Short account and 3 pics (article 1)
Friday afternoon a colleague and myself walked passed Grand Central Station as I noticed that a armored police vehicle was displaying something in its passenger window. Upon closer inspection I noticed that it was a picture of Osama Bin Laden. I photographed the oddity and we continued up the street. As we walked I noticed some officers moving briskly in our direction, but thought little of it, as New York is presently overflowing with police moving in every direction. We then crossed the street against the traffic signal in customary New York fashion. We were immediately met on all sides by police. A few minutes later, surrounded by at least eight units carrying more than twenty police officers, Captain Hardiman informed us that we were guilty of crossing against a signal and demanded our identification. He asked if we had been in Seattle for the WTO demonstrations, or Genoa, Italy for the actions against the G8. As scores of people crossed against the signal, my colleague asked the captain why they too were not subject to the same spectacle. He insisted he was busy with us, and when my colleague asked about the other scores of law enforcement personell, he replied “They’re backin’ me up.” The othe journalist then asked the captain if he was targeting us because he thought we were sympethetic to protesters, he snapped, “No, if I thought you were protesters I would have the plain clothes police following you.” As Captain Hardiman pontificated on how we were an example of city programs designed to improve the “quality of life” for New Yorkers, our summons were being prepared. Once these were complete we were free to go. www.Guerrillanews.com
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