Posted on 07/14/2004 8:33:18 AM PDT by Force12
Photo student draws attention of authorities
By Sara Jean Green and Katherine Sather Seattle Times staff reporters
MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Ian Spiers drew the attention of Seattle police and Homeland Security personnel in the spring when he took pictures at the Ballard Locks. Spiers, pictured near the Locks yesterday, says he hasn't returned to the public park since a federal agent told him to stay away.
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On Monday night, the volume of Internet traffic to Ian Spiers' Web site — www.brownequalsterrorist.com — crashed his server. Strangers from Chicago and New Zealand offered him space on their servers to get his story back online.
Spiers, a Seattle freelance graphic designer and amateur photographer, has been amazed at the outpouring of international support he's received since posting a tale of two run-ins, the first with Seattle police and the second with agents from the Department of Homeland Security, for taking photos at the Ballard Locks, one of the most popular tourist spots in Seattle.
Spiers gave this account:
He was taking landscape photos at the Locks on April 5. Someone apparently thought he was suspicious and called Seattle police, giving them Spiers' license-plate number. Two officers later showed up on Spiers' Ballard doorstep to question him.
Spiers showed the officers his notebook — which included a list of shutter speeds and subjects — and explained he had been working on an assignment for an introductory photography class at Shoreline Community College. An officer asked to see his identification, and Spiers complied.
On May 26, Spiers was again at the Locks, this time hoping to photograph boats as a train passed over the trestle in the background. As he was setting up his tripod, he was approached by a man he thought was a security guard.
Spiers says he politely explained that he was a student photographer and showed a copy of his class assignment. The man asked to see Spiers' ID but when pressed, admitted Spiers had no legal obligation to hand it over. Irritated, Spiers this time refused to comply and the man left, but soon returned with seven others, all with guns holstered on their hips. They questioned Spiers and again demanded his ID. One of them snapped a photo of him.
Spiers, 37, who describes himself as half black and half Scottish, suspects he was singled out because of his skin color, adding that other visitors at the Locks were taking photos but no one else was being questioned or detained.
What upsets Spiers most is that during the second incident, after he'd answered a slew of questions and had been told he could go, an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a branch of Homeland Security, asked to take Spiers' photograph. When Spiers said 'no,' "he told me, 'You really don't have a choice,' " Spiers said.
"I'm still like everybody else, trying to ask all kinds of questions, wondering why somebody needs to see my ID just for being down there with a camera," said Spiers. "As for the photo of me, I don't know if I should be concerned about getting on a plane. Am I now on some no-fly list or something?"
The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating the incidents, questioning officials on Spiers' behalf. In a June 21 letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that manages the Ballard Locks, ACLU attorney Aaron Caplan wrote that at the end of the May 26 questioning, "Special Agent Daniel McNamara of the Department of Homeland Security told Mr. Spiers that he was not allowed to take photographs at the Locks, and that he was not to return to the Locks without advance notice and permission."
ACLU spokesman Doug Honig said yesterday that he is not aware of any law that prohibits taking photographs of government buildings or federal facilities such as the Ballard Locks.
"You've got to wonder why Ian was singled out," Honig said. "The government says somebody made a complaint about Ian. It made sense they would talk to him, but it's quickly obvious he poses no security risk."
Spiers was told he had violated the Patriot Act, but there's nothing in the legislation that prohibits his actions, Honig said. The ACLU wants an explanation for what happened.
"You'd think government officials should be able to distinguish between a student and a spy, or a tourist and a terrorist, when it comes to taking photos at the Ballard Locks," Honig said.
Corps spokeswoman Patricia Graesser said her agency wasn't involved in either incident. "Any member of the public is welcome to come on the grounds of the Locks and take pictures," she said.
ICE Special Agent in Charge Leigh Winchell said yesterday he wasn't aware of either incident; he also declined a reporter's request to interview McNamara, saying that, as a matter of policy, agents don't answer media questions.
Though he declined to discuss protocol for questioning and photographing people, Winchell said "our security, particularly in and around our waterways in the Puget Sound area, is paramount at this time. ... we address all those situations seriously."
Seattle police spokeswoman Deanna Nollette also declined to comment on the incidents, saying she hadn't known about officers' contact with Spiers until reporters started calling about it.
Chris Simons, who taught Spiers' photography class, believes Spiers was racially profiled.
When Spiers showed up in class soon after the May 26 incident, "he was in shock — he was upset, confused and didn't know what to do; he was a little bit afraid, but it hadn't really hit him yet that he was being profiled," Simons said.
"That photograph (the agent took) is going to be attached to a file somewhere, and that's a little scary. When it comes to police photographing you, that's serious because they don't photograph you just for fun."
Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com
I work for the Corps of Engineers. If someone is photographing our locks, we want to know about it. I don't know about the locks in Seattle but the ones I am familiar with are hardly something that would interest tourists.
This sounds like a fine example of someone daring the authorities to come down on them.
Of course it's got to be RACE related.
Of course the ACLU is foaming at the mouth.
He takes pictures, they take pictures.
Locks "fall down go boom", Spiers, 37, who describes himself as half black and half Scottish, will be rounded up and debriefed.
Strange. You would think once they cleared him he could be on his way. I wonder what concerns them that they keep checking back on him. Being a student not an automatic give either. Weren't some of the 911 terrorist "older" students?
Jeez, I hate to disagree with everyone here, but I think its bullcrap that the guy had to go thru that. He did nothing wrong. The ACLU is right on this one,and not to sound lame, but it does sound like he was profiled. I know a lot of Black people use that as an excuse to commit crimes, but I dont get the impression this was the case in this situation.
Sounds like an overzealous rent-a-cop swinging his badge around, to me.
Go take some pictures of a powerplant, water purification plant, oil refinery, port facility, etc.. Go alone, wear long sleeves, a hat, and sunglasses. If you don't get questioned, I'll be extremely surprised. Places I used to over fly in small planes will get me shot down now. Are they profiling Cessnas?
I am GLAD someone took down his license plate number and called authorities. We need MORE vigilant people in these times.
If I had been taking the pictures and was asked what I was doing and for ID I would not have been offended. Not a flame but I have an honest question for you. If a dark skinned person was standing outside of say a school taking pictures and no one dared ask what he is doing because it might have been considered profiling and later a bomb explodes and a bunch of kids killed would you feel the same way or want to know why nothing was done at the time? There are some jerks in law enforcement and if they were heavy handed that is unacceptable but it sounds IMO that ths guy (and I might have been too after the 2nd quentioning) also coping a little bit of a "how dare you" attitude.
No, he's not trying to stir up trouble, not a bit.
Agreed Jivana. This is a total joke (Homeland "Security" that is). In response to Fiero, the Ballard Locks are a big tourist site -- especially in the summer. Cameras everywhere.
No, he's not trying to stir up trouble, not a bit.
You are absolutly correct. Spiers was looking for trouble and he found it, now he wants to cry about the trouble he found.
Damn good catch mountaineer!
This paints Ian as a possible antagonizer of LE in my opinion.
Spiers was looking for trouble and he found it, now he wants to cry about the trouble he found or created.
The communists used to post signs on buildings and structures you were not allowed to photograph. The Homeland security folks need to at least do the same.
I've been to the locks in question and took some phots there myself. It's a popular tourist spot. I think this guy had every right to tell the cops to sod off.
> He did nothing wrong. The ACLU is right on this one <
Totally agree. Perfect example of the blind squirrel finding an acorn.
These locks are a big tourist stop; whenever we have out-of-towners visiting Seattle for the first time we swing by the locks.
I think this is a total crock. There are lots and lots of people taking pictures there every day. Should cameras now come with a rulebook describing Everything It Is Forbidden To Photograph?
"It is forbidden to photograph anything used for any kind of transportation, any tall building, or anything that could be blown up. Permitted subjects are puppy dogs, small children and trees."
Have any "non-brown" people been similarly questioned while taking photos at that location? If so, then this guy is just trying to stir up trouble. Whether or not he has a degree in photography, he has obviously passed the advanced course work in "Victimolgy". He has even contacted Michael Moore about the incident.
You forgot the Supremes approved porn....
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