Ray Chavez, an Oakland Tribune photographer and this year’s recipient of the NAHJ’s Photographer of the Year award, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Oakland on Friday.
In the suit, Ray claims police interfered with his right as a member of the press to do his job, illegally barring him from taking pictures at a freeway crash scene in May of 2007. He was “arrested and handcuffed without justification solely due to the exercise of First Amendment rights,” said his suit.
About the experience, Ray told the S.F. Chronicle: “It has been very stressful since I was humiliated by the OPD officers….They should do their jobs and not interfere with ours as media members. These cops need to be re-educated. I don’t think they know what the First Amendment and freedom of the press means.”
The suit names the city, Police Chief Wayne Tucker and two police officers. Besides seeking unspecified monetary damages, Ray wants the Oakland PD to train its officers about allowing the media “reasonable access to accident and crime scenes and behind police lines.”
