Getting harassed by two rent-a-cops

I had learned about an abandoned building complex and went up there to check the place out during the middle of the day. A single, public road led into the complex and I walked down it. There were no signs at the entrance indicating that trespassing was forbidden or visitors were not allowed. The buildings were way out in the middle of a big field. I could see an SUV with a rent-a-cop logo on the side parked near the buildings. Its spinning light was on, so I knew that the complex was under guard and I shouldn't approach it. Instead, I stayed on the road and took photos of the buildings, thinking I would follow the road around the property's perimeter, take photos and leave. After maybe two minutes of taking pictures, the SUV suddenly raced directly towards me across the field, pulled to a stop a few feet from me, and a black security guard got out and started telling me that I had just trespassed on private property because one of my feet had stepped onto the grass from the road. He had apparently been watching me very closely and was somehow able to see clearly, from 150 yards away, that one of my feet had stepped on the grass. He demanded my ID, but I didn't hand it over. I then started secretly recording this.

I felt like these two rent-a-cops were being ridiculously harsh and were giving me a hard time. My understanding of the law is that it is completely legal to take photos of whatever you want if you're standing on public property such as a road. I honestly wasn't sure whether my one foot stepped onto the grass or not, and in any case don't think that alone counts as much of a violation. Clearly, the complex has had a lot of problems with trespassers before and they were on-edge and also wanted to scare me off. I can't completely blame them for that, but I still think their reaction to me was overbearing.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• rent a cop
• police
• harassment
• trespassing
• abandoned building

[certifiedcrazymaker]

Yeah the rentals were infringing upon your rights. That one said it was illegal to take pictures...fucking stupid. Where was this?

[BeeblesTV]

Someone wants attention.

[VoodooPolitico]

Private property is private property. If you are ON that private property, you are obliged to follow the rules/regulations of that property. If the property owners say NO PHOTOGRAPHY, that means NO photography. PUBLIC PROPERTY is PUBLIC. You can take pictures of private property FROM public property. Either way, they have NO RIGHT to stop anybody from taking pics from a PUBLIC street or demand any ID from ANYBODY.

[SouthShoreTrain]

Even if you are on private property, as long as you can get there without tresspassing, you can still take photos. Its your first ammendment right

[jesseralston]

So, yeah..It's totally legal to take photos as long as you're on public property. I'm sure there's tons of relevant cases to look up regarding this. Otherwise you'd think paparazzi's would be sued a hell of a lot more..