PhotoPermit

Taking Some Direct Action in SF Tomorrow

Just a quick reminder of the shoot-in tomorrow, the 19th, at noon at the Embarcadero MUNI station. Try to attend! I will. And be sure to follow the advice given at the bottom of this SFist post, reprinted here:

• Bring ID with you in case you get arrested.
• Do not fight with the cops if they nab you. That'll just get you a resisting arrest charge. That's how people get hurt.
• In general, the correct answer to any substantive question they ask about the incident (i.e., anything beyond your name and address) is "I want a lawyer." If you can't afford a lawyer one really will be appointed to you, and the SF public defenders are really excellent.
• Don't bring anything illegal with you. They can't search you without probable cause, but if they can tell you've got something illegal on you (a gun, a needle, pot), they can book you for that. On a similar note, if they ask you if they can search your bag, say no. They can look at whatever they want if you agree to it.
• Be nice. Bite your tongue if necessary, and don't give them any more information than you have to, but be polite, nice, and respectful. Nice is not going to come back and bite you on the ass later.
• If you think something funny's going on, get badge numbers, write down the time it happened, and get a description of the cops involved as soon as possible (other people might have pictures of it, for instance).
• Worst comes to absolute worst and they take you to jail, you're guaranteed a court hearing within 48 hours. So you'll be allowed to talk to a judge no later than Tuesday morning.

(Personally, I don't think anyone will be arrested, any more than anyone was arrested in the NYC shoot-in. Then again, no one at the MTA was claiming that a ban was already in effect!)

The SFist has also posted PDFs of letters received by Photopermit visitor JTony_Arts from MUNI after he was hassled back in October — while failing to cite any specific code, they claim that on needs a permit to photograph at the station.