ACLU Wins Apology for Photographer: Guard Hassled Him Snapping HUD Headquarters Building

ACLU commended the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently for promptly acknowledging a weekend guard was wrong ordering an amateur photographer to stop taking pictures on a Sunday afternoon on 7^th Street, S.W., in Washington, DC, across the street from the dramatic HUD headquarters building.

According to the visitor, the guard saw him taking pictures from the street and told him to stop, referring to the World Trade Center attack in New York a decade ago saying “after 9/11, people can’t take pictures of federal buildings.”  The guard went inside the building to get reinforcements but the photographer left and checked in with the ACLU to learn if the guard was right.

ACLU staff attorney Fritz Mulhauser knew the answer and quickly wrote HUD officials and the firm with the guard contract, attaching a copy of guidance to all federal agencies from the Department of Homeland Security agency that guards federal buildings, the Federal Protective Service. That August 2010 bulletin, issued in response to a lawsuit by the ACLU in New York, makes clear “the public has a right to photograph the exterior of federal facilities from publicly accessible spaces such as streets and sidewalks.”

Both addressees responded promptly that it was all a mistake.

Saying, “I sincerely apologize” and offering a personally guided tour of the building, Jereon M. Brown, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the HUD Office of Public Affairs e-mailed that the incident “should not have occurred.”  He said HUD’s policy has been clear for a year or more, allowing picture-taking outside its photogenic structure.  He promised renewed briefing of the entire guard force within a day. 

In a letter, the top guard official asked ACLU to “please extend my sincere apologies to the photographer for the inconvenience he experienced at the HUD building.” He said the guard involved was briefly suspended and would get refresher training.  He thanked ACLU “for bringing the incident to my attention so that it could be corrected.” 

Staff Attorney Mulhauser said “interference with entirely lawful photography is rampant in Washington, but this time the exemplary actions of HUD and its guard contractor -- to acknowledge error and take corrective action -- are a refreshing example of the better approach.  The ACLU commends a law enforcement team, and its overseers, that recognize where innocent photography is involved there’s no conflict between safe and free.”