Student newspaper suing Purdue for access to surveillance video
Posted: Aug 13, 2014 12:40 AM EDT | Updated: Nov 6, 2014 9:15 AM EDT
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Purdue student newspaper, the Purdue Exponent, is suing the university for access to video surveillance of an incident that happened two floors away and half an hour from a murder investigation.
On January 21, Cody Cousins is accused of entering the Electrical Engineering building and murdering Andrew Boldt.
Although police had blocked off access to the first floor of the building, a skyway between buildings allowed an Exponent photographer access to the second floor of the Electrical Engineering building.
Purdue Police confronted the photographer.
According to the lawsuit, the photographer immediately raised his hands, with a camera in each hand, and identified himself as a member of the media.
The student got to his knees, then was pushed to the ground, causing damage to his cameras, the lawsuit states.
Police then detained the photographer and confiscated his cameras, according to the lawsuit.
Two hours later he was released without being questioned and his cameras were returned to him an hour after his release, according to the lawsuit.
Several people have seen the surveillance video of the incident and want it to be released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The request was denied by the school, then the appeal to the Public Access Counselor was denied, according to the lawusit.
The lawsuit requests release of the surveillance video showing the incident between the photographer and police and attorneys fees.