You aren't signed in     Sign In    Help

The Klucker and the cop

The Klucker and the cop by ReyGuy.
So you think your job sucks sometimes? Consider this Austin, Texas policeman charged with protecting a klansman during a KKK rally as protestors were closing in on them in 1983. To protect and serve. You don't necessarily get to pick who you have to protect sometimes. 

Comments

view profile

rajue  Pro User  says:

unbelievable! thanks for posting this!
TWTME
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

jobarracuda  Pro User  says:

nice capture.
...a salute to policemen for doing such a complicated and most of the time unappreciated job.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Desitins Child  Pro User  says:

wow. ... wow. What a shot. amazing - the composition and their expressions makes them seem so close to each other. If you didn't know what the uniforms meant, and what the colors meant in this context, you might have a very different reading. Nice work!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

monkeytime  Pro User  says:

Superb. America in all its good and bad angles in one shot.
[utata]
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Soft Verges says:

only in america! !POWERFULL! fAB!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

suttonhoo  Pro User  says:

wow Rey -- what a moment. what a capture. what an eye.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

jason.s  Pro User  says:

Wow, powerful shot Guy. I also find it interesting the white dude has his face revealed.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ReyGuy  Pro User  says:

Today's Klansmen: Out of the closet :-) I've only covered two KKK rallys and their faces weren't covered. As I recall (24 years ago so sketchy) there was little violence at this one in Austin but there was some and some arrests made. This photo was made when several Klansmen were moved into a protected area and the police were warning protestors to stay back.
The one in Indianapolis in 1992? turned real ugly and two of our staff were attacked by the crowd and had cameras stolen but that happened away from where I was. Fun times.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

possum4all  Pro User  says:

Hah....awesome new icon you're sporting there, Guy! Heh.

Love the irony of this shot, buddy! Super capture! You've seen so much of the world. Man I'd love to buy you a beer (or two) and just listen to some stories.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ecstaticist  Pro User  says:

This is a deeply affecting image. Talk about evoking conflicting feelings. Freedom, warts and all.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

mjp3000  Pro User  says:

Now if only he would repeatedly move that night stick about 18" to the right... Great catch Guy.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

andrew_dolph [deleted] says:

My good friend Chris Cappoziello has a really great essay on the KKK:

chriscappy.com/

You may have also seen his essay on breast cancer in Time Magazine many months back.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

BuckarooBob  Pro User  says:

Wow--what a situation. A great shot.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Matt Hickey says:

Thank you for this image - wonderfully evocative of the time and place.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

mirabilisjalapa2000 says:

:D Nice shot,great composition:DDD
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

FuzzyB says:

nice capture
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Jacob...K  Pro User  says:

Absolutely amazing shot......I love how it looks like the irony is completely lost on the two.....
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ReyGuy  Pro User  says:

you're right Jacob. I'd bet that never occured to the cop anyway.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

monkeytime  Pro User  says:

I have to imagine the cop would have caught the irony.

"Hi, honey, how was your day?"

"Oh, the usual. I protected a guy from getting the crap beaten out of him. He'll be burning a cross on our lawn tonight and bombing our church Sunday morning..."



--
Seen in my recent comments. (?)
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

tuxmelvin says:

I'd like to think that the experience was a changing one.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

osiris321 says:

I had a black GF a few years ago who worked as a paramedic. She once gave CPR to the head of the local Klan after he had a heart attack. He woke up to see a large black woman on top of him.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

subcorpus says:

white guys scared shitless eh ... ?
nice shot ... nice cap ...
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

randomb0y  Pro User  says:

That's what you see in the picture. Five seconds later he was shoving that baton up the KKKr's ass. Can't really blame him either.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

adventurerneil says:

Amazing shot... much more inspiring than seeing a cop beat down a pacifist college protester.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

roooostishaw says:

I don't get it. Is the KKK guy hiding behind the cop during the riot?
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

monkeytime  Pro User  says:

@ roooostishaw: From ReyGuy's caption, I don't think it was quite a riot, but the police were protecting the Klan guys from being set upon by protestors.

And look at that mustachioed macho Klan Man – he looks like he's about to piss his pants. There's your White Power... with a yellow trickle running down its leg.

@ MikelFreak: precisely what do you mean by "kill nigga"? To paraphrase Richard Pryor, I don't see any "niggers" in that photograph.

--
Seen in my recent comments. (?)
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

BuckarooBob  Pro User  says:

Wow, Reyguy--almost 18,000 views! (almost like having it published in the daily paper or something!) Great one--a fave for sure.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Matias H. Dominguez says:

I think is more than job. if i was him...don't know...
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Pacopi's choice says:

wonderfull world
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

The Polstar*  Pro User  says:

this has to be the most viewed photo on Flickr! stunning
pity it has to be of a bigoted, rascist tw@t!
--
Seen in Polstar*'s contacts - [invite only] [please be nice and comment (?)
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

tastygiant  Pro User  says:

and the ignorant bastard looks scared out of his mind. but he's accepting the protection....


As seen in Polstar*'s contacts
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Rsms  Pro User  says:

Fantastic story. Good picture. You have any more images from this happening?
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

swatman67  Pro User  says:

A blck man in the south protecting a white southern rascist, my how times have changed. I bet the KKK guy was all for brotherly love that day!!!!
The officer should have kicked the KKK guy out into the crowd and let the idiot fend for himself.

GREAT SHOT!
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Jacob...K  Pro User  says:

Who knows though.....maybe it changed the way he saw things.....
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ReyGuy  Pro User  says:

42,000 views and no tits, ass, cleavage or boobs (unless you count the man in the silly hat). Priceless!
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

L8o  Pro User  says:

..great story! Props! .. You've Been AA'd!

--
Seen in Top-V, The Original 'Top Views' Group (?)
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ReyGuy  Pro User  says:

you like my last comment too?
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

monkeytime  Pro User  says:

Ha, ha! I love your last coment, ReyGuy. Plus, "you said 'boob'!" ;-)

--
Seen in my recent comments. (?)
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Alice Swanson  Pro User  says:

speechless...just brilliant...
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Jonathan Harel  Pro User  says:

Great capture and story!
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

possum4all  Pro User  says:

I'm back to say Yay! Yay for 42k views with no naughties! Quite an accomplishment, really.

(Only shot that I've ever seen that had as many views and didn't have boobs in it was this tragic image of Beavis. )
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ReyGuy  Pro User  says:

Wow. That's awesome. Not the picture but the number of views. Must've been blogged all over the place too. Doesn't hurt to have more than 3,000 contacts on Flickr either.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

L8o  Pro User  says:

"charged with protecting a klansman"


"charged" .. ?

Un-be-lievable!!!

Great catch. (ps: just had to come back for more of this - so jurisprudentialy telling (Western Civilization).


--
Seen next to a fellow photo of Top-V, The Original 'Top Views' Group. (?)
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ReyGuy  Pro User  says:

one of many uses of charged: to lay a command or injunction upon: He charged his secretary with the management of his correspondence.
made to do something you might not really care to do....
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

cycℓops (mjlearmouth)  Pro User  says:

to serve and protect... if I was the cop I might have "accidently" whapped him in the nose! Great photojournalism!!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Trish Mayo  Pro User  says:

Fantastic photo - congratulations to the officer for a job well done and the courage and integrity to do it. I would hope that the KKK person had the decency to thank the officer and perhaps a change of heart about wearing those robes.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

princessangel  Pro User  says:

Great capture...............too bad your camera didn't have a club that came out of the lens to knock that ignorant KKK man out! Did I say that..............I agree with mjlearmouth!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Jenni & Brett  Pro User  says:

What's best, this KKK guy didn't have his hood down so all his fellow idiots will see him cowering behind the cop. I bet at the next meeting he was pretty much ridiculed beyond belief! Haha, not so superior now are you buddy?
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Madasor says:

amazing !!!
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

arcketipo says:

Great capture.....great story!
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Tammil  Pro User  says:

Someday you really have to stop and think about whether or not your job is for you. I respect the officer for doing his duty and wonder exactly what the other man told his friends and family about the incident later.
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

knots  Pro User  says:

in the sixties cops in Montgomery Alabama made deals with hordes of racists awaiting the Freedom Riders. The deal was simple, we'll give you thirty minutes to attack them, then we show up and break it up. Funny the irony of that situation juxtaposed with this picture.
Posted 23 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

lKR1S says:

Thats crazy!
Posted 23 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

clautes says:

best pic !
Posted 23 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

zen_some  Pro User  says:

I completely abhor the Klan, its' values, and its' message.

HOWEVER, I am so very thankful that they have they right in this country- along with EVERYONE ELSE with an offensive or potentially offensive point of view- are allowed to speak their mind in a peaceful demonstration. Even if it goes completely against my beliefs, my values or my culture.

The freedom of speech is here for all of us. It is a treasure that I think so many of us take for granted. I think a lot of us also misinterpret it to mean "speech that doesn't offend me or others." It's clearly not that at all.

Why have the freedom of speech at all if it shall not be there to protect patently offensive speech?
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Euro Kouro  Pro User  says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called I, Witness (Global Photojournalism), and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

High Def  Pro User  says:

You sure that's not NYC? I have a hard time believing the self proclaimed "last of the white niggers" was actually a klansmen.

Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

El Andariego. says:

Pulitzershot!!!!!!!!!! Unforgettable. Congratulations master.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

sid_napo_orso_capo  Pro User  says:

m'inquieta
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

mightyquinninwky©™  Pro User  says:

What a great shot... true justice would be the cop breaking his nose...but only in a perfect world and they wouldn't exist there except to clean toilets or something...sad the KKK is still with us in the 21st century... the human race has really hit a plateau in development..
--
Seen in a discussion of Polstar*'s contacts - [invite only] [read discussions]. (?)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Gobble Gobble Hey says:

But when you become a cop you do seem to choose, when it is a Klan rally the Klan always gets protected while protestors always get either attacked, entraped or caged in! The state always protects racists and cops choose to be cops and chose to protect that state. As NWA said "...black police showin out for the white Cop..."
Though I will say it is a good photo!
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

labanex.com  Pro User  says:

Interesting
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

loo1970 [deleted] says:

great shot - i attended a protest in austin several years ago when these guys rolled into town - we drummed until our fingers were raw - it was amazing
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

its mike  Pro User  says:

wow! this is an awesome capture of irony. great stuff!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

buggs  Pro User  says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Police Officer Photographers, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

MxxxxM says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Socially aware photographers, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

lifesundeath  Pro User  says:

sellout!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Zlatko Unger  Pro User  says:

Wow ... thats pretty interesting ...
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Craig !  Pro User  says:

ReyGuy - great shot. Surprised at the lack of asinine comments (you'd expect more kooks! :)

You're on Reddit so prepare for lots of views again. If you're interested, turn on your stats, and it will show you where your referrals are coming from. Takes a day, but very cool.

Cheers
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

CRASHOVERIDE69_97 says:

I love the filename - spaceball.jpg
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

\< says:

excellent photojournalism. actually took me a couple seconds to get this.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Fluffz of tha Geenz :) [deleted] says:

How strange - a member of the KKK is being protected by none other than a black person (no offense to anyone who may take that offensively), who they usually go about killing and such. Id have left him there.
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Wildpixie  Pro User  says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Shoot A Cop!, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

bewofthe says:

a white supremacist hiding behind the race he so hates for protection.. if this does not show what absolute worms the kkk are. i do not know what would...
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Olivia M1 says:

Hello!

Great photos! Congratulations! I hope you also like mine, If you want please be my contact...or just send me a letter
oliviam025@gmail.com

Kiss

Olivia
Posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

Would you like to comment?

Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).

[?]
view photos Uploaded on February 6, 2007
by ReyGuy

ReyGuy's photostream

4,028
uploads

This photo also belongs to:

Texas stuff (Set)

100
items

newspaper work: The Daily Texan, 1982-83 (Set)

27
items

Top-V, The Original 'Top Views' Group (Pool)

top-f [ 25+ faves ] (Pool)

Men and Their Hats (Pool)

*The Original* 200 Views (Pool)

1000 Views (Pool)

Most Interesting (Pool)

50-100 Faves (Pool)

1500 views + 60 faves - Quality AND Quantity (Pool)

The World Through My Eyes - Post 1 / Comment Any 1 (Pool)

3000 V + 120 F [before joining tag 3000v120f !!!!!!!!] (Pool)

MVP (Most Viewed Pictures) 3 PICTURES A DAY. (Pool)

Polstar*'s contacts - [invite only] [read discussions] (Pool)

Garry Winogrand Canted Moments (Pool)

Newspaper Photographers (Pool)

I, Witness (Global Photojournalism) (Pool)

Story Behind the Picture: Non Fiction (Pool)

Socially aware photographers (Pool)

Tags

Click this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with KKK KKK
Click this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with Cop Cop

Additional Information

All rights reserved Anyone can see this photo

Add to your map