Bus Bench Blogger Arrested for Taking Pictures at Pershing Square

Picture Was Taken in 2005, Before the L.A.S.D Decided Taking Pictures in a Public Space Was Illegal

Think you had a bad week last week?  Unless you're Panasonic Youth, you probably didn't have as bad a week as Randall "Bus Tard" Fleming.  Fleming, one of the prolific writers at the Bus Bench was approached by an L.A. County Sheriff for taking pictures of the sheriff's while shooting film at Pershing Square and detained.  His story, told on the Bus Bench, paints a chilling picture of civil rights violations that occured perpetrated by Peace Officers working under a contract from Metro.

Additionally, Fleming claims that when Fleming tried to explain that he was shooting film for his blog, and not part of a terrorist conspiracy, the officers told him that such an action was illegal and they would start policing other online publications for "illegal" pictures of transit stops.  It's good to see that it's not just Metro and Metrolink that were concerned about Keeping Us Safe from Terrorists.

As you might expect, at The Bus Bench, they're less than thrilled with the treatment Randall received.  If you want to read more of his story, and see the video he captured, you can do so here, here, here, and here.

Photo: Rickie22/Flickr