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YFZ Revisited – April 17, 2008 – Lunch Break and Beyond

Posted on December 11, 2008 — No Comments ↓

At one point this group exited the courthouse and headed toward City Hall, where a simulcast of the hearing was being broadcast.

They were quickly swarmed by cameras. It’s amazing how interesting people walking down the sidewalk can be at a big news story.

They came to the end of the block and waited at the crosswalk for the light to change.

Notice the smart tactic of the two women standing behind the group. Looking through the photos now, I’m noticing that those two would often walk in the “second row,” behind other FLDS women. Because of this, most of the TV cameras seemed to miss them.

I’m sure reporters were asking questions during all this, but no one said anything.

I circled around.

YFZ Revisited – April 17, 2008 – Hearing Begins

Posted on December 10, 2008 — No Comments ↓

Officers outside the Tom Green County Courthouse to provide security for the mandatory 14-day custody hearing for over 400 children removed from the FLDS Church’s YFZ Ranch.

People began arriving pretty early. I had met this woman the day before when we poked our heads into her SUV. She stood outside the courthouse for a brief moment while the man she walked in with (her attorney?) talked with some reporters.

Two very different emotions in the photo above and the one below, considering that she would either have her kids returned or kept in custody in the hearing to follow.

In walk the attorneys for the FLDS: Rod Parker, “spokesman” Willie Jessop, Richard Wright, Bruce Griffen (he’s back there somewhere).

I love the look on her face after wading through the media, who gathered in a pack at this entryway. Doesn’t she look calm in contrast to their frenzy?

Out of the 400+ attorneys who came to the hearing to represent all sides, Susan Hays was the only one who stopped to talk. She became a regular fixture in news reports on the case. If she was a cartoon character, her catchphrase would be, “I won’t talk about my client.”

The line began to form outside the courthouse, and pretty soon it stretched halfway across the block.

Tagged with: annette jeffs, cps, flds, media, Polygamy, raid, rod parker, san angelo, texas, willie jessop, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

YFZ Revisited – April 14, 2008 – Media at YFZ

Posted on December 5, 2008 — No Comments ↓

More photos from the first ever FLDS media opportunity at the YFZ Ranch, this time focusing on the journalists and media that were there.

You know how I said before that it turned into a mix and mingle? See:

Marie got a lot of attention. She was obviously very distraught over her three young children being taken away.

One reporter gave her a hug:

At one point I started watching a reporter asking Sally questions about the claims of child-brides and criminal activity among the FLDS living on the ranch. She wouldn’t answer and kept trying to keep the conversation on the children being taken away from their mothers, but the newsman kept pursuing his line of tough questions. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore and put her head in her hands:

Here is the rest of the sequence as Sally walked off on the reporter. This happened fast, two seconds tops:

Tagged with: eldorado, flds, media, Polygamy, raid, texas, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

The YFZ Awards

Posted on June 2, 2008 — No Comments ↓

Here and now I’m presenting the awards for the past two weeks spent covering the polygamy raid in Texas. I fully recognize that all of you involved (media, CPS, FLDS) were deserving of some award or another, and I had a hard time narrowing it down to these finalists. So if you didn’t win (or if you did), remember that it’s all in fun. As they say at the YFZ schoolhouse: We’re all about smiles around here!

Most unobtrusive photographer in a pink shirt with a wet towel on his head:

Sweatiest hairy neck on a hot day:

Best judge-shielding by a baliff:

Best photo of man holding a box:

Best photo of Willie Jessop where he appears to be walking into a pole with a small human head growing out of his shoulder:

Best onion:

Worst case of microphone assault:

Most ironic use of yellow tape during a CPS press conference:

Worst place to sit on a 106 degree day: Between two hot grills at the Japanese Steak House.

Worst food product ever bought at a gas station: Fried green beans in Eldorado.

Photographer hustle award:

Best souvenir: A business card I collected. But I can’t tell you whose it is.

Favorite quote uttered at an Italian restaurant: “If the families won at the Supreme Court, why are they losing?”

Worst shady place to park on a stakeout the Schleicher County Courthouse when you need to be able to clearly see the front door:

Cutest couple: Aw, come on. Too easy of a joke.

Funniest (and only) ten minutes of television I watched in two weeks: The Nancy Grace Show.

Best day off: No award given.

Tagged with: barbara walther, box, cps, eldorado, flds, judge, ksl, louisa bradshaw jessop, louisa jessop, marleigh meisner, media, onion, photographers, photography, Polygamy, san angelo, schleicher county, sweat, texas, willie jessop, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

401

Posted on April 7, 2008 — No Comments ↓

Jumping ahead of the story for some breaking news. Just got out of the most packed press conference I’ve seen in a while. You could feel the shock in the air (and hear more than a few gasps) when Texas Child Protective Services spokesperson Marleigh Meisner announced that they had now taken 401 children into protective custody.