In light of misdemeanor charges brought against a Daily Collegian photographer after police say he failed to leave the area of an Oct. 25 downtown riot, one First Amendment expert said the situation falls into a "blurry" area.
Robert Richards, communications professor and co-director of the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment, said Michael Felletter's charges -- failure to disperse, a second-degree misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, a third-degree misdemeanor -- involve a "tough balance" between the media's right to cover events and the police's right to do their job.
"Certainly reporters and news photographers have the right to cover events that take place in public," Richards said. "But police are also given great latitude in securing a perimeter, and if people fail to abide by that perimeter, there may be consequences."
According to the criminal complaint, State College Police Officer Nick Argiro saw Felletter (junior-visual journalism), 20, taking photographs during a riot following Penn State's win against Ohio State and told him to leave the area at about midnight and twice more during the night. Felletter was on assignment for The Daily Collegian, editor in chief Terry Casey said.
Another officer later told Argiro he saw Felletter taking photographs and also told him twice to leave the area, police said. According to the criminal complaint, police said they told Felletter he "was causing the crowd to become more exhuberant [sic], excited, and destructive."
Mike Fender, president of the Associated Press Photo Managers and photo editor at The Indianapolis Star, said police often "pull safety as one of their trump cards."
"They try to keep media members safe, and they don't want the media aggravating the situation," he said, adding he has had photographers who have been hit with objects and have been injured while on assignment.
Felletter said he identified himself as a member of The Collegian staff after he told an officer people were throwing objects at the backs of other officers. He said that officer expressed no problem with him being there.
He said the first time an officer asked him to leave was when Argiro said, "Get the f--- off my street" as Felletter was taking photographs at the intersection of Locust Lane and Beaver Avenue. He said Argiro threatened to arrest him and held two cans of pepper spray to his face.
Felletter said Argiro followed him, and he took photographs of Argiro over his shoulder until Argiro again threatened him with pepper spray, demanding his driver's license.
Felletter said he received his affidavit Saturday but has not had any further contact with police and has not spoken to a lawyer. He said he noticed some discrepancies between his story and the criminal complaint but would not elaborate.
Fender said police have threatened, but have never arrested, any of his photographers.
"The police normally don't want to arrest a member of the media," he said. "It's not good PR."
He added it is difficult to comment on Felletter's specific case without knowing all of the details and hearing the police department's side of the story.
"Was the photographer combative? Hopefully he wasn't. Hopefully he was just doing his job," Fender said.
State College Police Capt. Dana Leonard said police have turned over all information about the case to the district attorney.
District Attorney Michael Madeira said he will not comment on the case until a preliminary hearing is held. Felletter's preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 10.
"We wait for the preliminary hearing so that everyone knows in open court what information is available to police that may not have been available to the public earlier," Madeira said.
Collegian General Manager Gerry Hamilton said Monday he has spoken to an attorney but will not comment on an active legal matter. Casey referred comment to Hamilton.
"It will be interesting to see, as the case develops, what police officers say about how the photographer was impeding their ability to do their job," Richards said. "... the facts, once they are crystallized, will decide the case for one side or the other."
