Photographer held by LINT agents An AUGUR photographer was detained for about an hour Tuesday morning in the Lane County Courthouse by an undercover narcotics agent working with the Lane Interagency Narcotics Team (LINT). Kate Thompson. 18, was taken into custody after attempting to take a photograph of the arresting officer and one other LINT agent. Ms. Thompson was released after an hour of questioning and no charges were brought against her. Although Ms. Thompson was not booked, the arresting officer, Det. Rudy Mauch, Springfield Police Department, placed her “under arrest for harrasment,” she said. Charles Porter, Eugene attorney, who represented Ms. Thompson, said the harrassment clause of the new criminal code which went into effect Jan. 1, is “unconstitutional on vagueness and overbreadth.” In an interview with the Emerald. Ms. Thompson reported she was at the court house to “take a picture basically of only Steve Cain.” Cain and Mauch were identified in the Jan. 6 issue of the Augur as narcotics agents. The Augur was present at the Courthouse because they had heard that a secret grand jury would be held to issue indictments against drug users and pushers the LINT agents had identified. Ms. Thompson continued, “I missed Cain when he got off the elevator, and I grabbed my camera to get a picture of the back of him and of Mauch, who was walking straight for me. I was able to shoot one frame when Mauch grabbed my camera, which was around my neck, and said, ‘Give me that camera.’ “I refused to give it to him and he put me under arrest for harrasment. “He .ook me by the wristlock (a method used by police to partially imobolize a prisoner), and took me down the hall and some other r.arcs met him. He said, ‘take her camera’ and they took it from around my neck.” Ms. Thompson said she did not give the officers permission to take her camera, which was returned to her when she was released, nor did she give them permission to take the film from the camera. The district attorney reimbursed her for the film which they took from her camera. “Mauch took me into the DA’s office and I was questioned for about an hour. “They talked to me about how much the lives of officers and their families were threatened by having these pictures published.” Assistant District Attorney John Moore said he felt the arresting officer was justified in his action “from a human standpoint.” He cited an incident in which LINT agent Steve Cain’s car was burned on Jan. 5, and his family was threatened prior to that time. The car fire was classified as first degree arson, reported the Springfield Police Department. Moore said Ms. Thompson was released because he “didn’t feel it was appropriate to file a charge against her." Porter, Ms. Thompson’s attorney, met with Moore Tuesday afternoon and said, “Moore returned the film to me, said he would apologize officially for what hap pened to Ms. Thompson, and said the of ficers involved had been duly admonished for their actions.” Porter went on to say that “the film appears to be unexposed, but I’m not sure. “Moore also agreed that unnecessary roughness had been used in the arrest.” He add, “I think he realized they were off-base, since she had a legitimate pur pose to take the pictures, and that there was no violation of the law.” Shortly before Augur photographer Kale Thompson (center) was detained by Det. Kudy Mauch