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Two BBC journalists who filmed the scene where the Virginia
shooting suspect crashed and shot himself say they were
threatened by state police.

White House reporter Tara McKelvey and videojournalist Franz
Strasser were among the first on the scene where the manhunt for
the alleged WDBJ gunman Vester Flanagan came to an end, after
they saw “sirens blaring” on I-66 West.

But on a day when the ability of journalists to do their jobs
unhindered was a particularly heightened issue, officers with
Virginia State Police reportedly told the reporters to delete
their footage or risk having their camera and car taken away.

Strasser wrote on Twitter that he decided to delete the footage
because “it was either not being able to work for the rest of
the day, without camera or car, or delete c***** footage from
far away”. He said he “chose the latter”.

Tara McKelvey ?@Tara_Mckelvey
I just left the site where the suspect reportedly shot himself.
Cops took our camera and said they would also take our car then
let us go.
9:00 AM - 26 Aug 2015
176 176 Retweets 36 36 favorites

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
Just at the scene of the suspects shooting on I-66. Police told
me to delete footage or lose camera.
8:53 AM - 26 Aug 2015
507 507 Retweets 159 159 favorites

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
Just at the scene of the suspects shooting on I-66. Police told
me to delete footage or lose camera.
8:53 AM - 26 Aug 2015
507 507 Retweets 159 159 favorites

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
Watched me delete my one file, and let me go. Other officer
apologized and said we have to understand.
9:08 AM - 26 Aug 2015
73 73 Retweets 24 24 favorites

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
It was either not being able to work for the rest of the day,
w/o camera and car, or delete crappy footage from far away.
Chose the latter.
9:48 AM - 26 Aug 2015
25 25 Retweets 21 21 favorites

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
Reason for confiscating camera was that it was evidence.
Threatened to tow the car because it was illegally parked.
9:59 AM - 26 Aug 2015
77 77 Retweets 35 35 favorites

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
It was either not being able to work for the rest of the day,
w/o camera and car, or delete crappy footage from far away.
Chose the latter.

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
But why they are then okay with deleting 'evidence' makes one
question their reasoning.
10:00 AM - 26 Aug 2015
108 108 Retweets 90 90 favorites

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
We were able to recover photos from the moment police asked us
to delete crime scene footage #WDBJ
4:54 PM - 26 Aug 2015
20 20 Retweets 19 19 favorites

Franz Strasser ?@franzstrasser
Neither of these VA state police officers were the one asking us
to delete footage. It was mainly one officer.
4:55 PM - 26 Aug 2015
10 10 Retweets 14 14 favorites

Naming the policeman involved as Officer Clark, McKelvey said
they were told the footage they had “could be evidence”.
Strasser confirmed it was “mainly one officer” who addressed
them, and said that the fact he ordered them to delete the
“evidence” was enough to “make one question their reasoning”.

After Strasser’s initial tweet about the officer’s threat was
widely shared on social media – and appeared in the BBC’s live
coverage of the Virginia shootings online – a public relations
officer for Virginia police has reached out to him on Twitter.

Corinne Geller, a spokesperson for Virginia State Police, wrote:
“VSP is aware of this incident and we are looking into it, as
such actions violate VSP policy.”

Strasser later wrote on Twitter that he and McKelvey were
reviewing what recordings the pair had been able to make of the
exchange with police. A video captured on McKelvey’s iPhone was
deemed “unusable”.

And the incident seems unlikely to be left there. Paul Danahar,
the BBC’s bureau chief in the US, also responded to the incident
on Twitter, asking the police spokesperson to “exchange
contacts”.

The Independent has contacted the BBC for an official statement
on what happened.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/vester-flanagan- chase-bbc-journalists-covering-wdbj-shooting-threatened-by- virginia-police-10474038.html

--
Illegal alien muslim Barack Hussein Obama seizes on this tragedy
caused by one of his mentally ill homosexual, black racist
supporters, to wave the flags for more gun control.
 

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