As the government operation unfolded, Alan Diaz, 43-year-old freelance photographer on assignment for The Associated Press, was inside the house with his camera.
AP shooter tells the story behind gripping image Elian Gonzalez, held by Donato Dalrymple, is taken from his Miami relatives early Saturday in a pre-dawn raid by federal agents.
By Alan Diaz ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI, April 23 -- "They're here! They're here!" a cameraman shouted in the darkness. Then, suddenly, all was chaos.
SOMEHOW, before a team of federal agents went in, I hopped a fence and ran inside the modest home where Elian Gonzalez had lived since he was rescued from the ocean on Thanksgiving Day.
Inside, family members screamed. I heard the door slam shut behind me. "Go to the room -- go to the room," someone said, directing me to the bedroom Elian shared with his cousin Marisleysis. I rushed in and fumbled for a light switch. Elian wasn't there.
I banged on the bedroom door of Elian's great-uncle Lazaro. Angela Gonzalez, his wife, opened the door. Elian was in a closet, cradled by Donato Dalrymple, one of the two fishermen who had rescued him. Dalrymple clutched Elian in his arms. The boy was crying, asking adults, "Que esta pasando" -- "What's happening?"
"Nothing's happening, baby. Everything's going to be all right," I said. What else could I say to the child whose saga I had chronicled for almost five months?
As a 43-year-old free-lance photographer of Cuban descent, I had developed an unusual relationship with the Gonzalez family and the 6-year-old child whose life I had been capturing on film for The Associated Press. Before Saturday, I had taken hundreds of photos of Elian: dragging his bookbag as he walked to school; playing in the yard; at the circus. Nothing compared to the intensity of the raid.
When it began, I did what I always do: I started shooting photos. And I worried what the agents might do if they saw me, camera focused, ready to capture their every move.
We waited. Angela watched the locked bedroom door. Thirty seconds passed. Agents banged on the door, then broke it down and burst into the room, guns raised.
"What's happening?" Elian asked again, through tears.
I was nearby. "Back off," the agents told me.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent, wearing green riot gear and goggles and holding an automatic rifle, confronted Dalrymple, who was clutching the frightened boy. I stood, back against the wall, shooting photographs as agents grabbed the boy. As they left the room, I started to follow. "Back off!" an agent screamed. I stopped.
In the living room, agents had pinned Lazaro on the couch. He was in a rage, crying, wanting to go after the child.
A Spanish-speaking female agent picked up Elian and rushed from the house, placing him in a waiting white van. The doors slammed shut and the van sped down the street with Elian inside.
Women's groups and family advocates, such as Minnesota-based Dads and Daughters, are lambasting publisher Simon & Schuster over a work-in-progress interactive gaming website www.pantyraider.com.
Company spokesbot sez PANTY RAIDER: From Here To Immaturity , a cdrom game to be released in May, targets "mature" audiences of adult men. Yeah right, whatever, chuckle.
It never ceases to amaze me the middle-America hue-n-cry that goes up over sexually titillating material. Let the blood flow for freedom but hide them nipples!
And another thing while I'm at it: There is no doubt in my mind that if I still looked as fine as the female on the splashpage I for sure would shuck down to Victoria's Secrets, in a nanosec, to save the Earth from alien voyeur annihilation (AVA). The worst part of the game concept is not trampling women's rights but underestimating women's fight.
I logged onto/. at 11:30 pm, read the top story and its 33 replies. Grabbed the hack (thanks to the XOOM mirror cuz nerd-out had already crumpled... geez, you folks are lethal;) High-tailed it over to CircuitCity.com. We live in the boonies but there are two Circuit City stores within 50 miles. Each store had one Apex unit available. I reserved one and will pick it up tomorrow. All this plus mp3s thru my killer speakers! Getting a DVD player was in my immediate future... bought copies of The Wall and Blade Runner several weeks ago... didn't exactly plan on doing it tomorrow until today.
Slashdot Mirror
Someone posted this on a local discussion board (that would crumple under the ./ effect;) a couple of days after the Elian liberation. I don't know to whom or to which institution to give credit... I guess "Copyright © Alan Diaz, Associated Press" (eek!) since it is written in first-person. I could not find a link.
Copyright MM © Alan Diaz, Associated Press, Dr. Dre, Mutallika, Chuck D, Tommy the hamster. All rights reserved. Don't sue me; I'm poor and pitiful.Women's groups and family advocates, such as Minnesota-based Dads and Daughters, are lambasting publisher Simon & Schuster over a work-in-progress interactive gaming website www.pantyraider.com.
Company spokesbot sez PANTY RAIDER: From Here To Immaturity , a cdrom game to be released in May, targets "mature" audiences of adult men. Yeah right, whatever, chuckle.
It never ceases to amaze me the middle-America hue-n-cry that goes up over sexually titillating material. Let the blood flow for freedom but hide them nipples!
And another thing while I'm at it: There is no doubt in my mind that if I still looked as fine as the female on the splashpage I for sure would shuck down to Victoria's Secrets, in a nanosec, to save the Earth from alien voyeur annihilation (AVA). The worst part of the game concept is not trampling women's rights but underestimating women's fight.
I logged onto /. at 11:30 pm, read the top story and its 33 replies. Grabbed the hack (thanks to the XOOM mirror cuz nerd-out had already crumpled... geez, you folks are lethal;) High-tailed it over to CircuitCity.com. We live in the boonies but there are two Circuit City stores within 50 miles. Each store had one Apex unit available. I reserved one and will pick it up tomorrow. All this plus mp3s thru my killer speakers! Getting a DVD player was in my immediate future... bought copies of The Wall and Blade Runner several weeks ago... didn't exactly plan on doing it tomorrow until today.
Thanks, y'all. Slashdot is The Force.
ixia the impulsive aka Doe #218
Reference Don's paragraph cites in a flash, dot.