A man snapping pictures of Chatterleigh residents protesting outside the Baltimore Lutheran School said he was arrested Wednesday morning for trespassing on public property.
Craig Kenney said Baltimore County police officers shackled his hands and ankles, and led him away in a squad car after they told him he was standing on school property. Kenney was working for community members protesting what they call a “circus tent” the school has erected as a field house. Wednesday morning marked the group?s third day of protests, and tempers grew hot as parents dropped off their children, residents said.
Police were present each day and one asked Kenney if he belonged to the group of protesters before arresting him, he said.
“It?s pure harassment,” said Kenney, a photojournalist. “I was just taking pictures.”
Protesters said their research indicates a 50-foot county easement between the street and the school?s property. Police spokesman Cpl. Michael Hill said it?s his understanding the school?s property abuts the street.
Hill said officers asked Kenney, who posts daily updates on the feud on a Web site, to move three times before arresting him.
“There is no easement,” Hill said. “We advised them they can?t go onto Baltimore Lutheran?s property. That?s our understanding and that?s what the [police] report is going to say.”
The protests and a threatened lawsuit are the latest moves of some Chatterleigh residents? war against the tent, which they call an eyesore. They say the school does not provide adequate parking, security and restrooms when it rents its athletic fields to outside groups.
The community and school officials have unsuccessfully met over the past year to discuss the conflict. Earlier this week, school spokeswoman Leslie Heubeck said the school publicized its plans for the tent long before it was erected.
Kenney said he was released on his own recognizance and is due in court in early October.
