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Re: Nat Geo Photographer Arrested for Kansas Feedlot Flyover | |
Finney County Sheriff Kevin Bascue said, Steinmetz and Zhang didn\'t have permission to be on the private property where the paraglider launched.
\"The property owner called because two guys were parked on the property — they drove onto Brookover Ranch land, where it\'s clearly posted, \'No Trespassing,\'\" Bascue said.
A Brookover employee saw Steinmetz. He advised Bascue and his deputies that a subject who was flying over the feedlot taking pictures was trespassing and that there was an SUV on the ranch property. Steinmetz and Zhang, meanwhile, moved south of the area to a different location, but feedlot executives still wanted the two men arrested for trespassing.
\"We made contact with the individuals and arrested them for criminal trespass,\" Bascue said. \"We had an obligation to the property owner, since they had driven on the property without permission and it was clearly posted.\"
Take out the camera and the paraglider side issues ... and you\'re still left with trespassing (on the ground).
This isn\'t about photographic rights, this is about trespassing. Even if the landowner was peeved at the aerial photography, the simple (alleged) fact is they drove onto and launched their paraglider from the owner\'s property without permission.
That isn\'t exactly an innocent I walked across the ditch or parked alongside the road to take a sunset pic. That was a willful disregard for the owner\'s posted indication that you do not have permission to be on his land.
Sounds like pretty simple stuff, imo.
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