Take pictures, see FBI *

Valley College student Bay'an Hedayaty says he was just snapping some shots of the Red Line station at Hollywood and Highland for a photography class assignment. But it was 10 pm, he looks Middle Eastern, and he was carrying a framed painting of buildings with a plane flying over them. He tells the college paper, the Valley Star: "I was taking pictures and noticed people were running away from me. I turned around and eight cops had me surrounded like a pack of wolves." Hedayaty says a sheriff's deputy slammed him against the wall and demanded, "Are you a terrorist?" He was forced to sit cross-legged on the floor with his arms behind his back for an hour before being released with a warning that "you're in our file now." Says Hedayaty, "The other officers were all right. But I'll never forgive the sheriff that slammed me against the wall. He is a wanker." Perhaps because Hedayaty was carrying box cutters that he says are for his job, he later got a visit from FBI Special Agent Jared Murphey. It was not unpleasant. "They had a file on me as thick as a 70-page notebook," Hedayaty says. "He turned out to be a nice guy. He asked me about my family, where I was from and that was it." Alas, Hedayaty says, the pictures did not come out. By the way, photography in stations or of MTA trains is not against the law. * Although: The city Department of Transportation claims that taking photos or videos while on its buses is prohibited "without the prior consent of LADOT." Southern California Transit Advocates objects to that rule. 2:40 pm