No, Rick Sanchez, you're the one who doesn't get it

ricksanchez


CNN’s Rick Sanchez normally makes sense but he blew it on Wednesday when he discussed the recent confrontation between a cop and a photographer inside the Los Angeles subway system.

But at least Sanchez, a fellow Miami native, admitted his bias. His brother is a cop.

CNN has not yet posted the video of Sanchez discussing the incident, but here is the transcript.

After showing the video of the confrontation between photographer Shawn Nee and Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy Richard Gylfie, Sanchez states the following:

This — this is hard to watch. This guys, a guy who calls himself a photographers rights activist goes on to have a conversation, tells the officer that he’s out shooting the L.A. subway because he wants to, like he’s never heard of the London rail attacks, the Madrid train bombings, or the recent alleged plot against the subway system in New York City?

Actually, it is Sanchez who hasn’t done his research because there is no evidence in any of those incidents that terrorists took pictures of their targets before the attacks.

As Bruce Schneir wrote in The Guardian last year, this type of ideology is nothing but movie-plot nonsense.

The 9/11 terrorists didn’t photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn’t photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn’t photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren’t being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn’t known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about — the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 — no photography.

In fact, the incident in question took place in Hollywood, one of the most popular tourist spots in the world. Is it really that unusual to see a man taking photos in that area?

Does it really call for a police investigation?

Maybe in Cuba, the country Sanchez’s family fled in the early 1960s after Fidel Castro seized power, but not in the United States where numerous court rulings have determined that photography is protected by the First Amendment.

Sanchez accuses Nee of provoking Gylfie because he happened to film the incident with a video camera he wears around his neck.

But it was Gylfie who confronted Nee first. Nee wasn’t even taking pictures of the cop, which wouldn’t be illegal anyway.

Sanchez goes on to call Gylfie a “hero”, neglecting to mention that Gylfie started off by lying to Nee about photography being illegal in the subway, then tried to intimidate Nee by threatening to place his name on the FBI terrorist watch list.

All because Nee asserted his Constitutional right to take pictures?

What’s next, being placed on the terrorist watch list because you refuse to sign a speeding ticket?

That’s how out of touch this photographer/blogger seems to be on this video. He posts the officer’s name as if the officer is guilty of, well, doing his job. You know what? The L.A. County’s sheriff’s deputy, Richard Gylfie, it seems to me he is a hero. He is doing what we’re paying him to do.

It is obvious that Sanchez is the one who is out of touch. We are not paying the cops to lie and to intimidate and to make empty threats against us.  We are paying them to protect us. There is a difference.

How would Sanchez like it if he were standing inside the subway station scribbling notes in his notepad – as reporters do sometimes – and a cop walked up to him, demanding to know what he was scribbling? For all we know, Sanchez could be sketching the turnstiles to give to Al Qaeda.

The truth is, Gylfie acted like cops do under certain dictatorships, including the one Sanchez’s family fled when he was a child, which allowed him to become a professional in an industry that relies on the First Amendment.

And that is what makes this segment even more appalling.

Here is Sanchez’s Facebook page in case you want to drop him a note. You need to become his “fan” first.

Comments

Anonymous
Anonymous

Carlos,

Did you notice how dirty Sanchez cut out all of Gylfie’s false claims and threats, including the one in very the beginning where Gylfie lies that MTA’s policy forbids photography. Everything, but that one part was left in. It is clear that Sanchez had an agenda with this. Also, his producer, Janelle, was extremely upset with me after I decided not to do the show. She called this morning berating me, telling me she would make me look bad. She also demanded to know the names of my attorneys. It was as though I was talking to Gylfie all over again.

Maybe dirty Sanchez should fill out a job application for Fox News.

Hopefully, in the future we’ll see a youtube clip of dirty Sanchez pounding his desk and screaming, “FUCK IT, WE’LL DO IT LIVE!”

Anonymous
Anonymous

Rick Sanchez doesn’t give a damn about journalism, he cares about ratings.

Then again, he wouldn’t know much about it, either. His job is to sit in front of a camera and look pretty.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Shitty biased mainstream journalism. Seems par for the course lately.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Media as government watchdog: FAIL

Anonymous
Anonymous

I was watching this live and immediately thought of you Carlos LOL!

While i’m not a photographer of any kind, i visit your site mostly to read up on police corruption.

I couldn’t help but to be completely pissed off yesterday when I saw this RANT by Rick Sanchez. It truly does wreak of biased Journalism, even going as far as to praise the police officer. It is ever so ironic that Rick Sanchez and many other reporters of the time are quick to use so called “citizen reporting” videos to garner ratings when they feel it would do them good. It’s also interesting to note that a number of “undercover” reports are done in similar fashion. Small and/or hidden cameras and no press credentials shown.

Las Palabras Del Dia: Journalistic Hypocrisy

Anonymous
Anonymous

Carlos,

I’ll take exception to Gylfie being a liar with regard to taking pictures. It really is just as likely the guy is clueless on the law here, and because he’s a cop, whatever he thinks the law is that must be what the law is. Being wrong doesn’t make you a liar, just lousy at what you do. It’s galling of course when you’re lectured by someone you know to be ignorant, and who will arrest you if you don’t listen to their ignorance. And who will refuse to just check on it, because there is no way you might know better than he. Some people just aren’t good at their jobs.

I write this because of an incident regarding a woman who left her sleeping child in the car in Texas. She was of course threatened with arrest by a cop, when she told him Texas has a 5 minute rule (it does) along with some proximity rules I believe which she followed , he told her he was a cop, she wasn’t, so he knew the law, she didn’t. Later she ran across him and he refused to look at her copy of the statute. Ignorance followed by willful ignorance. A lousy cop.

As for Sanchez and CNN, what do any of you expect? Do any of you believe any network or news organization gives you the truth at all times? Hearst over Cuba, Duranty in the 30s, CNN in Saddam’s Iraq (we lied to you about Iraq so we could bring you the news from Iraq), Reuters doctored photos, the list goes on and on. I’ve had my own personal experience with the newspaper that shall remain uncapitalized, front page out of context misleading quote and pictures that were purposely misleading too, all because they had an agenda. We rail about police corruption or incompetence, but the news organizations have theirs also. It isn’t “is there corruption and incompetence”, but how much and where and do they police themselves, or does someone need to step in and help them. If the story is big enough, it will get corrected, if not, you’ll have to live with it or hope the Blogosphere will expose them and it goes viral.

This is a normal part of the human condition, but it doesn’t mean we should put up with it, or those who would turn a blind eye to it either. Eternal vigilance isn’t just the price of liberty, its the price of truth too. (No I don’t expect perfection, that’s adolescent, but if you ignore it, act like it doesn’t really exist, it will only grow.)

Anonymous
Anonymous

It’s so-called journalists not sticking for others exercising the same rights as them that is bothersome.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I just commented on CNN’s website about this. I think every photographer who disagrees with them should do the same.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Ariel

Cops and district attorneys like to tell us that “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. Because of that I hold enforcers of the law to the same standard. Gylfie has no excuse!

Anonymous
Anonymous

What we need to find is either an article about a CNN news crew being hassled by police, or a CNN report of some other Television Crew being hassled by police. Then find some reporter willing to report on the inconsistency of CNN (CBS or Fox?).

Anonymous
Anonymous

NYCPhotorights,

I have no disagreement there. He should either know it or have enough sense to double check. It can even be done polite request to ask a citizen to wait (I realize this gets into detaining and all the issues there).

Anonymous
Anonymous

You can’t comment on Sanchez’s facebook page for some reason. I even became a fan and tried but it seems locked somehow.

Anonymous
Anonymous

He just experienced a “Twitter breakdown,” according to the Miami New Times.

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2009/11/rick_sanchez_twitter_brea...

Anonymous
Anonymous

Some people never change. Rick is still just as clueless now.

Anonymous
Anonymous

It really bugs me the way Rick Sanchez puts on the confused/surprised face when talking about someone in the news who sees things differently from his perspective. It’s as if he can’t imagine how anybody could think that way.

Anonymous
Anonymous

@Tom Jones

Well, what you said but also

“It’s as if he can’t think.”

Better.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Come on Carlos,

This guy obviously is one of the many in the mainstream talking head “press” who believe there are approved reporters and competition. The competition never gets permits for their First Amendment Rights.

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