The story behind the photo of the crying cop

Photo: Rem Zamora

There’s a photo of a crying cop that’s gone viral. And why shouldn’t it? We’ve never really seen a lot of photos of crying cops… Have you?

Shot by photojournalist Rem Zamora, the picture shows a, well, crying cop fronting a police barricade at the recent State of the Nation Address. Two protesters are in front of him, one even hugging him.

So what’s the story behind this arresting snapshot?

Rem explains, through ABS-CBN News, that the policeman — Joselito Sevilla — was being berated by a foreign protester, asking him why they (the police) were hurting them (the protesters). 

PO1 Sevilla explained that he was just doing his job as a policeman and that his job was to maintain peace and order.

And then he cried.

Continued to do so even while the foreigner shouted at him.

Continued to do so even while there was chaos between his fellow policemen and the protesters.

So why did he cry?

According to Rem, the police told him that he was hungry and tired and didn’t have any sleep or rest because they’ve been there for two days already.

The more interesting part is how people ended up consoling him — someone they expected would retaliate or act violently. One man held his shoulder and assured him that everything was gonna turn out all right. A woman gave him her hanky so he could wipe his tears. Two people hugged him.

When was the last time you saw a crying cop, huh?




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