One Year Later: Photojournalist Scott Yates
For part two of our series “One Year Later,” WNIJ’s Susan Stephens sat down with Rockford Register Star photographer Scott Yates. Yates had experience with large, dangerous protests before he moved to Rockford – he covered the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. So he was prepared when a peaceful march in Rockford took a turn when it reached Police District One.
Credit Spencer Tritt
“The evening was very unpredictable,” Yates said about the long night of May 30, 2020. “I quickly recognized some of the same feelings and same scenarios around me that I witnessed in Charlottesville. And that made me uncomfortable. But I was prepared at that point for inevitability, for firearms to be discharged, for tear gas. And I knew I was there to document history. My Spidey-sense and journalistic sensibilities kicked in; I knew it was important to be there. And I knew I could only stay there if I stayed safe. So there were some tactical issues that I used to stay safe, but stay there. And we were able to really document some of the most egregious violence that happened that night.”