In the aftermath of a boxing match last January in Glen Burnie, the crowd got rowdy and county police stepped in to keep order.

But when a Pasadena man tried to film officers cuffing some spectators and a Baltimore man stood up for his friend's right to videotape, they were the only two people who ended up in a holding cell.

Melvin B. Thomas IV, 38, of Baltimore, is now suing Cpl. Russell Hewitt III and the county Police Department, claiming they violated his rights Jan. 17 when they held him for 12 hours for exclaiming: "What about the freedom of the press?"

"I feel every hour I was locked up was a...