Photographer films his own 'anti-terror' arrest
Man held in police station for eight hours after taking pictures of Christmas celebrations in Accrington
Police questioned an amateur photographer under anti-terrorist legislation and later arrested him, claiming pictures he was taking in a Lancashire town were "suspicious" and constituted "antisocial behaviour". Footage recorded on a video camera by Bob Patefield, a former paramedic, shows how police approached him and a fellow photography enthusiast in Accrington town centre. They were told they were being questioned under the Terrorism Act.
See, that's the problem with "anti-terrorism" laws. They put too much power into law enforcement's hands--the power is too easy to abuse. Who determines who might be a terrorist? Any cop, apparently.
It's already a crime to do what terrorists do, why do we need new laws that introduce serious mission creep? Sure the above event took place in the UK, but the same thing happens in the US. There was a guy last year who got arrested for taking pictures of subway trains (if memory serves he was taking pictures for a book he was writing about the history of trains). They could have nailed him for copyright infringement, I suppose, but instead they went the anti-terror route.
How long until we're so scared of getting arrested that we stop taking pictures in public all together? That'll solve things.
How, I do not know... but you know, when you take pictures, Al Qaeda wins...um, I guess?
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