Two men arrested at Shell refinery

Two contributors to the citizen journalism website Photography Is Not a Crime were arrested while filming at the Deer Park Shell Oil Refinery.

Earl David Worden, 54, was charged with interfering with a public servant on Monday, and Phillip Andrew Turner, 26, was charged with criminal trespass Tuesday.

Both were affiliated with Photography Is Not a Crime, a website that encourages readers and contributors to document police abuses among other news coverage.

Ryan Sullivan, Harris County Sheriff's Office public information officer, said the group's methods are sometimes construed as inciting interactions with law enforcement to provoke a response — a characterization the organization, abbreviated as PINAC News, objects to.

"We're about accountability," said Felipe Hemming, a staffer with PINAC News.

Security at the Shell refinery in Deer Park first contacted the Harris County Sheriff's Office about a possible security threat at 3:40 p.m. Monday. Deputies found Worden walking the perimeter of the refinery while wearing a "heavily camouflaged jacket" despite the warm weather, according to a sheriff's office news release. Worden refused to show identification and "was evasive in response to the deputies' inquiry," the release said. Worden refused to comply with a security check, and deputies physically restrained him to finish the investigation.

Worden had been on the Shell property the day before, too, when he had a similar encounter with Deer Park police officers. Hemming said he believed Worden was at the Shell property to film footage for a story about recent Shell layoffs.

Turner then went to the refinery the next day. Hemming sent Turner to the same location to investigate Worden's arrest, Hemming said. Turner then recorded his arrest on the live-streaming app Periscope.

Unlike Worden, Turner entered the property line, officials say, leading to the criminal trespass charge, according to Sullivan. A video of the arrest PINAC News posted shows officers debating whether to charge Turner with trespassing.

The Deer Park Shell Oil Refinery is located within the Houston Ship Channel Security District, an area established by the Texas Legislature and overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard. In addition to levels of security determined by the Coast Guard, the refinery also employs private security.

The refinery has had heightened security after the recent terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., Sullivan said.

"Those refineries in the Port of Houston are our most valuable and sensitive asset in the area," Sullivan said. "We're working tirelessly to make sure that target remains secured."

Worden has a history of confrontations with law enforcement for his work with PINAC, the sheriff's office said. His record also includes convictions for sexual assault, unlawful possession of a firearm and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

"Everybody has a constitutional right to film. This is not about photography," Sullivan said. "It's about a preponderance of evidence giving an officer reasonable cause to investigate."