Two Cascadia Alive! videographers were told to leave University property Saturday night while they were trying to film an investigation by Department of Public Safety officers. The cameramen said the incident was an example of how local law enforcement suppresses independent media.
Tim Lewis and Steven Heslin, who routinely film the activities of area law enforcement for the cable access programs Cascadia Alive! and Cop Watch, were threatened with arrest for trespassing when they failed to leave the University parking lot at 14th Avenue and Kincaid Street after DPS Sgt. Sean Strahon directed them to do so.
DPS Associate Director Tom Hicks said a DPS officer asked the Cascadia Alive! videographers to leave University property because they did not step away from the investigation when asked to do so. It had nothing to do the fact that Lewis and Heslin represented independent media, Hicks said.
“It would be the same circumstance if any other media were interfering,” he said.
A videotape of the incident that the Emerald obtained from Cascadia Alive! did not show DPS officers asking the videographers to back away. On the tape, DPS officers tell the videographers to leave University property because they are trespassing. There is no mention of interfering with an investigation, and though they asked repeatedly, the cameramen were not given an explanation of why they were being asked to leave.
While the incident was minor and did not result in any citations being issued, Lewis and Heslin said it was indicative of the local law enforcement reaction to independent media.
“The cops don’t like the way we cover news and they have authority to restrict access to a legitimate news event,” Heslin said. “When independent media is trying to hit the streets themselves, we’re like, getting booted. To me it’s just blatant censorship.”
Eugene Police Department spokeswoman Jan Power said that all media, whether they are independent or mainstream, are subject to the same laws. She said all types of media have given her cause for concern at one time or another because of their actions at crime scenes.
“We’ve been instructed by the city council to recognize anyone who represents themselves as media, and that’s what we do,” Power said.
Power noted, however, that some media do not adhere closely to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, specifically in relation to unbiased reporting. She said there are some who blur the distinction between being the news and reporting the news, which can jeopardize police investigations.
Power said a number of actions can constitute interfering with an EPD investigation, including commenting verbally, harassing or getting too close to the officers involved in the investigation.
“Officers have reason to need a space, so to speak, to conduct an investigation,” she said, adding that they have the ability to set a distance that will ensure the safety and integrity of an investigation.
DPS was in the parking lot Saturday because officers had observed several people there with open containers of alcohol and heard glass bottles being broken. Eventually, DPS requested assistance from the Eugene Police Department to deal with alcohol violations.
University Vice President for Administration Dan Williams said the authority to kick trespassers off the campus rests with the University president, who has delegated it to the director of public safety and other administrators.
“It’s not uncommon for the Department of Public Safety to exercise trespassing violations throughout the year,” Williams said.
Power said anyone can videotape from a public property, but making audio recordings requires the permission of the recording subjects. She said EPD issues some citations for making audio recordings without permission.
Sgt. Strahon said on the tape that the two videographers are anarchists. Heslin said in an interview on Tuesday that he was an anarchist, but Lewis did not indicate whether he was or was not an anarchist.
When EPD arrived, a police officer told the videographers that they were subject to arrest if they didn’t leave immediately.
Heslin also related an incident at a panel discussion on Measure 9, held Oct. 11 at the law school. He and fellow Cascadia Alive! videographer Erin Hauge were asked to leave the discussion by a DPS officer after Hauge raised her hand to answer a rhetorical question one of the panelists posed. Video tapes from the discussion show many others in the audience with hands raised in response to the question, but Hauge and Heslin were the only ones asked to leave.
“The attitude that [DPS] has is really originating from the Eugene Police Department,” Heslin said. “They define who the media are.”
The videographers said police officers routinely point high-powered flashlights at their cameras to prevent them from taping.
“I guess they don’t want light shed on everything the cops are doing down there,” Lewis said.