Capital Times photographer Michelle Stocker suffered minor injuries in a scuffle Sunday with a Stoughton firefighter who tried to prevent her from photographing the aftermath of a motorcycle accident that injured several people at a parade.
Stocker said she was photographing victims of a Shriner's runaway motorcycle at the Syttende Mai parade on Main Street in Stoughton when Assistant Fire Chief Melvin "Red" Benschop ordered her to stop, hit her in the head with her camera and told her he was confiscating it.
The Capital Times is considering legal action. It was unclear today if Stoughton police planned to press charges.
"We simply cannot tolerate physical attacks on one of our journalists doing her job," said Dave Zweifel, the editor of The Capital Times. "This was a news story occurring on a public street at a very public event. The accident would interest anyone who attends a parade and needed to be covered for our readers. For this firefighter to take matters into his own hands in such a way is unconscionable."
Stocker, 28, said she saw a crowd rush away from where she was working toward an area in which Zor Shrine motorcyclist Christopher Lenzendorf of Monroe lost control of his motorcycle while performing maneuvers. The motorcycle slid into the crowd, inflicting minor injuries to about seven spectators, several of them children.
Not knowing what happened, she followed the crowd and encountered several injured people on the ground.
"There were victims injured lying on the sidewalk, so I started photographing them," she said. "I immediately encountered two firemen who were really hassling me, and a father who didn't want his daughter photographed."
Several hands went up to block her view.
After Stoughton Police Detective Erik Veum told the firefighters that Stocker had a right to be there, she continued taking pictures, but Benschop continued to follow her, making statements such as, "Do you understand English?" Stocker said.
"He was just harassing and bullying me," she added.
When an ambulance arrived and victims were placed on stretchers, Stocker continued taking pictures, and Benschop jerked the camera into her forehead, knocking off the lens shade, then tried to pull the camera strap over her head, Stocker said. As the two struggled in a tug-of-war, Stocker's father, Steve, who was nearby, interceded and Benschop backed off.
Stocker yelled for an officer and Benschop left.
She said there were no visible injuries, but she suffered headaches the following day and was nervous and jittery as a result of the confrontation.
"There are two sides to this whole thing and we're only hearing hers," Stoughton Fire Chief Marty Lamers said today. "I've got lots of witnesses that will say otherwise."
He said he's never had problems in the past with Benschop's behavior.
Lamers declined to go into further detail, citing the advice of attorney Mike Haas.
Benschop, who has been with the department since 1956, would not comment on the altercation, but said he was acting at the request of family members.
"The family of a couple of the youths were upset," he said. "They didn't want her taking any pictures."
Haas said today that he was told that the incident occurred after Stocker did not follow instructions from emergency workers to get out of the way.
"One of the firefighters decided she was interfering or wasn't giving them enough room," he said.
