“Don’t try to leave. I will tackle you.”

That’s what rent-a-cops say to you when you take a picture of an open ATM being serviced by two Loomis & Fargo guards in an REI store. That’s right: snap a picture of publicly available ATM innards and get tackled by a fake cop.

Shane Becker, an anarchist, straight-edge, vegan, Rails developer who most of us would assume just needs a sandwich and a beer and he wouldn’t be so interested in seeing inside of an ATM, was arrested at a Seattle REI after snapping the photo above with his iPhone. The Loomis officers first asked him to show ID so they could fill out a report about the incident for the boys back at HQ and when Shane refused the real-live police took him down to Chinatown after playing the 9/11 card.

Officer Debra Pelich (#5976)
Remember 9/11? I saw pictures of those buildings. One time when I was in Florida I was wandering around taking pictures. A security team came up and told me it was a high security restricted area. I wasn’t supposed to be taking pictures there. I explained that I didn’t know that, was a police officer, showed them my ID and complied with them. We cleared it up and I left.
Me (totally baffled)
Since you managed to pull the 9/11 card somehow, does that mean that everyone that took a picture of those buildings—

While this is really just one vegan, Rails-developing, typophiliac anarchist vs. the world, his experience could soon be all our experiences once this anti-photo wackiness strikes one or more of us while we’re out snapping some shots.