This video which seems to have been released by Houston Mayor Annise Parker as a part of the…ahem… Run, Hide, Fight series is nuts. I understand the need for awareness and diligence toward creeps (not just in the USA and not just terrorists) but this ummm “awareness” is over the top – particularly with regard to photographers.
After watching the video and others in the series, there are basically two groups that appear to be the focus.
1) people planting bombs – a multitude of examples including vests, backpacks, people trying to gain access to do this; and…
2) people taking photos – of public spaces? and exits? and… huh?
Seriously? Those are the two groups we should fear? I’m particularly referring to roughly the 1:45 mark where the specific vilification of photographers or “people with recording devices” is a big WTF.
So, in short, yes Mayor Parker we should keep a collective eye out for nutjobs. I’ll all for awareness, but I hate fear mongering. And pull your head out.
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Wanna know more about photographers rights? Check out this post or this post AND… very importantly…tune into the next chasejarvis LIVE episode on August 29th in collaboration with ASMP.org where I’m hosting a world class panel that’ll discuss the current and future state of photographers rights…the good, bad and ugly about some changes in our landscape.
(Thx Trey for link)
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Sounds like something from Team America
Back packs with IEDs, photographers? Some one needs to do a count back of incidents, looking at the records I thought gun control would rate much higher on the public safety list.
Maybe if they introduced FBI clearance at camping and photographic stores?
I guess I need to write thank you notes to my neighbors. My 7 year old left the house in the middle of August wearing a camouflaged bomber jacket and no one called the cops on him. We don’t budget for bail just to counteract the weirdness in our family. And all those little boys in the scout group with mohawks, guess we should have a talk with their parents. Oh yeah and I’m never leaving the house with a recording device or a notebook again. In fact I’ll just walk around naked to avoid suspicion, But then they’d probably arrest me for being to exposed. Guess we just can’t win.
Shop, live in fear. Make the call.
silly americans…