MEDIA ALERT
Contact: Mitchel Cohen <MitchelCohen at mindspring.com>
For Immediate Release
WBAI RADIO (99.5 FM) TO AIR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH NYPD OFFICER TUESDAY MAY 17, AT 6 PM
NYPD CONTINUES TO VIOLATE PROTESTERS' RIGHTS
NYPD ILLEGALLY FILMED DEMONSTRATORS AT PIGEON "ART" PROJECT IN BROOKLYN
CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY NORMAN SIEGEL TO FILE COMPLAINT WITH THE NYPD AND THE MAYOR
At Sunday's (May 16) animal rights protest against an "art" show said to be exploiting and abusing pigeons which takes place each weekend at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the NYPD videoed the crowd of non-violent protesters who were legally gathered holding signs and chanting slogans.
Artist Duke Riley's "Fly by Night" is sponsored by a not-for-profit arts corporation called "Creative Time, Inc." LED lights are strapped to the feet of two thousand pigeons as night falls.
Attorney Nora Constance Marino, who heads the Artist Cruelty Exposure Fund which organized the protest, says that the "art" is cruel to pigeons, who can't see well and do not normally fly in the dark. Pigeons are confused by all the lights and some, prevented from landing by people beating sticks, fall into the water and die.
Members of another group, Pigeon Defenders NYC, queried Creative Time who told them that there would be kayaks out in the East River to retrieve birds who collapse into the waters ... if they could find them in the dark and get to them quickly enough.
WBAI Radio's Mitchel Cohen was on the scene and interviewed activists as well as Creative Time staff and those attending the spectacle.
At one point a NYC police officer pulled up in his police car, and he and his partner got out. The officer began videoing the demonstrators.
WBAI's Mitchel Cohen asked the police officer why he was videoing legally gathered non-violent demonstrators. Such videoing of legally gathered protesters by the NYPD is against the law. Cohen cited the longstanding Handschu agreement, which protects the rights of demonstrators and prohibits police from filming them.
The officer stated that it was HIS First Amendment right to do so, even while on duty.
Cohen openly recorded the interview with the officer. Upon listening to the tape of the interview, noted civil rights attorney Norman Siegel told Cohen the police officer was ignorant of the law, and that his ignorance may reflect a far-reaching problem inside the NYPD about providing accurate information to local cops about the law and respecting the rights of peaceful protesters.
Siegel will be addressing the issue on WBAI radio Tuesday at 6 pm. The station will also air Cohen's recording of the interchange with the police officer.
Siegel will also be filing a complaint on behalf of Cohen, WBAI Radio and the animal rights groups with the NYPD and the Mayor's office.
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