Photographer sues over arrest for videotaping public protest

A civil rights group has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the November arrest of a photographer outside of a federal courthouse in Manhattan, The New York Times reported.

Antonio Musumeci was arrested for videotaping a political protest outside the courthouse and charged with violating a federal regulation that requires the written permission of an authorized official for any photography in the space occupied by an agency. The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Protective Service, claiming that the federal regulation is unconstitutional and inconsistently applied.

According to the lawsuit, the government has used this regulation to arrest at least one other photographer outside a federal building in Manhattan.