ROCKAWAY TWP. -- The lawyer for the Russian immigrant charged with unlawfully photographing Picatinny Arsenal said Thursday that the incident was a misunderstanding and that his client didn't realize he was pointing his camera in the direction of the Army base when he was arrested.
Attorney Benjamin Kelsen of Teaneck said his client -- Denis S. Ayzenberg, 26, of Lawrenceville, Ga. -- is an orthodox Jew who immigrated to the U.S. about a decade ago and is enrolled in graduate school in Georgia.
Kelsen said that Ayzenberg, whose English is "very, very accented" and was traveling with a fellow Russian immigrant, had difficulty communicating with police officers who swarmed their parked sport utility vehicle on Route 15 South on Sunday afternoon.
The confrontation took place about two miles from Picatinny's entrance, according to Kelsen, and about a half-hour after both were ordered away from the 6,500-acre base.
"Honest to God, he didn't realize the base extended that far," Kelsen said.
Ayzenberg was charged with violating a federal statute prohibiting unauthorized photographs of a military installation. He faces up to a year in prison and a fine.
Ayzenberg's friend was not charged. Police did not release his name.
A phone call to Picatinny Arsenal and an e-mail to the U.S. Department of Defense were not returned Thursday. Rockaway Township police and the county prosecutor's office, which aided in the investigation, have deferred comment to federal authorities.
Ayzenberg, who was released by police Monday morning, has returned to Georgia, according to his attorney.
Kelsen, in an interview Thursday about the much-publicized incident, said that Ayzenberg was visiting friends in Passaic County last weekend when someone -- Kelsen didn't know the name -- suggested driving to the area near Picatinny.
"He had been asked by somebody, who said they lived in the area years ago, what does it look like today," Kelsen said.
Ayzenberg and his friend pulled into Picatinny after seeing the entrance sign. Kelsen said his client later explained that it looked like a good "tourist attraction."
After being told to leave, they exited onto Route 15 and drove away before parking on the highway shoulder -- where Ayzenberg resumed taking photos, Kelsen said.
Police who converged on the parked vehicle allegedly saw that Ayzenberg was concealing a digital camera under his jacket. Other items that could be used for surveillance, including a laptop, were on the floor of the vehicle.
Ayzenberg, though, didn't realize the wooded trees in the background of his photo were actually part of the base, according to his lawyer. Ayzenberg's beard and white head covering also might have led authorities to suspect he fit a terrorist profile , Kelsen said.
"He has a beard and a type of head covering belonging to a certain kind of Hasidic sect -- a large, white-knit type of head covering," Kelsen said
"The whole thing is really amusing," said Kelsen, who is a rabbi.
"He's not a terrorist. He's an orthodox Jew who's an amateur photographer," he added.
Ayzenberg and his friend were held at police headquarters until about 5 a.m. Monday, Kelsen said. Ayzenberg, by that point, was terrified according to his lawyer.
"He grew up in the former Soviet Union. There was still KGB at that point. He was very, very nervous," Kelsen said.
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force allowed both to be released after determining that neither had any terrorist connections.
Ayzenberg is scheduled to appear in court in May, Kelsen said.
