Confrontation

Yesterday I had the single weirdest, and only actually scary, confrontation with somebody about my camera (Nikon f100 with a 24mm this time). I was walking home from work, waiting to cross a busy intersection in downtown Boone, NC at rush hour. This is a small town, so rush hour only lasts about 30 minutes but in the downtown area the roads are two lanes and the cars move really slow. So these three guys roll through the intersection slowly, and one of them, the one riding shotgun, turns to me and starts cussing me out, saying that he sees my camera and if I take his picture he's going to come out of the car and "kick my a__." I told him I wasn't photographing him but trying to engage him in a dialogue was not a good idea because THEN he repeated his threat, this time stating that he would kill me. So, I crossed the street against the light, in a hurry, and called the police. Twice while I was waiting a little ways up the street, I saw them throw their car into reverse like they wanted to come back up the street but they didn't have room in the traffic. Since I would have had to walk parallel to them to walk home, I just waited... I got the plate number, but by the time an officer got there these guys were gone. I have no idea what I did to prompt this reaction, I never even lifted my camera. Anybody have any thoughts? Should I get myself some pepper spray??? Boone is not the sort of town where I would expect to be threatened like this, but maybe things are changing.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

You can't ration with irrationality. You did the right thing by getting the hell outta there. And I'm glad you're alright.

Per chance they were about to or just commited some act of mayhem, and thought you were catching them. Or, maybe they were "just havin' fun" trying to scare the s**t out of you. Then again - what Chris W. said.
Rick

This stuff happens everywhere, even in Boone, NC. Having been in Boone and the surrounding area, this does not surprise me one bit.

Best to not even acknowledge them, not even with eye contact. Turn and walk in the opposite direction, take down tag number, call the police, especially 911 when someone threatens to kill you, and walk into a store to get out of sight.

Or carry a 44 magnum, walk right up to this asshole, and stick the barrel into his face. I'm sure the seat of his pants would get very stained at that moment. HA!

Pinholemaster said:

This stuff happens everywhere, even in Boone, NC. Having been in Boone and the surrounding area, this does not surprise me one bit.

Or carry a 44 magnum, walk right up to this asshole, and stick the barrel into his face. I'm sure the seat of his pants would get very stained at that moment. HA!

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I guess you are right about the incident, it could happen anywhere. I've always felt safe in Boone so it shocked me. I'm not getting a .44 (!), although I have no doubt that would be extremely effective. Pulling a gun on somebody certainly isn't my cup of tea! That only happens in Samuel L. Jackson movies.

Another argument for a carry permit and the appropriate training should you need to unholster. Had the hooligans made good on their threat you'd have been a corpse before the cops had finished their donuts.

And agreed: no purpose whatsoever in trying to reason with them. The rational are always bewildered by the refusal of the irrational to behave rationally.

Glad for you it didn't come to violence.

Dirty Harry Movies aside, had you actually taken the concealed carry course offered in your state, and carried a firearm, you would find out that you can't just "unholster" your firearm just because you feel scared, threatened or whatever.

You never attempt to display, unholster or use your firearm in public unless you are in legally provable, immediate and eminent threat of great bodily harm or death. Period. You can't threaten or intimidate someone with it. Think of how this looks in court to the judge: two fellas in their pickup, minding their own business (or so their lawyer says), and you pull a gun and stick it in their face. You'll be doing hard time, without even pulling the trigger.

Weapons are a double-edged sword (no pun intended); the great thing about them is that they're weapons; the bad thing about them is that they're weapons.

When the judge asks you to make a statement before your sentencing, it won't help to say that you read in NRA's magazine a story of someone doing this and getting off scott free. Is the NRA going to do the hard time for you? They're in the business of magazine and membership subscriptions; take their "legal advice" with a grain of salt, it's as worthwhile as what you paid for it.

As for the incident yourself, you handled it right. Just ignore them.

~Joe

Sorry to hear about it. There are rednecks in every state in the USA however, and in every country out there. They are called by different names, their cultures bend them in different ways. Usually it turns out to be people who feel so oppressed by their current conditions and by their current prospects that they act out. Sometimes it's bar fights, sometimes illegal activities, sometime personality disorders. There are as many ways to express anger and frustration as there are angry and frustrated people.

You handled it correctly, but you'll forever be watching your back with increased vigilance. That's sad, but perhaps unavoidable given the current state of the world economy. Things will likely get worse before they get better. Sigh...

Interesting that people are threatened by a camera these days, but spill their personal guts all over the internet in places such as Facebook, etc.

At any rate, you did the right thing. I'm not sure carrying a gun will necessarily make you safer, but at least the hooligan would learn something about photography... it's far less threatening to have a camera pointed at you than a gun.

I'd be inclined to walk away, avoid all eye contact, and call 911 if I heard such threats when photographing in public. (Which is legal.)

I've been doing street photography for several years and I have noticed that the only people who have ever bothered me are people I never intended to photograph, people who I haven't even pointed the lens at. They see the camera and it's like a red flag to a bull.

You did the right thing, and be glad that there were no guns around to escalate the situation.

Tim

i have had this happen to me in boston, in broad daylight in faneuil hall / quincy market.
the (not so)funny thing is in broad daylight if 7 people surround someone,
and threaten to kill them, the public just turns their back and walks away.


there is really nothing you can do ...
walk away ( if you can ) don't try to engage them in conversation,
and call the police if you think your life is in danger.

people are people, and some like to make themselves feel stronger by being in a pack and intimidating others.

pepper spray won't help, usually they will look for you and be even madder the next time they find you.

good luck!

Remaining silent and putting distance between you and the Neanderthals was the right course of action. My guess is that these guys were some bullies bored out of their pea-sized brain(s) looking for some "fun". I have no doubt that they would have escalated the incident had you responded.

I'm glad you are ok and have the sense to not over react by arming yourself. Best regards,

Bob

I suspect that these idiots meant you no true harm, but get their kicks by scaring people on the streets, like a bully in High School threatening freshmen in the hallways to prove how tough he is. Equally idiotic is the APUG poster who advocates carrying a gun. Threats and intimidation by washed-up high school bullies is bad, but it doesn't call for gunplay. Threatening someone who made a verbal threat agains you by "unholstering" is probably illegal in most states. Let's all carry guns, and then we can shoot each other in retaliation for insults. THAT'S how people get killed. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Forget the hooligans and move on; I'm sure they forgotten about you.

David Bailey once said "The ugliest thing on earth is 4 men in a car."
I'm glad you are OK.

I have a hypothesis that might fit. Insurance and compensation investigators often "tail" and photograph claimants if there is suspicion of fraud. My brother's girlfriend did this for a living, and had some awfully funny stories. It's possible this "gentleman" was officially home in a wheelchair instead of carousing with his buds.

David William White said:

I have a hypothesis that might fit. Insurance and compensation investigators often "tail" and photograph claimants if there is suspicion of fraud. My brother's girlfriend did this for a living, and had some awfully funny stories. It's possible this "gentleman" was officially home in a wheelchair instead of carousing with his buds.

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That actually makes sense - I have no idea what the actual story is so I'm going with this one! Thanks.

Also, thanks to everyone for the comments and encouragement. I admit I am going to be a little more cautious... today, I left the camera home but I am sure I'll continue shooting on the streets of whatever city I find myself in. I think I'll still get a can of Mace or something - turns out those are remarkably hard to buy these days - and keep it in the briefcase.

Try the buddy system when you go out photo shooting,rthomas . It would be a little safer and with a witness the cops might take you more serious .

mike c.

What does the phrase mean "...riding a shotgun..."? Did he actually had a gun with him, waving it in your face?
You meet disturbed people everywhere in the world, there is no absolute insurance against them. If things go really bad, you might be shot just you look the wrong way at somebody. There are people watching out for provocations, and the camera might have just served these fellows.

rthomas, I lived in Banner Elk for five years and was in Boone most every day, It does sound strange as I have a vivid picture of King st in my head right now. At the same time, the people who are born and raised there aren't always the same ones you see walking the streets on a daily basis. That town has tripled in size over about the last 10-15 years and it's mostly the college, as it is the cities industry. Other than that, it is a vacation spot, seasonal jobs or construction of Second homes are the majority of the working force. Some of the local long timers I would run into weren't always so happy about their current situation and with new construction still falling across the nation, a lot of those people are hurts and busting out of their shells. All in all, If someone is willing to get that upset about the possibility of having their picture taken it is because they don't want their face to be seen or recognized. Which means they are hiding from something, the past, present, supposed to be in school, shouldn't be out of their house or can be tied to something. So I agree with most of this advice that you took the right road. Plus, you still have a good camera to shoot another day and it's not smashed on the street in a thousand tiny pieces. You are in a great place to take pictures, everywhere you look is something beautiful and more so as you go up the mountain. Enjoy your time there.

Cheers

Lukas Werth said:

What does the phrase mean "...riding a shotgun..."?

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"Riding Shotgun" means he was in the front passengers seat. I think it actually dates back to referring to the seat next to the driver where an armed guard would sit on a "Stagecoach".

You mean they didn't charge you with illegal photography?

jerk151 said:

"Riding Shotgun" means he was in the front passengers seat. I think it actually dates back to referring to the seat next to the driver where an armed guard would sit on a "Stagecoach".

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jerk151, you win the prize!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calling_shotgun

There are so many losers out there just looking for trouble and some are just out for kicks. I really don't get it when some Neanderthal, when passing by in his car has to flip me the bird and say, "hey, why doncha take a picture of this!".

Don't say anything and walk away.

The more you think about it after the fact, the more they win. Just move on.

Steve

Truly frightening. But I'd side with other posters and just quietly move away, avoiding any trouble. Those guys were probably hitting up on something to fly off the hook like that.