'The Photos That Took My Freedom' - An Interview with Abe Van Dyke

Abe Van Dyke is a Milwaukee-based freelance photojournalist whose work is submitted to the Demtix Wire, which is owned by Corbis Images. You may recognize Abe's name from his work covering the rioting and demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo. or his photographs documenting the passing away of his mother earlier this year. On Friday, Dec. 19, 2014, Abe was photographing the protests in his hometown of Milwaukee when things went south with law enforcement officials quickly, resulting in the arrest of Abe along with the protestors. Abe was kind enough to make time for a brief interview to share the story behind the photos that took his freedom.

Van Dyke is a photojournalist who's been a working pro for nearly eight years. This year, his work took him to Ferguson to photograph the protests following the death of Michael Brown. Abe describes the protests in Ferguson as "a completely different atmosphere than Milwaukee." According to him, there was a different tension in the crowds of protesters and law enforcement alike. "You could just feel it in the air. It was incredibly stressful, you're just waiting for the next thing to happen [and] hoping you're not in the middle of it." Abe describes himself as cautious. While covering Ferguson, he, like many of his colleagues, purchased and wore Kevlar body armor and a helmet. "It only takes one idiot to drive by with a gun and start shooting. I'm not going to take that chance."

After returning home, Abe's attention turned to the mounting protests in his own city. The night of the 19th, Abe got word that there was to be a protest at Red Arrow Park. So he packed his kit, donned his Kevlar vest, and headed downtown. Arriving a short while after the protest had started, he ran around grabbing establishing shots as seen below.

Abe goes on, "Shortly after protestors began to march, I asked a fellow photojournalist as to where they might be heading, and he believed they were going to the Safety Building so I sent out a tweet. I try to keep an active, up-to-date feed going while covering news on my Twitter profile." As the protest moved their way downtown, Abe continued to document.

"I continued to photograph the protestors as traffic was stopped. Shown here [below] is Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, who was killed by Milwaukee Police earlier in 2014."

At this point the protest began to deviate from what Abe had expected, the crowd continued down Route 145 North, Fond Du Lac Ave.

Running up an embankment along the highway, Abe took this photo of the protestors walking towards multiple law enforcement officials.

At the intersection of Route 145 and Interstate 43 the protest leaders split the group in to two: one to march on the side of the highway, the other to continue along the surface roads. Abe recalls, "At this point I followed the group heading towards the Interstate 43 Southbound entrance ramp." He clarifies, "the group heading North had the majority of the traditional media, TV crews, the regular newspaper reporters. So I chose the other group and turned out to be the only reporter on that side other than a journalist for the Journal Sentinel."

"At the entrance of the ramp, I found it to be empty as police had already shut down traffic in the area." The protesters grouped together and began to talk amongst themselves. "I like to keep my distance when I'm photographing so I wasn't sure what they were saying other than it was clear they were going to be entering the freeway."

At one point protestors attempted to stop the oncoming traffic on Interstate 43 but were quickly ushered off by police. "The second that one person walked out onto the freeway the police began to stop all the traffic."

"...And then all hell broke loose."

Abe reflects, "[The police officer's] main priority was the safety of the protestors." The officers tolerated the protestors being on the side of the road, but once people started entering the highway to stop traffic the situation rapidly escalated.

"I turned around and saw more and more police were showing up." Over the course of the next several minutes more and more officers began arriving to contain the crowd.

Abe began to notice a change in the officers' demeanor, "But there was no indication at that point that people were going to be arrested. So I moved to another position and kept photographing."

As he moved closer to the protestors and officers, Abe remembers, "I turned and heard one officer speaking to another and asking 'the media, too?'" Very soon after which the police began arresting everyone in the crowd, including Abe.

Just moments after hearing the exchange between officers, Abe had a chance to take a few more pictures of the protesters who were already being arrested. "A Milwaukee Sheriff ordered me to put my camera down and I complied."

Below is the last picture taken by Abe before his arrest. "I was, I believe, the forth or fifth person arrested that night." (As noted on the original post, the timestamps for these images are all off by an hour due to daylight-saving time.)

Abe remembers reacting calmly and professionally upon his arrest, "I immediately started telling them my name, that I'm a member of the press and would like to speak with the NPPA lawyer. Honestly, I'd never been in this situation before, that's all that I could think to do. The officer proceeded to put zip tie handcuffs on me — my wrists still hurt — and led me to a Milwaukee Sheriff SUV."

After some period of time, Abe was removed from the SUV and asked to wait on the on ramp with the other arrested protestors before they were moved onto two busses. "Protestors began to ask who I was and who I worked for, so I told them. Eventually the city bus arrived and men were told to sit in the back. An officer made a statement that it doesn’t matter if you’re white or black, all men are going to the back after a protestor began to argue with him about moving. Upon sitting on the furthest bench in the back. so that my camera had somewhere to go in case it couldn’t be nudged onto my lap, I noticed a clock in the bus that read 6:05 P.M. We sat for a while and eventually the bus left. The bus continued on Interstate 43 before getting off and turning around. We were taken back on Interstate 43 and got off again, headed toward the Milwaukee County Jail."

Abe describes the process of booking, processing, his time in jail, and his discharge (an ordeal that took the better part of 24 hours) in his blog entry.

It wasn't until his release from jail that he was even made aware of the charges against him. He was given two tickets as seen below. One citation was "PEDESTRIAN / BIKE ON EXPRESSWAY / PROHIBITED" which carries a penalty of $178.00 the other was "COUNTY / MUNICIPAL - DISORDERLY CONDUCT" which carries a penalty of $484.00.

"The pink piece of paper and the two tickets are contradictory. On one hand the officer requested that I sign the pink paper saying that I must show up in court, whereas the actual tickets themselves say 'Appearance Required: NO.' I plan on going anyway, though this could be very confusing for others.

"My group of four was then told to go to the door at the end and we could leave. Myself, my friend, a woman, and another man were walked into a small hallway. I was the last one out and shut the door. Then the next door was able to open. During this time my friend took a selfie so I snuck into the photo, too.

"Upon exiting the building it was a wonderful feeling. I couldn’t believe I was finally out of there, but my first instinct was to pick up the camera. I began taking photos as I walked towards the protestors waiting outside for us and others to be released. You can see a man pointing and smiling in the center because he recognizes me."

Abe concludes on his blog post, "I do not blame police for arresting me initially. They were just doing their job and clearing the freeway. However, I had notified them multiple times that I was a member of the media and would like to speak with the NPPA lawyer. I came to find out today via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 'Journal Sentinel reporter Jesse Garza was among those arrested Friday night after he followed the protesters about a quarter-mile onto the freeway at Fond du Lac Ave. He was released after about two hours and not cited.' This is frustrating to say the least."

"At this point I plan to reach out to the NPPA and seek legal counsel from them. I believe it has been demonstrated multiple times in court that it is not illegal for journalists to stand in places that are illegal for others to stand in regarding a breaking news situation. A fellow journalist confirmed this with a comment on one of my Facebook posts and I will be asking any legal representation to look into this.

"I was a photojournalist covering breaking news and was arrested. I was given two citations totaling $662.80 and marks on my permanent record. Like the Journal Sentinel reporter, I will be seeking that this incident is wiped clear and the citations removed."

Since the event, Abe has received mixed reactions from readers on his blog post, some insisting he was well within his rights as a photojournalist, some arguing otherwise. As stated above, he intends to fight the charges in court and has already been contacted by the ACLU for representation.

To check out more photos taken by Abe over the course of the evening, view the tickets he received, and see his mug shot, take a look at his original blog post, "Photos That Took My Freedom."

You can also keep up with Abe Van Dyke's work on his website, Demotix profile, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram.