Atlanta photojournalist files lawsuit following arrest, device search

Freelance photojournalist Ben Hendren was arrested while photographing the detention of protesters who allegedly damaged a construction site in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 29, 2022. Hendren filed a lawsuit against the officers and workers at the site in July 2024, alleging First Amendment violations and retaliation.

Hendren told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was on assignment as a breaking news photographer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution when at around 1 p.m. he heard on the Georgia State University Police Department scanner that there was an ongoing protest at a construction site. A few minutes later he heard that the demonstrators had been pulled over about half a mile away from the site and went to that location instead.

“When I arrived I parked my car and saw a few protesters in handcuffs sitting on the sidewalk,” Hendren said. “I grabbed my camera gear, walked up to the scene and identified myself as a journalist to one of the Georgia State University police officers. And then I started photographing the scene with my longest lens possible to give them room for their investigation.”

Approximately 10 minutes later, Hendren said, he was grabbed from behind and placed under arrest without warning. He said he was wearing credentials and repeatedly told officers that he was on assignment for the newspaper, and was even able to retrieve his phone from his back pocket to call his editor, but the officers didn’t care.

After several hours, officers began photographing the detainees one-by-one. “When they got to me: I am not affiliated with them (the protesters) and I don’t want to be affiliated with them, so I put my head down to avoid being photographed for whatever purpose the photos were going toward,” Hendren said.

He was told that it wouldn’t go well for him if he didn’t comply and an officer came over and wrenched his head up by his hair so his face could be photographed.

Hendren told the Tracker he was eventually taken in a police transport van to the Georgia State University police precinct where he was Mirandized and interviewed by the Atlanta Police Department’s Homeland Security Unit. He said that the officers asked to look through his photos to confirm that he hadn’t been present at the construction site.

“They asked to see the photos so I took them through all the photos I took,” Hendren said. “They asked to look through my cellphone — they wanted to look at my gallery of images and whatnot — so I opened my work phone and took them through it. They wanted me to open my personal phone too, which I refused and then I locked the other phone. That was the end of it.”

Approximately 30 minutes after the interview police released him without charges, Hendren said, returned his equipment in evidence bags and drove him back to his vehicle. He said he was in custody for around seven hours.

On July 1, 2024, Hendren filed a lawsuit against the officers as well as three construction workers who falsely reported that he had been involved in the protest and committed crimes at the construction site.

“The interference with Plaintiff’s photographing and his arrest were triggered by, and in retaliation for, his protected activity of taking pictures of public police activity, and therefore violated the First Amendment,” the lawsuit states.

According to the suit, protesters had targeted the construction site for GSU’s Convocation Center because the same company had been contracted to build the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, also known as “Cop City,” which has been the focus of ongoing protests.

Hendren told the Tracker he hopes that filing the suit will show police that they can’t interfere with journalists who are doing their jobs without being held accountable.

“I hope it draws attention to this pervasive issue that we see: When there are either protests or movements that are critical of law enforcement we almost always see retaliation from law enforcement directed at members of the media for covering it,” Hendren said. “And when stuff like this happens to journalists, when you attack our rights, we won’t back down and we will defend our rights.”