Dangerous Photographer "Nailed" By Amtrak

Another dangerous photographer has been arrested while doing his thing, this time by Amtrak. According to the New York Times, Duane Kerzic, a semi-professional photographer and NPPA member was arrested by the Amtrak police while making pictures of trains at New York's Penn Station. His sinister purpose: attempting to win Amtrak's Picture Our Train photo contest. The arrest, which occurred in 2009, resulted in a law suit that has finally been settled for a five figure sum and the removal of Kerzic's web page criticizing Amtrak for the arrest.

I've written about the harassment and arrests of photographers across the UK and the USA many times, most recently about a local wire-tapping statute that has been used against photographers in Chicago as well as the arrest and trial of a photographer in Los Angeles who was photographing a personal project story on vandals spray-painting graffiti.

Photography is not a crime!

Political satirist Stephen Colbert skewered Amtrak for the Kerzic arrest (watch the video) saying that Amtrak has historically, "protected riders from their destinations," and, "this photography contest is Amtrak’s cleverest ruse since their so-called timetable."