Nicholas Slayton
‪@nslayton.bsky.social‬

Follow
Fun story this morning. I spoke with Curtis Evans, the retired Marine in the viral photo below who took part in the anti-ICE protest at Broadview. He's a thoughtful guy, well read and with a dry sense of humor. Story
@taskandpurpose.com
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-curtis-evans-ice-broadview/.

The Marine veteran behind this viral photo at the Chicago ICE protest
The flag-waving Marine was at the anti-ICE protest near Chicago because of his beliefs, and said his training helped him weather tear gas.
taskandpurpose.com

‪southpaw‬
‪@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social‬
· 2d
I hope some newspapers use a crop where you can easily read the sign.
A protester outside an ICE detention facility marches through clouds of irritant gas carrying American flags. A sign lying on the pavement by his feet reads “EVERY ICE AGENT WILL BE HELD TO ACCOUNT.”
ALT
September 22, 2025 at 11:22 AM

southpaw‬
‪@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social‬
· 2d
I hope some newspapers use a crop where you can easily read the sign.
A protester outside an ICE detention facility marches through clouds of irritant gas carrying American flags. A sign lying on the pavement by his feet reads “EVERY ICE AGENT WILL BE HELD TO ACCOUNT.”
ALT
September 22, 2025 at 11:22 AM

The Marine veteran behind this viral photo at the Chicago ICE protest

“Pain only hurts,” Curtis Evans said about the tear gas and pepper balls.

NICHOLAS SLAYTON
PUBLISHED SEP 22, 2025 10:22 AM EDT
BROADVIEW, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 19:


Curtis Evans walks through tear gas with an American flag during a protest outside the U.S Immigration & Customs Enforcement facility on September 19, 2025 in Broadview, Illinois. Protesters were speaking out against recent ICE raids and arrest taking place in Chicago and surrounding suburbs. President Donald Trump has deployed ICE Agents and other federal agencies to Chicago to enforce immigration laws. Trump is also threatening to send the National Guard to fight crime in the city. (Photo by Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images).

As tear gas billowed around him on Friday, Curtis Evans found himself drawing on his time as a Marine.

“My Marine Corps training hit me. They’d gas us every year for fun, just for training, not just in boot camp, you got it later, too,” Evans told Task & Purpose over the weekend. “One of the things you learn from Marine Corps training is that it sets off all of your body’s alarms. You can’t breathe, you can’t see, it hurts, but it’s just the alarms. But boy, all of the nerves are screaming.”

Evans was taking part in protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at a facility in Broadview, just outside of Chicago on Sept. 19. As federal agents fired tear gas canisters and pepper balls into the more than 100 people outside the building, Stacey Wescott with the Chicago Tribune snapped a photo of Evans. As people ran away from the gas, Evans stood there seemingly unbothered, holding an American flag high. The next day, Wescott’s photo was on the front page of the Chicago Tribune and had gone viral on social media, both on military channels and wider platforms. (On the unofficial Marine Corps subreddit, a photo of Evans with his large flag and a secondary, smaller flag tucked in his side pocket — should he ever lose control of his primary flag — was widely viewed and commented on.)

The man in the viral photo is a 65-year-old Marine Corps veteran who speaks with a methodical nature and a dry sense of humor. Curtis Evans, of Evanston, Illinois, said that as multiple tear gas grenades went off around him, he was soon shoved to the ground, but was unhurt. He had joined the anti-ICE protests, he said, in part due to his convictions and ideals. Evans told Task & Purpose he was “a patriot” and that patriotism is why he joined the Marines in 1980, a day after his 20th birthday.

{snip}