courthouse.

Good to see this and related stories continue to make the news.

Hi Tyranny Fighters:

1. FIJA demonstration of June 14, 2010
I arrived at Foley Square in Manhattan at about 11:20 am. It was a warm, but cloudy day. Soon thereafter I was met by four activists from the Philadelphia, PA, area; one activist from New Jersey; and one activist from Suffolk County at the end of Long Island.

At 11:55 am we proceeded to the U. S. District Courtyard. I was met by several Homeland Security police officers. Before, I even took a pamphlet or the JURY INFO sign from my tote bag, Deputy Federal Marshal Hernando (or something like that) placed me under arrest. I immediately fell to the ground.

I was cuffed very tightly behind my back and dragged into the courthouse. It was painful, and the capillaries in my wrists were broken. I was continually handcuffed, mostly in front. Sometimes when I was in a cell (always alone), the cuffs were removed.

My property in the tote bag and in my pockets , as well as my glasses, sweater, cap, belt, and shoelaces, were taken away.

During this time, I did not move a muscle or make a sound, except once when they really inflicted pain, I moaned. The guards asked a lot of questions, including if they could take my picture of get fingerprints. I never answered. The guards considered this a refusal.

I was moved from cell to cell, since the guards kept changing their minds as to wether I should see a judge or go to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation. My pants kept falling down, since I had no belt. Finally, I was put into a wheel chair and taken to a paddy wagon to be delivered to Bellevue Hospital. While there the nurse took my blood pressure, my temperature, and blood to test for sugar. She then discharged me, and I was returned to the federal court house and put into a small cell facing the wall. By then, I had to urinate badly, so I urinated on the floor. The guard came rushing in, said that if I did that again, he would beat me into shit and break my bones. He then wheeled me into the urine.

Read More…