BBC News Crew Told To Delete Vester Lee Flanagan Footage “Saw a coffin”?

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http://www.infowars.com/virginia-police-order-bbc-journalists-to-delete-footage-of-suspected-shooters-crash/

Virginia police order BBC journalists to delete footage of suspected shooter’s crash
Citizens have been charged for filming police — usually as a violation of wiretapping laws

by Kierran Petersen | PRI | August 26, 2015

BBC reporters Franz Strasser and Tara McKelvey encountered a big obstacle in their coverage of a double slaying of journalists at a Virginia mall.

The two reporters were covering the manhunt of the suspected shooter when they were ordered to delete footage by police.

The incident occured after Allison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, were fatally shot while reporting live for WDBJ7 at a shopping mall in Monetta, Virginia. The woman they interviewed was also wounded.

During the ensuing manhunt, Vester Lee Flanagan, the suspected gunman, shot himself after police chased his car. The Virginia State police issued a statement on their Facebook page:

“The suspect vehicle refused to stop and sped away from the trooper. Minutes later, the suspect vehicle ran off the road and crashed. The troopers approached the vehicle and found the male driver suffering from a gunshot wound. He is being transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries,” the report says. Flanagan later died, the BBC reported.

The BBC reporters, Strasser and McKelvey, were reporting from the scene of the crash when they were told by police to delete their video footage.

Just at the scene of the suspects shooting on I-66. Police told me to delete footage or lose camera.

— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015

Reason for confiscating camera was that it was evidence. Threatened to tow the car because it was illegally parked.

— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015

But why they are then okay with deleting ‘evidence’ makes one question their reasoning.

— Franz Strasser (@franzstrasser) August 26, 2015

According to Strasser’s Twitter feed, the reporters were left with only low-quality iPhone footage. The Virginia State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It’s not the first time reporters in Virginia have had trouble filming police. Just last year WTVR-TV in Richmond reported on two incidents involving police officers and cellphones in Petersburg and Norfolk. According to the ACLU of Virginia, their office has documented citizens who have been charged for filming police — usually as a violation of wiretapping laws.

Jeff Marks, the general manager of WDBJ, says Flanagan used to work at WDBJ, but was ousted two years ago for an undisclosed reason. Following his dismissal, Flannagan filed a complaint against the station in 2014 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusing various staffers of making racial comments. That complaint was eventually dismissed. It wasn’t Flannagan’s first time making such allegations against an employer. In 2000, he filed a discrimination lawsuit against Tallahassee TV station WTWC. The case was settled out of court in 2001.

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