December
8, 2007
Indian American Student Sues
New York Police By Parveen Chopra
New York
A civil liberties group has sued the New York Police Department
(NYPD) on behalf of an Indian student who was detained in July while
photographing a subway station here.
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) filed the suit Thursday
in the district court of Manhattan, alleging that police officers
unlawfully handcuffed Arun Wiita, 26, a Columbia University graduate
student.
Wiita was spotted using a digital camera near 207th Street and Tenth
Avenue in Manhattan.
A resident of New Jersey, Wiita is seeking compensatory damages and
reimbursement of legal fees.
"I was surprised and upset that I could be handcuffed on the street
for taking a photograph," Wiita said. "What was really disheartening
was that I knew this has probably happened before and that it could
happen again to anyone."
"Wiita's arrest came within hours of his having embarked on a
carefully planned 10-day project to photograph all 468 subway
stations in New York," the lawsuit read.
"Though he was subsequently released without formal charges, Wiita
was humiliated and confused by the arrest, and he believes that he
was targeted in part because of his South Asian or Middle Eastern
appearance," the lawsuit added. Wiita's mother is from India. He was
born in the US.
Earlier this year, the police settled a suit brought by NYCLU on
behalf of an award-winning documentary maker Rakesh Sharma, who was
detained for filming with a handheld camera on a Manhattan street.
As a result, the mayor's office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting
twice revamped its rules regarding the use of cameras on streets,
parks or public property, tailoring them to apply only to
potentially disruptive movie and television productions.
Police sources said officers question people photographing the
city's rail infrastructure on "rare occasions", citing instances in
which law enforcement officials have identified Iranian intelligence
agents and suspected Pakistani terrorists taking photographs of the
Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges.
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