The dust has yet to settle from the April 21 incident that left Ohio State student photographer Alex Kotran in handcuffs. Although OSU is not charging Kotran, he is still waiting to meet with the Office of Student Life.
Meanwhile, outside groups are beginning to voice their opinions.
The Society of Professional Journalists’ Central Ohio Pro Chapter, mailed a letter on May 5 to the university that condemned the decision of OSU Police Officer William Linton, according to a May 5 news release from SPJ.
SPJ’s First Amendment Chairman Jonathan Peters, who graduated from Ohio University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, wrote the letter to OSU Police Chief Paul Denton and also sent it to President E. Gordon Gee.
The directors of the local SPJ chapter decided to get involved by writing a letter, Peters said in an e-mail. He said they believed Linton was wrong to detain Kotran under the circumstances.
“As a student journalist, I was hassled and yelled at, but never arrested or detained,” Peters said. “Because I’m the First Amendment chairman, I volunteered to draft and sign (the letter).”
Kotran received a copy of the letter from Peters and said SPJ is only one of many organizations that have written a letter of complaint to the university.
“I feel that the overwhelming reaction across the country to my run-in with the police further exhibits that the allegation of ‘criminal trespass’ was ludicrous,” Kotran said in an e-mail.
In the letter, Peters outlined the events involving Kotran on April 21 and said “there is no credible evidence that (Kotran) caused a hazard or contributed to one.”
Peters was aware that the School of Communication denied Kotran legal assistance, but he said he doesn’t believe the School of Communication is obligated to provide legal fees or find legal counsel for students.
He believes the School of Communication should “support Mr. Kotran in other ways” by having the faculty write letters of support to the student judiciary committee, he said.
“They absolutely need to do something. Otherwise, the message they’re sending to their students, some of them future journalists, is truly discouraging,” Peters said.
After The Lantern Publications Committee voted on April 29 to commend Kotran for his actions, Publications Committee Chair Felecia Ross revoked the commendation because student members of the committee are not allowed to vote. Therefore, the vote from Lantern Editor-in-Chief Collin Binkley was not counted.
Peters said he is bothered by the fact that student members of university committees can’t vote.
“One other thing … it’s strange that with the exception of the commendation, none of the other committee votes has been reversed. It really makes me question the director’s intentions and the school’s support for Mr. Kotran,” Peters said.
Had the photographer in question been a professional working for a newspaper such as The Columbus Dispatch, Peters said he doubts that OSU Police would have challenged or detained him.
“The student photographer is an easier target,” he said.
Kotran is still waiting to hear what the Office of Student Life has to say, but Peters doesn’t think they will decide to expel him. He said the most serious outcome would most likely be a “slap on the wrist — e.g., a written reprimand.”
Kotran said he hopes the support of SPJ and other organizations will prompt the university to acknowledge that they were in the wrong.
Despite any opinions floating around about the incident, Kotran said he intends to work with the university so that when everything concludes, there will be no hard feelings on the university’s part or his.
Peters said he was just happy to do his small part.
“As a student photographer, Mr. Kotran may not have the clout or credentials of a professional, but he is no less entitled here to First Amendment protection,” Peters said in his letter. “Officer Linton was wrong to detain him. That kind of police action, where the journalist is not acting unlawfully, poses a grave risk to press freedom and rights of all journalists to gather information.”
