I suspect that this account is somewhat biased, but CTNewsJunkie has a story that is very disturbing, if true:
A freelance journalist, who has worked on political campaigns, was arrested by Hartford Police Wednesday as he took photos of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s inaugural parade in downtown Hartford.
Ken Krayeske (pictured), who worked on Green Party candidate Cliff Thornton’s campaign for governor against Rell, was near the corner of Ford and Pearl Street photographing Rell’s inaugural parade when, according to the police report, he was identified as a “political activist” and a threat to the governor. Krayeske was arrested and charged with breach of peace and interfering with an officer.[...]
According to the police report, plainclothes Hartford Police Officers recognized Krayeske from a photo they were given by the Connecticut Intelligence Center and the State Police Central Intelligence Unit that “briefed us on possible threats to Gov. Rell by a political activist.”
How does a political activist end up on the list? State Police Lt. Paul Vance said the intelligence division collects information from all over the world, but would not give specifics Friday morning on how a local political activist and journalist may end up on the list. Instead he suggested calling the Hartford Police Department.
In an interview with WTIC radio this afternoon, police spokeswoman Nancy Mulroy, editorialized the police report and said Krayeske charged the parade in the vicinity of the governor. “We do not arrest people without probable cause,” Mulroy said.
Krayeske says that the metadata from the shots taken just before he was detained show that he had been motionless for at least 30 seconds. However, he apparently had been motionless after barreling past on a bicycle, to get in position to take the pictures.
I am of two minds about this. First, in this day and age, why would anyone in their right mind take action that would make security staff uncomfortable, like rushing to get in front of and close to a prominent political persona? Are the folks in my office the only ones who try to follow the “Five P’s”? (”Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.”)
But that aside…it’s deeply disturbing that an individual can be detained for being in the wrong place at the wrong time just because his/her name and/or picture is on a secret list, details of which can’t be obtained, and where it’s presumably difficult-to-impossible to correct any errors that may be giving users of the secret list the wrong impression about you. True, it’s the sort of thing that we’ve come to expect from the Bush administration…but to see it functioning at the state level too…?
2 responses so far ↓
1 Mike The Actuary’s Musings » Photographer Jailed Continued…Curiouser and Curiouser // 7 Jan 2007 at 1:23 pm
[...] U.S. Military Holds AP Photographer IncommunicadoBellSouth Demands Retraction Over
2 Mike The Actuary’s Musings » More on Photographer-Gate // 10 Jan 2007 at 6:39 pm
[...] The local blogosphere up here in Connecticut continues to be abuzz about the detention of Ken Krayeske during Rell’s Inaugural Parade, something I’ve mentioned a time or two. [...]