I know very little about this case -- just what you've seen on Politech, and I have not done any original reporting. But there seem to be some details we're missing that would buttress photographer Mike Maginnis' story. What were the names of the police officers allegedly involved? Who was the desk sergeant who allegedly hung up the phone? Why did Maginnis not want to talk to a reporter with the Rocky Mountain News a few days later? Without those details that would make the story more readily verifiable, it's much easier to accept the police response that Maginnis' story is not true. Previous Politech message: "Denver photographer arrested for photo'ing Dick Cheney's hotel?" http://www.politechbot.com/p-04221.html -Declan --- From: SteelHead <bill@ries-knight.net> Organization: LinuxHelpers To: declanat_private, politechat_private Subject: Fwd: RE: is this true? Biased Policing ? ...regarding Maginnis and the Denver PD Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 09:33:50 -0800 Cc: mrbillrkat_private I did a follow up with the Denver PD after reading the story. I sent an emailo to the Lt. listed as in charge of the biased policing section. I make no comment except that the Officer wanted to verify my Identity before investigating, I provided my real name and cell phone number. He responded in his reply with my office address and phone number as listed with my domain registrar, but not the home address. Regards, Bill Ries-Knight ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: RE: is this true? Biased Policing ? Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 08:48:43 -0700 From: "Carter, Steven - DPD" <CarterSat_private> To: "'bill@ries-knight.net'" <bill@ries-knight.net> Mr. Bill Ries-Knight 2734 Pacific Ave Stockton, ca 95204 US 209-951-0800 Dear sir; Apparently the information you received is false. The Secret Service has flatly denied any such contact occurred. Also, our PIO published the following information: I have received numerous inquiries regarding a male party identified as Mike Maginnis. This party is claiming that he was taken into custody as he was photographing an area in which Vice President Cheney was visiting. The party also claimed that he was taken to police District One and was held for 6 hours until the Secret Service came to interview him. I have done some research and we have no record of anyone with this identity being contacted and transported to District One. This party is claiming this incident took place on Tuesday, from my understanding the Vice President was in town on Monday for three hours before departing. District One had only four arrests taken to the station all were processed between the hours of 1:15 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., and none of them were identified as Mike Maginnis. It is also the policy of the Denver police department that prisoners awaiting transport are not allowed to make phone calls, this would dispute the statement by Mr. Mike Maginnis that he was allowed to make a phone call and instead of contacting a lawyer he called the Denver Post. His staff would have also advised the District One Commander if the Secret Service were interviewing anyone at his district; he was not informed of any situation taking place. Thank you for taking the time to verify the validity of this mans accusations. You may also refer to this story from the Denver Rocky Mountain News for additional information http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_1601428,00.html Lt. Steven W. Carter #80041 Denver Police Dept. Office of the Chief of Police (720) 913-6748 Work (720) 913-7029 Fax cartersat_private Email -----Original Message----- From: SteelHead [mailto:bill@ries-knight.net] Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 6:14 PM To: cartersat_private Cc: mrbillrkat_private Subject: is this true? Biased Policing ? The following is Maginnis's account of what transpired: As he was putting his camera away, Maginnis found himself confronted by a Denver police officer who demanded that he hand over his film and camera. When he refused to give up his Nikon F2, the officer pushed him to the ground and arrested him. After being brought to the District 1 police station on Decatur Street, Maginnis was made to wait alone in an interrogation room. Two hours later, a Secret Service agent arrived, who identified himself as Special Agent "Willse." The agent told Maginnis that his "suspicious activities" made him a threat to national security, and that he would be charged as a terrorist under the USA-PATRIOT act. The Secret Service agent tried to make Maginnis admit that he was taking the photographs to analyze weaknesses in the Vice President's security entourage and "cause terror and mayhem." When Maginnis refused to admit to being any sort of terrorist, the Secret Service agent called him a "raghead collaborator" and a "dirty pinko faggot." After approximately an hour of interrogation, Maginnis was allowed to make a telephone call. Rather than contacting a lawyer, he called the Denver Post and asked for the news desk. This was immediately overheard by the desk sergeant, who hung up the phone and placed Maginnis in a holding cell. Three hours later, Maginnis was finally released, but with no explanation. He received no copy of an arrest report, and no receipt for his confiscated possessions. He was told that he would probably not get his camera back, as it was being held as evidence. Please advise as to the truth of this event ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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