An unusual back and forth between a photographer and a House candidate Thursday culminated in the following exchange.
“It’s a free country isn’t it?” the cameraman asked.
“It sure is,” replied Sean Bielat, who’s running against Rep. Barney Frank (D) in Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional district. “At least if we can get the Congress back.”
“Quit the jokes, dude, you’re no[t] funny at all,” the photographer responded.
The cameraman in question? James Ready, perhaps better known as Frank’s partner. And the whole exchange was caught on camera.
In the interest of not getting Breitbarted, TPM spoke with Frank’s spokesman Harry Gural, who confirmed that the encounter took place as filmed.
“Yeah, he was there,” Gural said. “Jimmy takes photos of various events. He’s into photography, usually of Barney.”
“This [debate] had just broken up and he took some shots of Bielat…. [H]e should’ve just walked away faster. He wasn’t trying to bushwhack him or anything like that. He was just taking [camera] shots.”
Bielat recognized Ready and objected (mildly) to Ready taking his photo. After the exchange, according to Gural, Bielat discussed the issue briefly with Frank and got his assurance that everything was on the level.
You can see footage of the incident below.
Late Update: So what was all the fuss about? We’ve obtained one of the scandalous photos Ready took of Bielat. Take a look.
