I’ll be there. It’s the perfect way to spend July 4- free speech, free access, and letting those in power know that their power isn’t absolute. Has there been disussion of how far people are willing to go with this, i.e., if cops are called, arrests threatened, etc. This is a perfect July 4 story for news media, if that’s desired.

Mark,

Thanks for your support.

As to the police, we are in consultation with them and MoCo officials to make sure this is a peaceful photo outing. To quote co-organizer Tom Bridge:

“The best protests are the ones that make their point without forcing it down your throat with a two by four. I want us to show up, no signs, and just have our cameras and let our shutters do the talking.

No chants. No obnoxiousness. Just photos. and photos. and photos. and photos.

Do it classy, do it right, and make our point. No scene. No arrests. Just shutters clicking.”

And we do hope its a perfect July 4 story for the media.

You guys read my post yesterday on the Silver Spring Scene and took credit for my idea. Some people take unfair advantage of their right to free speech by stealing others ideas and claiming it on their own. I hope you are ashamed of yourself. I will be there to make a scene, not with Peterson, but with you plagarists.

Sanjay,

You might want to read our chronology before you get all bent out of shape. We were talking about this last week - you were not.

Sanjay:

My name is Kate Mereand, and I started the DC Photo Rights Flickr group a couple of days after Chip Py was stopped by security in Downtown Silver Spring. I hope that you can see that this issue isn’t about “media credit,” but that we are a group of concerned citizens who want to see our community centers as places that celebrate instead of restrict our rights. And I am really not sure why you feel you deserve credit when Chip has been talking to the press and the county council since this happened to him. Since then, numerous blogs and new organizations have picked up the issue. And we have all joined in with our ideas as we heard of his incident.

I do want to also note that the group who is planning the photowalk is planning to fully cooperate with any requests from local police, and we have been in contact with them about our intentions. While we have no issue with you doing whatever you might do on any other public street, you may want to consider what “making a scene” on any street will mean to local law enforcement. I hope for your sake that you consider your actions carefully, and best of luck.

[…] will even hang a welcome sign on the Fourth of July, when a hoard of photographers are scheduled to swarm and snap along Ellsworth Drive, says The […]

Sanjay - in addition to the points above, it is entirely possible that two people can have the same idea simultaneously, especially when it comes to protesting to uphold our rights.

We look forward to seeing you there!

[…] Drive on the Fourth of July to demonstrate their right to take photographs in a public setting. The Free Our Streets movement is quickly gathering steam, and that’s caused something of a reaction from the powers that […]

I’m curious how much of this can be tagged to Pruneyard?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruneyard_Shopping_Center,_Campbell,_California

Actually, Gopher, it has very little to do with Pruneyard as Pruneyard has all to do with the unique California Supreme Court rulings.

We are focused on Ellsworth Drive, a public street managed by a private company.

Say Cheese…

Did you know that Downtown Silver Spring is private property? Thanks to the Silver Spring Penguin, I’m now as outraged as the rest of the people participating in the Downtown Silver Spring Photography Walk. To summarize, basically the private company….

Good luck this, it’s a great thing you are doing by standing up for basic rights. Not sure about SilverSpring, but, I do find it ironic that you can’t go a block in downtown DC without the government taking a photo of you - we should at least be able to take the photos we want.

Actually you’ll note the final Pruneyard ruling came not from California, but from Thurgood Marshall and the U.S. Supreme Court.

I plan on attending tomorrow also.

[…] you prepare for the big event, today’s Downtown Silver Spring Photo Walk, take a look at Ellsworth Drive as of 8pm last […]