Blog
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YFZ Ranch
Eldorado – Schoolhouse at the FLDS Church’s YFZ Ranch.
Eldorado – Grandma Gloria in the garden at the FLDS Church’s YFZ Ranch.
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YFZ Purgatory
Anything to photograph today on the YFZ story? No. No. No. No. No. Been that way for nearly an entire week. The past few days…no, start over. The past SEVERAL days have been disappointing. Photos have been very hard to come by, mainly due to a lack of access on all sides of the story. As everyone sits and waits for the Supreme Court of Texas to come to a decision that will define this entire event, nothing happens. Not that it hasn’t been fascinating at times. I’ve met some very interesting people that I never thought would talk and found them to be quite amazing. On the down side, lawyers have refused me access to photograph their clients, the state isn’t saying much of anything, and I spend hours sitting around waiting for something to happen. I could go on, but I don’t want to make anyone mad by complaining. I’m just going crazy waiting for something to shoot. This is history and I want to be on the front lines. If you don’t believe me, here is my Wednesday in San Angelo: Woke up. Showered. Rented Rambo. Bought candy (Mike-N-Ikes, Sugar Babies). Drove to courthouse, parked in shade. All other media are gone. Watched Rambo in my car, as I looked for anything to happen. Watched all deleted scenes and special featurettes on Rambo DVD. Blogged.
Returned to hotel. Played the 1984 videogame, Super Basketball on my laptop (via the Mame arcade emulator). I’m getting better. I finally beat the Japanese team. (That’s me above, celebrating with my shirt off after hitting the game-winning free-throw?). Went to lunch with two Tribune reporters, one of whom is having a hard time eating anymore after so much restaurant food. We encourage her to eat. If the ruling comes down it’s going to be hard to find time for meals. Returned to hotel. Watched entire Rambo film again, this time with Sylvester Stallone’s audio commentary.
Went out and started a new photo essay: The Dumpsters of San Angelo. (I told you I was going nuts.) While I was working on my photo essay, I did some dumpster diving in the bin behind a bookstore. There were dozens of copies of magazines with their covers ripped off. I pulled out several cycling magazines before store employees ran me off. Return to hotel. Read cycling magazines while we talk about going to a movie. There are five choices; I’ve seen three and I don’t want to see the other two. Two of us go to eat and have the best steak of the trip. Why didn’t we find this restaurant two months ago, when we started this story?! Going to bed now. Maybe tomorrow will bring something for me to do. Otherwise, there are hundreds more dumpsters in this town.
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The Warren Jeffs Photos – Time Bomb
What’s today, Wednesday? So it’s been five days since we first published the photos of Warren Jeffs and the 12-year-old girl. The photos, if legitimate, seem destined to become the poster image for the FLDS/child bride debate. But for whatever reason, the photos didn’t break into the spotlight immediately. Only today do they seem to be coming into the national conversation. Almost a week after their release are they popping up all over the Internet as news outlets and blogs “discover them.” The delayed reaction is surprising from here in San Angelo. We hadn’t seen anything like these photographs released before and expected their release to go off like a bomb last week. We expected shows like Nancy Grace and CNN to pipe them into your homes nonstop all weekend long. And that was probably the hope of Child Protective Services (CPS). But it didn’t happen. All was quiet over Memorial Day Weekend, and only a few outlets picked up on the photographs. But then The Smoking Gun put them online yesterday and everything kicked off from there. They are now spreading like a virus coming out of its incubation period. One thing to note for all of you ethicists is that many news outlets are running the photographs with no attempt to conceal the identity of the girl, and some are even printing her name (which was handwritten on the sheet of photos). The Tribune decided to blur the girl’s face to protect her identity in case she is a victim of sexual abuse. Our policy is to not identify victims of sexual abuse.
I was in the hearing last Friday when the photos were first introduced into evidence. As the lawyers handed the three sheets of photographs showing Warren Jeffs holding and kissing two different young girls, I was craning my neck for a better view. The photos were released at the next break in testimony. We were the only media outlet in the hearing that had two staffers. So while the reporters were stuck in the courtroom listening to testimony, I was able to wait in the clerk’s office for the first copies of the photos. Once they were in my hand I calmly walked out and down the steps of the courthouse, trying to act normal as I went to my car to send the photos with my laptop. I didn’t want the masses of broadcast (TV) media outside to realize we had a scoop. My call to the Tribune with news of the photographs came during the afternoon budget meeting and sent a buzz through the assembled editors. Again, I’m talking last Friday. That’s when we had it. Smoking gun or not, we were first.
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YFZ Hearing
San Angelo Tom Green County Courthouse Tuesday, May 27, 2008, a custody hearing on FLDS member Dan Jessop’s newborn son.. Tuesday May 27, 2008. Judge Barbara Walther
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Wow.
Sometimes words fail me. So I’ll use the words of my colleague Brooke Adams, who wrote this for The Salt Lake Tribune:
A single photograph introduced in court Friday could define Texas’ case against a polygamous sect: FLDS leader Warren S. Jeffs cradling a 12-year-old girl in his arms and kissing her, a state attorney said, “how a husband would kiss a wife.”
NOTE: The Salt Lake Tribune blurred the girl’s face. ONE MORE THING: Thanks to my dad for cracking open the .MDI file that the photos came to me in. Microsoft, what are you thinking with all of your closed file formats?
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CPS Custody Hearing
San Angelo Dan Jessop and his wife Louisa Bradshaw are surrounded by cameras as they leave the Tom Green County Courthouse, Friday, May 23, 2008 after a custody hearing on their newborn son. Jessop said it was only the second time he had seen his child. Friday May 23, 2008. 
