Re: [Leica] Busted with my M2

[Guy Bennett <guybnt@idt.net>]

>My wife (a journalist for Fortune and FSB) and I were picked up with 600
>other folk as part of a pre-emptive arrest the day before the big IMF rally
>in D.C. Unfortunately, no, we did not beat the rap, which boiled down to
>'parading' without a permit.
>At any rate, though they never took away my M2, they did eventually discover
>it and tried to remove the film. Upon encountering the Leica loading system,
>however, they were stumped, and  on pain of seeing them destroy the shutter
>curtain, I willingly removed the film myself. A real shame. I had what I
>think would have been some nice shots with my attached Cosina 25mm. They
>also destroyed my wife's reporter's notebook. I guess after a hard day of
>stomping on people's constitutional rights the last thing you need is a
>bunch of pesky journalists and photographers mucking around.
>
>Aaron


at the risk of sounding hopelessly naive, i had no idea that the police
could *legally* confiscate your film and destroy your wife's notes. (marc,
can you explain why this is ok?) that is truly pathetic. guess i shouldn't
be surprised.

maybe there's cause for joy here, after all. had this happened in my
hometown (l.a.), you might have both been beaten as well, maybe even
suicided had you been unfortunate enough to spend the night in jail. in the
end, all it seems to have cost you was $50 and some respect.

:>(

guy