Police ordered a journalist from the BBC to delete footage taken from the scene of the arrest of Vester Flanagan, the gunman who fatally shot two journalists earlier today while they were covering a feature story.
BBC visual journalist Franz Strasser and White House reporter Tara McKelvey were confronted by police who demanded Strasser wipe footage from his camera or have his equipment confiscated and car towed. He recounted the exchange in a series of tweets:
Just at the scene of the suspects shooting on I-66. Police told me to delete footage or lose camera.
— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015
Saw about 20 police cars in the middle of I-66 E, the silver suspect car and what appeared to be a coffin.
— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015
Was too far away to get any good footage. One officer threatened to tow my car and take my camera.
— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015
Watched me delete my one file, and let me go. Other officer apologized and said we have to understand.
— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015
Colleague @Tara_Mckelvey filmed the encounter on her phone. Will review that in a bit.
— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015
That iPhone footage is unusable. All we have is what we saw and heard. They can't delete that!
— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015
Strasser called into question the police officer’s justification for having the footage deleted, publicly wondering why the authorities would want possible evidence eliminated.
Reason for confiscating camera was that it was evidence. Threatened to tow the car because it was illegally parked.
— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015
But why they are then okay with deleting 'evidence' makes one question their reasoning.
— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015
The police were not within their rights to confiscate cameras from the BBC, Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told Poynter in a statement. While he acknowledged that police were under pressure, he underscored that their threats constituted a violation of the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
“I have been made aware of these incidents but think it best right now to mourn the tragic loss of our fellow journalists,” Osterreicher wrote. “I plan to contact the law enforcement agencies involved at a later time to address these issues.”
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Flanagan was pronounced dead at an area hospital after shooting himself.
