Newsday photographer arrested

By Karen Freifeld

Newsday photographer Moises Saman - who spent eight days in an Iraqi prison in 2003 - was arrested Sunday in Times Square while covering a protest related to the Republican convention.

"I was photographing a guy getting arrested and somebody grabbed me from the back with a lot of force and made me fly backwards," said the award-wining photographer, who was working at 45th Street and 7th Avenue at about 5 p.m. when the incident occurred. "I turned around and it was a police officer in a white shirt. He just said something like, ’You’re arrested, ... I told you to move.’ But he (had) never said anything to me."

Spencer Platt, a staff photographer for Getty Images, who was on the scene, said police had started to arrest some quasi-anarchists on the street corners when police got rough with Saman and others.

"There were about 10 photographers photographing what I think was an arrest," said Platt. "And a cop just walked up, arbitrarily grabbed Moises by his shoulders and just threw him backwards. ... Moises was on the ground dazed and shocked. We’re all yelling, ’What are you doing?’ and he picked him up off the street and arrested him. I’ve never seen anything like it."

Saman, 30, said cops handcuffed him and put him in a van with about 10 protestors, took a Polaroid photograph of him, and drove him to the West Side pier, where a temporary processing center has been set up for those arrested during the protests. "By that time, they already knew about me and they took me aside from the rest of the protestors," Saman said. "They told me they were going to let me go."

Police officials later said several photographers were taken into custody when a group of protestors blocking the sidewalk were arrested. After officials realized they were members of the media, police said they were released and no charges were pressed.

Saman said it took about two hours before he was released. An officer then escorted him to the West Side Highway, where he hailed a cab and returned to Times Square to continue to work.

The Newsday photographer along with Newsday reporter Matt McAllester, was held by Saddam Hussein’s security agents at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in March 2003 as U.S. trooped pressed into Baghdad,.

Staff writer Sean Gardiner contributed to this story.

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