Tourist is harassed for taking photos at Miami Metrorail station

May 16, 2009 @ 1:09AM

Tourist is harassed for taking photos at Miami Metrorail station

By Carlos Miller -...

A tourist visiting Miami this week said he was harassed by the Miami-Dade Transit Chief of Security for taking photographs of an approaching Metrorail Train, something I’ve done countless times, including in the above video.

The photographer, who is a rail fan, posted his story on Subchat under the name HarryP.

He said the man who harassed him identified himself as Eric Muntan and told him he needed some type of “access permit” in order to take photos on the publicly funded train platform.

A man named Eric Muntan has a LinkedIn page where he describes his occupational title as “Chief, Office of Safety and Security at Miami-Dade Transit.”

HarryP said Muntan “smirked” when he brought up his Constitutional rights.

He kept insisting that I could not take pictures. When I asked him the reason, he wouldn’t answer the question, and when I brought up the issue of constitutional rights, he just smirked. Even though he wasn’t nasty about it, his arrogant smirk really set me off, and I told him that I was going to file a complaint. I asked for his name. He told me his name is Eric Muntan.

I fully intend to file a complaint and contact the Florida chapter of the ACLU, and to see if I can also get it into the local media. It’s a disgrace how arrogant these tax-funded government agencies have become, thinking that they are way above the law and can push people around at will!

Welcome to Miami, HarryP.

While I’ve never had the fortune of meeting Mr. Muntan, I’ve had my experiences with Wackenhut security guards at Metrorail stations in Miami.

But I’ve also managed to take a number of photos as well as the above video without getting harassed. Maybe that’s because I’ve just learned how to be sneaky about it.

After all, as I’ve learned after my arrest and as HarryP learned this week, the Constitution doesn’t necessarily apply south of the Broward border.

Via War on Photography.

Comments

Anonymous

3 years ago

I’m starting to think of a mass photography tour of Miami and getting thousands of people to come as well.

What will the fascists think of that?

Anonymous

3 years ago

Is this guy an undercover Wackenhut officer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMiscDYZOwQ&feature=channel_page

Anonymous

3 years ago

You didn’t mention in the post that amateur photography is not restricted. Maybe you’ve said it in the past? Or maybe it’s supposed to be understood? Anyhow, it’s not not restricted. I took a trip to Miami in 2007 (http://www.railfanwindow.com/gallery2/v/TempByDate/album407/) and brought with me printouts from the web that show that there are restrictions on commercial photography on Metrorail, but not on amateur photography. Feel free to contact me via my blog if anyone would like me to email them those documents.

Anonymous

3 years ago

Brian,

It’s a given. The hint is where I said this was a “publicly funded platform.”

It’s get tiresome restating the laws on every post.

I prefer to leave the burden of proof on the authorities. If they’re going to tell us it’s illegal to take pictures, then it’s up to them to prove they are right, not up to us to prove they are wrong.

Otherwise, I personally will keep defying them when I believe I am right.

Anonymous

3 years ago

Carlos,

I agree that the burden of proof is on the authorities. However, in the interest of being able to complete my photography session goals in the limited time I have available, I do everything I can to ensure I spend the day taking photos and not locked up in a cell while the authorities figure things out.

In the Miami example I gave, I needed to be back up in Ft. Lauderdale that evening since there was a Jewish holiday beginning at sundown.

Anonymous

1 year ago

What concerns and irritates the hell out of me is how those placed in a position of authority do not, under any circumstances want to be held accountable for their actions in any way… A picture is worth a thousand words as that saying goes… if everything is above board then what is the issue really in this case? Some kind of security risk to the train platform or security officer or is he just having his ego stroked by imposing some authority towards a citizen unlucky enough to have a camera in his hand. Clearly the latter. Oh but they are there to protect you and me? No, If that was true I wouldn’t even know they were there as allot can be accomplished by observation and not antagonizing people… If someone was going to do something truly evil… they wouldn’t use a camera.