Re: [Leica] Busted with my M2

["Dan Post" <dpost@triad.rr.com>]

Javier-
Not a good idea! The police love that sort of situation. I remember the
Klan-Communist confrontation here in Greensboro in 1979, when I was working
for the Greensboro Police Department. When the guns come out, it doesn't
matter who is holding them- Right or Left--- they are considered fair game!
I am one of those weird people who some think of as a conservative,
Republican middle-aged white guy, but I worked to help register blacks in
the 60's and got gigged for wearing a black armband on my ship on War
Moratorium Day, because I truly believe in the rights of the individual.
I think that since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his ilk wiped their collective
asses on the Constitution of the United States, those in power feel they
have full sway to bully, intimidate and attack anyone who is in the least
opposed to their ideas. The press, loosely defined as the 'media' are not
any more immune to the heavy hand of the law as were Randy Weaver's wife and
their son, or the many followers of Koresh who were summarily executed.
I think that like minded individuals have the right to assemble peacably,
and to be secure in their persons, papers and effects- which I think fairly
includes cameras and notebooks. I don't condone violence as a means of
advancing ones agenda- too much of that already, but I would like to hear if
any of the legal community have the gumption to stand up for Aaron, his wife
and the others who were victimized by Big Government that day!
Aaron, let us know how it finally ends. Glad you weren't hurt otherwise!
Dan
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Javier Perez" <summarex@yahoo.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 6:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] Busted with my M2


> Howdy
> That's weird
> Were you or your wife carrying press credentials?
> They usually avoid trouble with reporters at all cost.
> Whatever the case I'm glad that you feel secure in
> the knowledge that the arrest was illegal. I'm no lawyer but
> I guess that in these circumstances, the right to redress
> a grievance implies a prior obligation on the part of the grievant
> to permit the actions which led to that grievance to occur
> in the first place. I'll remember that if a guy tries to mug me.
> I'll just give him my wallet, smile and say "see you in court
> mister mugger" All I can say is next time bring a gun and be
> prepared to empty it out several dozen times.
> Lefties..........
> See Ya
> Javier
>
>
> Aaron Ruby wrote:
>
> > on 12/13/00 10:28 PM, Marc James Small at msmall@roanoke.infi.net wrote:
> >
> > > At 09:42 PM 12/13/2000 -0500, Aaron Ruby wrote:
> > >> And for those of you who are prone to testing the shutters of your
cameras
> > >> in adverse environments, I can tell you that the M2 performs
flawlessly
> > >> inside of D.C. jail cells ;)
> > >
> > > Which charge was this one, Aaron?  I hope you beat it!
> > >
> > > Marc
> > >
> > > msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
> > > Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!
> > >
> > Marc:
> >
> > My wife (a journalist for Fortune and FSB) and I were picked up with 600
> > other folk as part of a pre-emptive arrest the day before the big IMF
rally
> > in D.C. Unfortunately, no, we did not beat the rap, which boiled down to
> > 'parading' without a permit. After 20hours on a bus and 10 inside,
wherein
> > we were denied access to counsel, water, restrooms and knowledge of our
> > charge, we posted and forfeitted for $50. The good news is that it was
> > clearly an illegal arrest and we are part of a civil action against the
> > city. The bad news is that the city set aside money ahead of time for
just
> > such a contingency, knowing that they were going to make several such
mass
> > arrests, which they did. In fact, the legal aid hotline that had been
set up
> > to help arrestees get timely attorney advice was jammed for several
hours
> > with false calls. During that time, hundreds of arrestees were finally
> > allowed to use a phone were unable to get through to their attorney.
When
> > the legal aid team finally had the phone company give a reverse listing
for
> > the line dialing in with the bogus calls the number that came up was
none
> > other than that of the Metro P.D. crime lab. Hooray for democracy! :(
> >
> > At any rate, though they never took away my M2, they did eventually
discover
> > it and tried to remove the film. Upon encountering the Leica loading
system,
> > however, they were stumped, and  on pain of seeing them destroy the
shutter
> > curtain, I willingly removed the film myself. A real shame. I had what I
> > think would have been some nice shots with my attached Cosina 25mm. They
> > also destroyed my wife's reporter's notebook. I guess after a hard day
of
> > stomping on people's constitutional rights the last thing you need is a
> > bunch of pesky journalists and photographers mucking around.
> >
> > Aaron
>
>
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