Ohio State Photographer DETAINED For Capturing Cow Escape

After a pair of cows escaped their trailer at Ohio State University last week, Alex Kotran, a photographer for the student newspaper, ran to the scene to do his job.

But police told him he couldn't take pictures, even though he situated himself on public land.

The Lantern reports:

As Kotran reached the athletic fields where the cows were being chased by police and OSU workers, a woman wearing a School of Agriculture shirt confronted him, he said. It was 2 p.m.

She told him that he was not allowed to take photos of attempts to corral the cattle. She tried to block him from taking photographs, he said.

Kotran explained that he was a photographer for The Lantern, that where he was standing was public property, and that if she wanted him to stop taking photos, she should summon police.

That's exactly what she did.

Kotran was cuffed and held for 10 minutes; police said the area in which the business freshman was shooting -- about 100 yards away from the loose cows -- was too dangerous. Campus police say an investigation is ongoing, and say Kotran was not arrested but simply detained.

Student Press Law Center Executive Director Frank LoMonte told the Lantern that police will have to prove that Kotran was contributing to the hazard to justify his detention.

Meanwhile, two of Kotran's photos from the incident landed on the front page of the April 22 Lantern.