A Chicago police caught on camera telling journalists "your First Amendment rights can be terminated."
The two journalists were arrested and taken away in handcuffs after trying to take pictures in front of a hospital in Chicago. The police who arrested them was caught on camera telling the journalists that their First Amendment right, alluding particularly to freedom of speech and freedom of the press could be revoked if and when the police deem necessary.
One of the journalist was a photographer for NBC news, he was released only minutes after he was arrested, but police's remarks caught on camera has only fueled civil right activists that there has been an increased restraint on the First Amendment right of civilians with cameras and other filming devices.
Mickey Osterreicher, a lawyer for the Press Photographers Association, told NBC "It wouldn't really matter with some police officers if you had an original copy of Bill of Rights with you."
The National Press Photographers Association has recorded over 70 such arrests since September. The association has brought the issue to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
