National Press Photographers Association

1100 M&T Center 3 Fountain Plaza Buffalo, NY 14203

Phone: 716.566.1484 Fax: 716.608.1509
lawyer@nppa.org

VIA FACSIMILE & EMAIL
August 20, 2014

Colonel Ronald K. Replogle
Missouri State Highway Patrol
General Headquarters
1510 East Elm Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Chief Thomas Jackson
Ferguson Police Department
222 S. Florissant Road
Ferguson, MO 63135

Chief Jon Belmar
St. Louis County Police Department
7900 Forsyth Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63105

Re: Formal Complaint

Dear Colonel Replogle, Chief Jackson and Chief Belmar:

As general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) I write to request a formal
investigation into the unlawful and unprofessional activities of one of your officers who threatened one of our
members last night with his service weapon. This dangerous action was in response to photojournalist Raffe
Lazarian, asking the simple question which way do I need to go in order to get to the media area? In
contravention of all known and accepted firearms policies the officer drew his weapon and pointed it at Mr.
Lazarian in a threatening manner and then used it to gesture in the direction he wanted him to go.

With the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press along with 47 other news organizations, the NPPA
has previously objected to the manner in which the officers from various departments under your unified
command have continued to violate First Amendment rights of the public and the press. Unfortunately you have
failed to address those concerns and incidents such as these continue to occur, including one reported by the
Media Relations Officer of the St. Louis County Police Department, involving a St. Ann Police Officer who
pointed a semi-automatic assault rifle at a peaceful protestor after a verbal exchange.

The NPPA is also extremely troubled by these incidents perpetrated by those officers who believe they
may order members of the press into a press area while the general public is free to walk the street and protest.
As a matter of fact another one of our members, Scott Olson was arrested on August 18, 2014 while a few feet
outside of the press area. I have been in Ferguson for the past few days and have observed some of this egregious
behavior firsthand.










Such actions must be addressed and corrected immediately before someone is seriously injured or worse.
As we noted, in any free country the balance between providing police protection and over-zealous enforcement
is delicate. It is one thing for officers to act when there is reasonable suspicion; it is quite another to abuse that
discretion by chilling free speech and creating a climate of fear and distrust under the pretext of safety and
security.

While it is understandable that your officers may have a heightened sense of awareness during these
encounters that is still no excuse for them to act in this manner. What is also extremely troubling is that there is
widespread uniformity by officers of obscuring their names and badge numbers and refusing to identify
themselves when asked or responding with expletives.

As we have done throughout the country, NPPA offers its assistance in working with your department to
help develop reasonable and workable policies, practices and especially training in order to alleviate these
situations and foster better relations between the police, the public and the press.

Thank you for your attention in this matter. We look forward to a timely response and the commencement
of an investigation.

Very truly yours,

Mickey H. Osterreicher

Mickey H. Osterreicher
General Counsel
cc: Hon. Eric Holder, Jr., United States Attorney General
Hon. Jay Nixon, Missouri Governor
Hon. James Knowles, City of Ferguson Mayor