Houston Man Receives Visit from FBI after Photographing Weather

[sailingaway]

http://woofie2.pixiq.com/files/cache/michael_galindo_620x483.jpg


A man who snapped photos of a brewing storm last month received a visit Friday from an FBI Agent, inquiring why he would want to take such photos.

Michael Galindo explained that he was simply volunteering for the National Weather Service.

And FBI Agent David Pileggi seemed to be satisfied with that response.

But Galindo was left wondering whether he now has a permanent FBI file.

“He told me, ‘you’re not a threat and you are doing a public service but just be careful next time,’” Galindo said in a telephone interview with Photography is Not a Crime.


Read more at http://www.pixiq.com/article/houston-man-receives-visit-from-fbi-after-photographing-weather#IF14JMCRFQAP9zXM.99

[Origanalist]

Be careful next time? Huh?

[Origanalist]

Joint Terrorism Task Forces are a little different than fusion centers but they both operate under the Department of Homeland Security and are under the assumption photographers are terrorists.
:rolleyes:

[Origanalist]

From the link


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZvGC58Ew_WIWelcome to Amerika

[Czolgosz]

It always grows and NEVER recedes.

[RickyJ]

I doubt it had anything to do with the weather, they were more concerned with what was on the ground in that photo, not in the sky. Someone didn't like him taking pictures of that property.

[squarepusher]

Be careful next time? Huh?

lol thats mafia talk

[NoOneButPaul]

It always grows and NEVER recedes.

It NEVER recedes because people continue to tell themselves IT NEVER recedes.

[osan]

A great example of how people fuck up in these situations. The FBI has no authority to question this man, yet he ceded his right to privacy to the agent. He should have told the agent where to get off and hung up in his ear.

Turn your backs to them at every opportunity. Grant then NOTHING. Make them sweat and let their frustration grow. Force them into the corner of having to choose to back down or become violent. Strip them of their presumption of position over you. Never let them forget that AT BEST they are your equals and nothing more, nor shall they ever be more than that. Rub their noses in it and the fact that they hold no authority over you whatsoever. Render them aware of their irrelevance in your life. Reduce them to sameness. Recognize no shred of legitimacy in them. Let them feel the distance between themselves and you.

Expose their ridiculousness before the world.

The only thing they have is force and even that can be met in kind.

[Danke]

I doubt it had anything to do with the weather, they were more concerned with what was on the ground in that photo, not in the sky. Someone didn't like him taking pictures of that property.

"The problem arose because Galindo happened to be taking photos near the Lyondell Refinery outside of Houston on September 13, even though he was never standing on the refinery’s property.

Someone from the refinery spotted him and called police, whom apparently arrived after he had left."

[idiom]

If I wanted photos of facilities, I would just use Google Street View. The are generously providing detailed intelligence to terrorists around the world.

[tangent4ronpaul]

I doubt it had anything to do with the weather, they were more concerned with what was on the ground in that photo, not in the sky. Someone didn't like him taking pictures of that property.

BINGO!

-t

[ronpaulfollower999]

Damn…not even volunteers for government agencies are safe.

[acptulsa]

“He told me, ‘you’re not a threat and you are doing a public service but just be careful next time,’”

Be careful of a damned refinery? Seriously?

So, photography is now illegal in Texas City, Texas? Because if you can take a photograph of anything bigger than a lizard in Texas City without getting a refinery in the shot, you're a better shot than I am.

[FindLiberty]

SSDD from 12/2010

http://www.pixiq.com/article/california-man-told-he-needs-permit-to-photograph-family

[2young2vote]

So from that distance the refinery employee probably only had a description of the car. Which means they found the exact person who took the pictures just off of the description of the car. Well isn't that wonderful :(

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

The gift that Teddy Roosevelt keeps on giving. Man, what would we do without the Progressive Era...

The FBI is an abomination. NKVD your ass.

[Pericles]

Might be a little more to it. Saw a start up software company about 9 years ago do a DHS pitch for their product. Idea was to take feeds from security cameras, define a security perimeter and look for object that moved in to the perimeter and ID them for investigation or alert. It seemed that DHS would buy anything.

I wasn't impressed with the idea because a real terrorist does not stand around taking pictures, and when the attack comes, somebody is in the perimeter and doing damage before the security system is finished sending a text message to the head of security's iPhone.

[truelies]

Lordy for a year I regularly photographed the Nimitz on the Pudget Sound just to see if I could provoke some silly ass to say something about what they saw. No luck. LMAO

[puppetmaster]

seems a bit strange that we have so few refineries and many are experiencing explosions and critical failures all of the sudden. I do realize these are older refineries but they are maintained....the FBI is right there also....hmmmmm.
gas prices are climbing fast due to these outages.....

[Zippyjuan]

I doubt it had anything to do with the weather, they were more concerned with what was on the ground in that photo, not in the sky. Someone didn't like him taking pictures of that property.

From the link:

The problem arose because Galindo happened to be taking photos near the Lyondell Refinery outside of Houston on September 13, even though he was never standing on the refinery’s property.

Someone from the refinery spotted him and called police, whom apparently arrived after he had left.

Read more at http://www.pixiq.com/article/houston-man-receives-visit-from-fbi-after-photographing-weather#SDHhvh5D4Eoy56Di.99

[nobody's_hero]

I'm trying to imagine some worker at the refinery complaining about a guy in a car taking photos of his workplace while a funnel cloud develops over his head, lol.

Worker A: "Hey, you hear we're under a tornado watch?"

Worker B: "Nah, don't worry about that. There's a suspicious guy taking pictures of this refinery."

Tornado hits refinery, starts a massive fire with explosions.

News crews show up in convoys and start taking pictures.

FBI: "Hey, why are you all taking pictures? Something smells fishy."

[presence]

It NEVER recedes because people continue to tell themselves IT NEVER recedes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou1hODlpseY

What kind of attitude is that?

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

So from that distance the refinery employee probably only had a description of the car. Which means they found the exact person who took the pictures just off of the description of the car. Well isn't that wonderful :(


I wouldn't assume that at all. Cameras are everywhere.

[Carson]

So from that distance the refinery employee probably only had a description of the car. Which means they found the exact person who took the pictures just off of the description of the car. Well isn't that wonderful :(


They probably have a camera system that records every car that goes by... and the weather.

[torchbearer]

yeah, he was reported for what appeared to be photographing a refinery.
i've been wanting to get a picture of the fema "super shelter" they build outside of alexandria... but the fear that i will attract fed attention keeps me from doing it.

[DamianTV]

I have a feeling that the "Goal" of this is to make all people afraid of taking pictures of cops committing crimes.

[paulbot24]

This is very interesting timing. My wife just graduated college yesterday and both her, my-mother in law, and I posed in front of a huge walkway about a block away from the ceremony so my father-in-law could get a picture of the three of us. It was a great spot for a picture with a fountain in the background and my wife still in her cap and gown. As we finished, a security guard walked up and said we couldn't take pictures because it was private property. I glanced over at the guard and muttered "Statist." Then I noticed there were doors to the left and the right of the fountain that read "Wells Fargo." What is frustrating is that I can't "go off" in front of my in-laws but DAAAAAMMMMNNNN this pissed me off. Basically the only thing I was able to fire off before my wife started to pull me away (she knows all about how I can be with these types) was "You'd think will all the bailout money you got, you people would be in a better mood." It's weak and I know she's just "doing her job" but the same thing is said about the police when they kick down the door of the wrong house and the troops when they rack up "collateral damage" trying to get at their intended target. If their job is to support a police state-1984 world they need to get another damn job. Period.

[puppetmaster]

yeah, he was reported for what appeared to be photographing a refinery.
i've been wanting to get a picture of the fema "super shelter" they build outside of alexandria... but the fear that i will attract fed attention keeps me from doing it.

do it!!!

[Anti Federalist]

Houston Man Receives Visit from FBI after Photographing Weather

http://www.pixiq.com/article/houston-man-receives-visit-from-fbi-after-photographing-weather

A man who snapped photos of a brewing storm last month received a visit Friday from an FBI Agent, inquiring why he would want to take such photos.

Michael Galindo explained that he was simply volunteering for the National Weather Service.

And FBI Agent David Pileggi seemed to be satisfied with that response.

But Galindo was left wondering whether he now has a permanent FBI file.

“He told me, ‘you’re not a threat and you are doing a public service but just be careful next time,’” Galindo said in a telephone interview with Photography is Not a Crime.

The problem arose because Galindo happened to be taking photos near the Lyondell Refinery outside of Houston on September 13, even though he was never standing on the refinery’s property.

Someone from the refinery spotted him and called police, whom apparently arrived after he had left.

Police then contacted the local FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, which bills itself as “nation’s front line on terrorism.”

“I was pretty freaked out when he came but I had no idea what it was about,” said the 26-year-old man. “The worst thing I’ve done is get speeding tickets, but I haven’t gotten one in three years.

“He said I was spotted near the refinery but I couldn’t even remember doing that. I thought it had to be somebody else.

“It wasn’t until he mentioned my camera that I made the connection.”

Galindo told the agent that he volunteers for a NWS program called Skywarn that trains citizens to monitor the weather in the name of “protecting lives and property.”

He said when he pulled off to the side of the road and began taking photos of a brewing storm and potential tornados, he didn’t even notice the refinery, but made sure there weren’t any “no parking” signs around.

“I told him I had been looking for a clear line of site and I had found it,” he said.

Although Pileggi seemed a little surprised by that response, he pulled out a three-page document and began asking questions off it, inquiring whether Galindo had ever been in the military or had ever traveled overseas and about what schools he had attended in the past.

“I wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything,” Galindo said.

The 20-minute visit took place less than a week after a scathing report was released on the inefficiency and ineptitude on urban fusion centers, such as the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Homeland Security Bureau, which was monitoring my Facebook page because of my blog, as well as the Houston fusion center, which produced a video depicting photographers as terrorists.

Joint Terrorism Task Forces are a little different than fusion centers but they both operate under the Department of Homeland Security and are under the assumption photographers are terrorists.

[Anti Federalist]

Ugh, search fail.

Sorry.

[AFPVet]

I doubt it had anything to do with the weather, they were more concerned with what was on the ground in that photo, not in the sky. Someone didn't like him taking pictures of that property.

Bingo. Refineries are classified as national security resources.

[Anti Federalist]

“He told me, ‘you’re not a threat and you are doing a public service but just be careful next time,’”

Be careful of a damned refinery? Seriously?

So, photography is now illegal in Texas City, Texas? Because if you can take a photograph of anything bigger than a lizard in Texas City without getting a refinery in the shot, you're a better shot than I am.

This...

I think everybody realizes it was the refinery that ratted this poor bastard out, "see something say something".

I guess photography is illegal now in Kenner, LA and Bayonne NJ and Chelsea MA, and Gary IN, and a million other places where a tank battery or refinery or federal building or airport would be in the shot.

[idiom]

You guys are letting me down. This thread has totally failed to speculate on the FBI protecting the secrecy of weather control experiments.

[torchbearer]

You guys are letting me down. This thread has totally failed to speculate on the FBI protecting the secrecy of weather control experiments.


that is odd.
maybe the paid agents are on vacation since there isn't a threat to power at the moment? (does that make up for the lack of HAARP?)