By way of perspective, here’s the official Suspicious Activity Reporting Criteria for Infrastructure Owners and Operators issued by the FBI and Homeland Security just days after the incident in Charlotte.
It advises:
? Report any persons showing uncommon interest in critical infrastructure/key resource facilities, networks, or systems (e.g. photographing or videotaping assets).
And what constitutes “critical infrastructure/key resource facilities?” Banking and finance centers and government facilities are a couple.
Note these are directives meant for building operators, basically the general public.
So it does not seem totally wacky for a police officer to approach an asset-recording individual, notice some evasive behavior, and attempt to follow-up by establishing a videographer’s identity and background. Of course, the manner of this police interaction is the crucial bit. It can be done clumsily and rudely or professionally and respectfully.
All indications are the incident in Charlotte involved a particularly observant and dedicated officer who did, in fact, uncover evidence of immigration law violations.
If there is upset with this state of affairs, the cause must be the law itself and not its application.
