Ohio congressman has police seize cameras at town hall meeting

CityBeat | Pixiq | Cincinnati.com
After a staffer for U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) ordered police officers to seize video cameras from members of the public during a town hall meeting earlier this week, the office has announced that it will allow videotaping at future events. Signs outside the meeting said that cameras were banned “for security purposes,” and when two Democratic activists started recording, police seized the devices. (They were returned after the event.) Videos documenting what happened were posted on YouTube. A Chabot spokesman said the ban on recording was meant to protect constituents’ privacy, but said videotaping will be allowed at future events. “The reversal comes after Chabot’s tactics received national attention via the ThinkProgress website and other political outlets on the Internet,” Kevin Osborne reports. “This is just the most recent incident in a rash of similar police abuses across the country,” wrote NPPA general counsel Mickey Osterreicher in a letter to the Cincinnati police department protesting what happened. || Related: Charge to be dropped against photojournalist arrested for videotaping police