Feb
28
Reporter charged with five felonies after photographing fatal wreck
February 28, 2009 |
MSP trooper also grabbed camera and deleted photos
By Clarence William Cromwell
It’s not easy to be a journalist in the online age–especially when you have to worry about retribution from the police.
Reporter Diane Bukowski, of the Michigan Citizen, was arrested and charged with five felony counts of obstructing justice when she took pictures of a fatal accident scene. The accident happened at the end of a police chase on election day, and it resulted in the deaths of two people, the fleeing motorcyclist and a pedestrian.
The ACLU wants the charges dropped, according to a recent Michigan Messenger article that outlines the case against Bukowski pretty well. (We noticed that the Messenger article was reported by Eartha Jane Melzer, who last fall was jacked up by the Republican Party of Macomb County for her reporting on the “Lose your house, lose your vote” story. The dramatic irony was not lost on us–it seems that retribution against members of the press is alive and well as a PR strategy.)
Congratulations to the Michigan State Police for keeping a lid on the story. Now nobody will read Bukowski’s article, which alleges that police were chasing a motorcycle through a residential area, that the MSP cruiser hit the motorcycle, and that an innocent bystander died when the motorcycle subsequently hit him.
Incidentally, Bukowski claims that a trooper grabbed her camera and deleted the photos. There’s a thread in our discussion forums about how to deal with that. You can get a chip that goes in your camera where the memory card normally goes, and that sends your photos to your laptop and to your online storage facility of choice. It happens instantly, every time you push the shutter. So if the police grab your camera, it doesn’t do them much good, because their picture is already on the internet. If you’re sharp, you might get a picture of them as they seize the camera. Costs around $100.
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