Countless times while I was in Eldorado covering the raid on the YFZ Ranch, I pictured the events that were taking place out of sight, miles beyond police roadblocks and Texas scrub brush. We could see dozens of police vehicles rushing into the ranch, the police helicopter hovering overhead, and we could hear reports that police were preparing to breach the sect’s holy temple. But we could see nothing. It was frustrating beyond belief.
I wished for a way to get onto the ranch and photograph the historic events taking place. Little did I know, the people of the FLDS church were documenting their own history. And now they have put photos and video from the raid on a new site called
CaptiveFLDSChildren.org.
While they didn’t have my professional-grade equipment or years of experience, the photographers who took these photos had access. And as you can see, access is more important than equipment or eye.
These photographs give us just one side of the story, that of a people who feel their families were unjustly separated by overbearing government agents. Only time will reveal whether that is the way history will remember this story.
Uncredited photos from CaptiveFLDSChildren.org.
