In 2022, Benjamin Hendren, a photojournalist, captured police officers arresting protesters. Despite not interfering with the police activity and offering to let the officers speak with his editor, Hendren was arrested. The officers even prompted employees at the construction site being protested to fabricate statements about Hendren.
Hendren has now initiated a lawsuit against the arresting officers, claiming his First Amendment rights were violated.
On July 29, 2022, Hendren was covering a protest at the construction site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, known as “Cop City“. As a freelance reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he was specifically assigned to cover Cop City and related demonstrations.
While at the scene, Hendren photographed the police arresting protesters from a public sidewalk across the street. The lawsuit asserts that Hendren did not commit any crime or interfere with the police activity.
Despite this, police handcuffed Hendren, forcibly took his photographs, and even pulled his hair against his will. Furthermore, the officers allegedly encouraged construction site employees to make false statements about Hendren.
One officer falsely claimed in a report that Hendren was handcuffed because employees identified him as a protestor inside the construction site, even though Hendren was detained before they saw him. He was held for over seven hours before being released.
Hendren’s lawsuit argues that the officers violated his First Amendment rights by interfering with his photography of police activity, a right that has been consistently upheld by courts.
“Plaintiff had a First Amendment right to photograph and film police officers carrying out their official duties in public, without police interference,” the suit states. “The interference with Plaintiff’s photographing and his arrest were triggered by, and in retaliation for, his protected activity of taking pictures of public police activity, and therefore violated the First Amendment.”
