Jeff Cagle
i am a freelance news and editorial photographer living in the chicago suburbs.
my portfolio is at jeffcagle.com. You can also find me at instagram.com/jeffcagle
get in touch: jeffrey [dot] cagle [at] gmail
Ask me anything
-
I headed out to the NATO rally on Sunday a buddy of mine who is a filmmaker. After he had been threatened to have his camera smashed while he was out on Saturday, along with reading what other photographers had found on anarchist sites about best ways to cut camera straps and instructions on which door on the camera houses memory cards, we figured it would be a good idea to head out together. Nothing really came of those threats and once things really got going on Sunday it was every man for himself. But here’s a short video he put together from two days on the street. Some of these scenes might look familiar from stills I’ve already posted.
-
At one point the most dangerous place to be in the crowd was not at the front of the line where the main clash was happening, but about 15 feet back as police surged west and pinned everyone up against the wall of a business. The metal barricades separating the street from the sidewalk were knocked over and it’s only out of sheer luck that no one got caught under them or that no one had an ankle go through the bars and get snapped as the crowd poured over uncontrollably. Protesters quickly organized, made a hole, picked up a barricade and threw it at the police.
-
Protesters and police square off at the intersection of Michigan and Cermak
-
With all of the cameras around yesterday when things got heated at the NATO protest, it’s going to be interesting to see how the narrative of the day is shaped over time. One of my fears is that the context of images of the police response could get lost.
Brian Cassella of the Chicago Tribune caught an image of a police officer throwing a punch at a protester that will probably live on for years to come, but as he said, it’s important to see it in its full sequence.
-
-
Nan Wigmore of Portland, Ore., encourages the crowd as she holds her ground in front of police lines at the intersection of Michigan and Cermak during Sunday’s NATO protest.
You think you’re tough being up on the front line when police start swinging batons to keep the anarchists from breaking through, and then out of the fray comes a little old lady and you wonder what she was like at your age.
-
We just got our beers, and a detective said: ‘free dinner for everybody,’ and told everybody to get out
Joseph Biancofior, a Park Grill customer, after a suspicious device was found in Millenium Park. You’ve gotta love cop humor. The chef said the incident could cost the restaurant $20,000 in business. -
This comment reflects my thoughts perfectly on photos from stories like these when mass violence breaks out at events like the Taste of Chicago.
And I’ll tell you why the pictures are of the police and not the thugs causing the problems: because it’s far safer to be standing next to and snap a photo of someone who is armed, trained and gets paid to risk their life day in and day out to keep the peace and protect you than it is to get in the middle of a bunch of animals who are running around stabbing each other for wearing the wrong colors or twisting their fingers the wrong way.
-
Give Second City Cop a book deal already
They still haven’t identified themselves and like to play coy with the press, but I’ve almost stopped reading every other political blog/column in favor of this. For anyone looking for a crash course in Chicago politics, this is probably your best bet.
And if you ever wondered why the crime rate is going up in Chicago, one major reason could be that the police are afraid to do their jobs when their own superintendent might just throw a case to the federales and get you a 40-month sentence even after it has run its course on the local level:
He did wrong. He got whacked administratively. He took a two year suspension and was reinstated by the Police Board. A board appointed by the mayor. There was no cover up. There was no “blue wall of silence.” A court upheld the Police Board decision to reinstate.
Cozzi also faced a judge for his conduct. He pleaded guilty. He got probation just like hundreds and thousands of other people with clean criminal records get every single year in Cook County. He attended anger management classes, did community service and fulfilled all the conditions of his probation (which is more than you can say for the killer of Officer Valadez who violated his probation at least three times and never spent a day behind bars for it.) He apologized in open court to the drunk he struck and the city settled the civil suit. In other words, he was already punished.
And then he got fucked. Truly screwed by a fed looking to make a name for himself. And in Cozzi getting the shortest end of the shittiest stick around, an entire Department was lost. Instead of worrying about the problems in front of us (crime), everyone started worrying about what was behind us (J-Fed). And not just the street coppers. The brass started looking over their shoulders, too. And with everyone looking behind for the knife, leadership became nonexistent and now what have we got?
De-policing. Ticket slowdowns. Arrests down tremendously. Useless videos where the brass claims “we’ve got your back” but no one believes it. The attitude of “no public contact = no problems.” Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Meaningless number shuffling. Bullshit missions and bullshit “strike forces” that do nothing to address crime but merely push it from one corner to another. Or from one neighborhood to another quieter neighborhood that used to be quiet and crime free, but now is police-free and open to pillaging.
A million questions and no answers. We are at a loss.
Page 1 of 2
