Testing the Law on Photography on Federal Property in Miami

December 9, 2010 @ 11:27AM

Testing the Law on Photography on Federal Property in Miami

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Julian Heicklen debating with a Homeland Security police officer

When Julian Heicklen comes to town to conduct his courthouse activism, you better prepare yourself for arrest.

At least if you decide to videotape it.

Just ask Antonio Musumeci or George Donnelly, who were arrested in separate incidents while videotaping Heicklen passing out literature on jury nullification in front of federal courthouses in New York City and in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, Heicklen, who lives in New Jersey, was in downtown Miami passing out literature in front of the federal courthouses as well as Miami-Dade College's Wolfson Campus.

He was with James Cox of the Florida Fully Informed Jury Association, who had driven down with Heicklen from Orlando. Local activist Travis Kimmel met up with them and shot his own video of our altercation, which can be viewed here and here.

By the time I joined the trio in downtown Miami a little after 1 p.m., they had already been harassed and threatened with arrest for passing out literature on the college campus. The cops were called and informed them that they had the right to do what they were doing.

I did a quick interview with Heicklen on my Canon TX1, which normally is an awesome camera but ever since that incident with the Metrorail security guard who knocked it out of my hand before pocketing it, it has a tendency to stop recording in less than a minute, requiring me to constantly restart the camera and the interview.

On some days it's worse than others. Sometimes it works flawlessly. On Wednesday, it was really acting up. The image quality also seems to have been affected by the blow. That's part of the pending claim I have against 50 State Security, so hopefully I will be reimbursed for the damaged camera.

So after I finished my interview with Heicklen (video at the end of article) and we decided to walk from the campus to the courthouse, I wasn't really trusting the Canon TX1 to document our encounter with the authority figures we were about to confront.

I had to rely instead on my iPhone video camera, which works in a pinch, but has nowhere near the image stabilization and lighting/audio quality as the TX1. That's my full disclosure as to why the above video is so shaky.

Anyway, it didn't take long for a courthouse marshal to yell at me for taking pictures. I had the iPhone in my pocket when I snapped a couple of photos of the courthouse building.

I then pulled out the iPhone and approached him, asking him to repeat himself or at least to explain exactly what law I was violating.

The man scurried inside his guard shack and called his supervisor, who responded in seconds and who tried his best to remedy the situation without admitting that the initial marshal was wrong.

The supervisor first told me I wasn't on a public sidewalk, then he insinuated I was on a public sidewalk, but I was not allowed on the stairs leading to the courthouse, then he finally admitted he didn't know what the hell he was talking about.

But he was at least respectful and professional, so we parted ways in a amiable manner.

Then we walked down the street to another federal courthouse where a federal security guard told me I was not allowed to record on federal property, although he said I could record all I want from the sidewalk just outside the courthouse.

But it's not illegal to videotape on federal property. That was confirmed two months ago in a settlement stemming from Musumeci's arrest.

Nevertheless, this particular guard was unaware of that settlement because he asked me to provide him with a printed copy, which I did not have. Cox, in fact, did have a copy of it, but I was unaware of that at the time.

Either way, the guard called Homeland Security police officers who responded to the scene in seconds and confirmed that I did have the right to record on federal property.

So again, we departed amiably and it truly appears we are making progress on the issue of public photography.

Even the guard who was not aware of the settlement told me I was allowed to videotape from the sidewalk, which would have been unheard of a year ago when most officials believed photographing a federal building from a public sidewalk was the equivalent of flying a hijacked plane into the World Trade Center.

Comments

fluid ambient

1 year ago

Good stuff Carlos. I'm glad the worst thing that happened was just an argument with some security guards. Keep it up.

Phil

1 year ago

Good job, Carlos. Keep up the good work...

Keep these posts coming to encourage the rest of us.

Luc

1 year ago

Carlos, funny how the Federal Police officer comes on scene and starts off by telling you that you are interfering the performance of the personnel, harassing and ???. He has no clue what is going on, just his first impression that you are the trouble maker.

I wonder what would of happened if there was just one person with a video camera and no witnesses, would they have been as nice. Next time try it with with a hidden video crew and a sole videographer as bait. A wireless mic for the hidden cameras would be nice.

IceTrey

1 year ago

The guard was on his walkie saying he was being harassed.

hal

1 year ago

let me be the sole camcorder person....lol i would love it! i cant hide good anyway, so that role would be good for. any takers on setting this up?
and yes Luc, i noticed that also, carlos was the trouble maker from the getgo, and he wasnt! they need to plan better then that, its old, and getting older!
sort of like, "stop resisting"......when ya really not, and they keep yelling that right before they kick ya again in the balls or something! and they already have you in handcuffs!

Tijuana Joe

1 year ago

Good to see such professionals are on the
prowl against Bad Guys. Keystone Cops
putting taxpayer money to good use (and demonstrating the
lack of training and the absurdity of DHS).
What is success for these nerds? Busting guys with cameras?

"I no know notheen, okay.
I jus follow order, okay. You on Fedro Propadee!
Fedro Propadee!I doe know notheen. I jus' follow order."

TiredPete

1 year ago

Carlos, you need to come to Ft. Lauderdale Federal Courthouse. Below is an account of what happened to my wife and 16 year old daughter yesterday afternoon. I had my wife write it down exactly as it happened when they got home and told me about it. I am thinking about going myself and taking some pictures. Let me know if you are interested in meeting up.

"It was 3:05pm on Sunday Dec 12th, 2010. Maria and I were standing on the sidewalk outside of the federal courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale - the corner of broward and 3rd I think - we were facing the PNC Bank building and the baptist church was to our left. She was taking pictures of the PNC building for a photography project. The security guard greeted us and asked us how we were doing. I said fine, just taking some pictures for a high school art project. He said it is a felony to take pictures of a federal building and asked if we had taken any. I said no. He said if we had he would have to confiscate our camera. I said we were just taking the PNC building. That's when he told us we had better move on or he would arrest us. If he did, he said we would serve 60 days in jail and pay a fine. We moved on because it was the school's camera and we did not want him to take it away."

Phil

1 year ago

Go on down and take pictures. Take some friends so you have multiple cameras. Get things on video if you can. Good luck and have fun...

hal

1 year ago

tiredpete? have ya done it yet, gona back and used a camcorder....etc? if ya need another body or something let me know.
i am on facebook with carlos as friends, you can look me up there. i would love to do that, cept for dead-county, coward-county is my favorite.....hehe
i see its been like two months or so since that all happened to you and your wife.

Bill Wolfe

1 year ago

Fed Homeland Secuirty or Court marshals threatened me with arrest for shooting these shots of Courthouse in Newark NJ:

http://www.wolfenotes.com/2008/09/art-and-freedom/

randy

4 months ago

Im a bit late to this post but will share. I never had any idea their were laws about photographing on Federal Property ,that is until yesterday 12/28/2011. I was at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Martinsburg West Virginia a place I have been a million times before. I am a private contractor there and also being a service connected Veteran myself I get my medical care there.I had just completed a job I was there to do and the Sun was setting so I decided to get a couple pics of the VA Hospitals Christmas Decor. Believe it or not for years now they do set up a full almost life size Nativity scene on the lawn a very antique one.No ACLU on that one yet but I have no issues with the scene other that I wanted a couple cell phone pics of it to share with a friend whom I knew would enjoy it. I snapped off about 8 pics of the decorations stepped back into my van and started to leave the premises .Made it about 200 yards and a Veterans Admin Police unit pulled me over . The offcier says what were you taking pictures of ,I say the Nativity Scene. The Officer says let me see them ,so I bring each one up on my phone screen. Once he sees they are what I say they are he then says you will have to delete all of them right here and now so having no choice I did just that .It had been a long work day and I was just to damn tired to go to jail. I did though promptly contact the Hospitals Director and am demanding that she place signs at all of the entrances ststing that Photographing on the premises is prohibited. If these sign do not go up then I will take the matter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. I feel strongly that if taking pictures is prohibited then their should be signs that make people in the area aware of that .
Sadly in these cases we all know this BS is the direct result of 9/11. We then send our Military Men and Women over there to fight these faces of 9/11 some never return to us other do so missing arms legs and God knows what else. We then put them up at a Veterans Hospital where for all their courage and Bravery they are forced to live under regulations set by the very ones who took away their limbs and much of their life. I guess you could say we lost the IRAQ war long before it ever got started because they our opponents clearly one because through their 9/11 they not only managed to take many innocent lives, they also forever took so many of our basic but important freedoms such as taking a picture. So if your Son, Daughter or Friend returns from war and is Hospitalized at a federal VA Hospital no matter how much a picture would mean you might to well to leave all cameras at home becuase as long as their a patient on Federal Grounds they are under communist rule courtesy of the 9/11 Bastards and those like them .America will always be home of the Brave ,but land of the Free is long gone .