Taylor Hardy was arrested over the weekend after refusing to stop filming the production of a LeBron James commercial taking place in the Allapattah neighborhood.
Hardy, who gave his account of the arrest to Carlos Miller of Photography Is Not A Crime, said he was standing on a public street, among dozens of other onlookers, when a presumed member of the production asked him to stop photographing. Hardy refused and pointed out he has a right to be on the public street, but an off-duty cop working security didn't agree.
Hardy says he pointed out that many others were on the same corner and not being harassed by the crew, but the off-duty Miami-Dade sergeant demanded that Hardy walk down the street.
Hardy again refused so the cop grabbed his camera by the flash in an attempt to take it from him, he says. Hardy asked him to let it go, to which the cop reportedly told him if he didn't let go of it he was going to jail.
"'If you say one more fucking word, I'm going to throw your head on the ground and beat the fuck out of you,'" Taylor quoted the cop as saying.
Riptide requested a police report on the incident but an MPD spokesman was not able to locate it; we'll update the post when we get the report.
Sunday's incident isn't the first time Hardy has made news by fighting for his right to take photos in public. Back in March, he filmed a Miami-Dade paramedic who angrily demanded he stop filming an airlift rescue.
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