Reuters photos of kids pointing guns at NRA event a ‘set up’ says grandfather

A photograph taken by a Reuters photographer of a child pointing a gun straight at the camera was a “set-up” at an NRA event to make gun owners look bad, said the grandfather of one of the children.

The UK’s Daily Mail and Business Insider both featured articles about gun violence in the United States leading with photos from the NRA event.

Business Insider issued multiple corrections to the story, not only misidentifying the type of gun that one teenager was holding, but also belatedly deleting the names of the minors who appeared in the photographs, after parents protested.  

Dan Eckert, whose six-year-old grandson was featured in one of the photographs, called the photography a “set up.” 

“What I noticed was [the photographer] was moving around so that whichever direction [his grandson] was, she tried to get in front of him,” Eckart told Fox News.  

Fox News refused to name the children in the photographs following a general media policy on using the images and likenesses of a minor without parental permission. 

Even the Associated Press refused to name a 17-year-old in Las Vegas who had just pled guilty to sexual assault and attempted murder charges as an adult, and now faces up to 55 years in prison, because the teenager is still a minor. 

Eckart told Fox News he volunteered his own name and the name of his grandchild, assuming that the photographer was there on behalf of the NRA taking photos for marketing and other materials related to the event. 

Reuters denied the charges. 

“Our photographer was at all times wearing a press badge and clearly introduced herself to adults as a photojournalist working for Reuters before taking any pictures of children,” the Reuters spokesperson said, according to Fox. “She took these pictures in a section of the convention designated for media, where signs informed attendees that they might be photographed by the press, and also obtained consent of all photographed from parents or guardians, not children.”

But the NRA disputed Reuters’ claim, saying there were no designated media spaces where attendees are told that their images and likenesses may be photographed for use with the press. 

“The only signs on the floor advise attendees that their images may be used to promote NRA programs,” she said, supporting the grandfather’s claim. “Perhaps Reuters has been provided false information.”

Other attendees had similar problems with the Reuters photographer, reported Fox. 

“Our kids’ photos have been taken other times during the conventions, so we didn’t think too much of it,” one mom, who attended the event, told Fox. “The photographer was smiling as she took the photos and was commenting to us how cute our kids were. But she never asked for permission beforehand or asked for consent to use or distribute them.”

The mom was able to get Reuters to delete those photos from their website, also lending credence to accusations that the photographer took the photos of children without first securing proper permission.