trev57 46 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 WITI-TV, MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee police arrest a FOX6 News photojournalist at the scene of a house fire on the city's north side Sunday night. The arrest came after a confrontation between a Milwaukee police sergeant and the photojournalist. FOX6 News Photojournalist Clint Fillinger went to the scene of a house fire near 27th and Townsend late Sunday. He was shooting video behind yellow police tape alongside a small crowd that gathered to watch. At that time, Fillinger says a Milwaukee police sergeant single him out. He says the sergeant came at him quickly. Fillinger put up his hand in a defensive move and touched the sergeant. Fillinger was then knocked to the ground, handcuffed and arrested. Fillinger was cited for resisting and obstructing an officer. In his 45 years as a news photographer, Fillinger says nothing like this has ever happened to him before. "I kept backing up, telling him I had a right to be there," said Fillinger. On Tuesday, Fillinger went to a medical clinic to have his injuries checked. He has no broken bones. He does have bruises around his knee along with sore muscles. Fillinger will be off work for the remainder of the week. FOX6 management sent a letter to Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn Tuesday outlining concerns about the incident and requesting the citations against Fillinger be dropped. For now, Milwaukee police officials say the incident and video will be reviewed by the department's professional performance department. http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-20110920-fox6-photojournalist-arrested,0,6130946.story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 617 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Wow, looks like another case of an officer making a bad name for himself and the department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1812 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 It's really concerning how this is happening more and more frequently across the nation... Really sad that it happened to someone with 45+ years of experience. I could see if it was some college kid trying to inch his way past the police line, but this is a man that's at least in his mid to late 60's. Ridiculous. Hopefully the MPD puts out some sort of media guidelines because of this. From what I'm told, they're desperately needed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1812 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 The police chief spoke to the press today about the situation, you can view it here. Of course, he blames everyone but the police department for what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev57 46 Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Just a quick update to this story; all charges against the photojournalist have been dropped. http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-20111214-fillinger-charges-dropped,0,3374832.story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill875 0 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 No wonder so many people have lost respect for law enforcement. Could the photojournalist have pressed charges against the officer since he was rightfully there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 No wonder so many people have lost respect for law enforcement. Could the photojournalist have pressed charges against the officer since he was rightfully there? I don't know if he did, but I think some journalist organizations tried to get involved. A photographer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the local paper in Milwaukee, was also arrested for standing in the street and taking photos of an Occupy Milwaukee protest not long after that. Charges against her were dropped as well. Shortly after, the chief of police had a meeting with the executives of the area's local news organizations but I'm not sure what came out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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