In 2022, photojournalist Benjamin Hendren photographed some cops arresting a gaggle of protesters. Although Hendren did not intervene with police exercise—he even supplied to let the officers communicate together with his editor—the officers arrested him. What’s extra, they even inspired staff on the development website being protested to manufacture statements about Hendren.
Hendren has now filed a lawsuit in opposition to the officers who arrested him, arguing he was punished for exercising his First Modification rights.
On July 29, 2022, Hendren heard over a police radio that police had arrived on the scene of a protest on the development website of the Atlanta Public Security Coaching Middle, additionally known as “Cop Metropolis“. Hendren was a contract reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Structure, having been employed particularly to cowl Cop Metropolis and related protests.
When Hendren arrived on the scene, he started taking footage from a public sidewalk throughout the road from the place Georgia State College cops had arrested a gaggle of protesters who had allegedly trespassed on the development website.
“At no level did Hendren commit any crime, and at no level did he do something that any officer may have mistaken as against the law,” the lawsuit states. “Additional, Hendren didn’t intervene in any approach with the site visitors cease that was being performed.”
Nevertheless, police nonetheless stopped Hendren and handcuffed him. They “forcibly took images of Hendren whereas he was handcuffed and sat on the curb,” in accordance with the go well with. Officers even “grabbed his hair and yanked his head up so he could possibly be photographed in opposition to his will.”
However the officers did not simply unlawfully detain Hendren. The go well with alleges that they inspired two staff from Brasfield & Gorrie, a development agency engaged on Cop Metropolis, to make false statements about Hendren, with the pair finally claiming he “had dedicated felony offenses on the development website.” Hendren’s go well with additionally names the Brasfield & Gorrie staff as defendants.
After this, one of many officers went as far as to jot down a report stating that Hendren was handcuffed as a result of the staff “recognized him as a protestor inside the development website.” However Hendren had been detained earlier than the staff ever noticed him, in accordance with the go well with. Hendren was finally launched after being detained for over seven hours.
Hendren’s go well with claims that the officers clearly and grossly violated his First Modification rights. Courts have constantly discovered that people have a proper to {photograph} police exercise so long as they do not straight intervene.
“Plaintiff had a First Modification proper to {photograph} and movie cops finishing up their official duties in public, with out police interference,” the go well with states. “The interference with Plaintiff’s photographing and his arrest had been triggered by, and in retaliation for, his protected exercise of taking footage of public police exercise, and due to this fact violated the First Modification.”
