Yesterday, we saw a video taken by a local NY photo/videographer who claimed he was "harassed and ticketed" by MTA police for taking photos of armed soldiers and cops inside Penn Station on Wednesday. We talked to Joey Boots this morning, and he told us a bit more about the incident, and why photographers need to know their rights: "Some of these cops really think you can't take photographs of them. It's BS. Most people will just comply, because they're intimidated by the badge...I'm a law-abiding citizen, a veteran, not out to harass anybody, but I am out to exercise my first amendment rights."
Boots, who has an extensive YouTube channel, told us he was in Penn Station around 4 p.m. on Wednesday when he noticed an increase in security around the station—that included soldiers with M16s (he added that he "knew for a fact" there were no bullets in them, but "they won't tell you that"). He took two photographs of them, then a soldier said, "you can't take photographs," which he knew wasn't true.
Boots says he made sure to keep a "safe distance" from the soldiers, because he didn't want to be charged with interference. He eventually pulled out a flip cam and started shooting video, and that's when two MTA cops came over, saying things like "stop being a creep." One of the cops grabbed the camera, and claimed he was harassing the soldier, but Boots disagreed: "I was never charged with harassing them, because I wasn't harassing anyone. I kept my distance, anytime I was in proximity of the soldier was when he approached me."
Eventually, he was told to stand against a wall, surrounded by seven MTA cops and five armed soldiers, who were waiting to hear back on the radio what they could charge him with. He says they were disparaging him all the while—mocking his Italian heritage, calling him "special"—and when they found out he couldn't be charged for the photos, he was given a summons for disrupting traffic.
Now he has a criminal court date on August 3rd—he says he plans on fighting the ticket, and has already been referred to the NYCLU. He also told us how this incident differed from confrontations with police in the past: "I've had incidents where the NYPD has told me on two or three occasions to stop photographing in subway stations...and I always complied immediately, because I wasn't aware of the law. Then I researched, and found out they were wrong. There are no exemptions in public places."
He's hoping to raise more awareness of photographer's rights, and questions why police are still confused about the laws, even though they're supposed to all be given a physical copy of a NYCLU memo which covers the issue: "If you're in public, you can be photographed, you're not exempt because you have a badge and a gun. By telling people they cant do that and knowing the law, they're using the badge and gun to intimate and bully people."
