Security guards grab freelance photojournalist Kristoffer Tripplaar to stop him from photographing a protest at a McDonald’s restaurant inside the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
A photographer who was grabbed by a group of Smithsonian security guards while covering a protest at the Air and Space Museum has been told in a letter that an investigation into the incident is being conducted.
But the letter to Kristoffer Tripplaar, a contract photographer for Sipa USA, from Robert M. McKinney, security manager for the Office of Protections Services, focuses heavily on how the former did not have permission to be taking photos inside the museum.
Tripplaar was shooting a fast food wage protest on December 5 outside the Smithsonian museum when he and other photographers followed a group of protesters inside. From an interview with DCist:
“We were around the [yelling] guy taking pictures … and one of the security guys grabbed one of the guys who was shooting video,” he explained, “and started pushing him out. And [the guard] was pushing [the man with the camera] out right towards me, and I leaned in to take the blow [from his body, not a punch]. He was coming right at me when I saw him. I leaned to take the blow because I thought he was gonna [run into] me, so I could protect my cameras. And then the security guy ended up running into me. And then another security guy ran over and started yelling, ‘He [as in Tripplarr] hit you! He hit you!’ And then a couple seconds later is what happened in those photos.”
An Associated Press journalist captured what happened next: Tripplaar was grabbed by three security guards and forced to the ground. A supervisor emerged and Tripplaar was allowed to get up and continue shooting. He contacted the Smithsonian press office and was given an email address to send his complaint to. Tripplaar received the letter from McKinney on Friday.
“If in the future you have a need to report on any Smithsonian museum, please contact that museum’s communications office,” McKinney wrote in the letter. “In the meantime, know that we have taken this matter seriously. Our goal is to ensure museum policies are followed and the National Air and Space Museum continues to be a safe and enjoyable destination.”
Read the entire letter below.
