The photographer of a viral image of a child being detained by federal immigration agents threatened to sue a super PAC supporting Democratic Senate candidate Angie Craig for using her photo.
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Ali Daniels’s photograph showed 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos wearing a Spider-Man backpack and a blue knit hat with bunny ears as he and his dad were being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, in January.
The image quickly went viral as emblematic of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration-enforcement operation in the Twin Cities.
The photo was featured in a host of left-wing political ads and social media content, and Daniels liberally gave her consent for its use.
But Daniels took issue with North Star Dawn PAC’s use of the image in its materials, particularly on a website to attack Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan that she called “insidious.” Flanagan is Craig’s left-wing opponent in the competitive primary.
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“Every news publication had to obtain my consent to publish it, and even Bruce Springsteen’s team had to reach out to get my consent to use it in his music video,” Daniels wrote to a vendor for the super PAC in an email shared with The Washington Post. “If you continue to use the photo in any capacity, I am prepared to use every legal resource available to me, and many have already reached out, ready to back me as soon as I give the nod.”
Jerid Kurtz, a spokesperson for the super PAC, told The Post that “we are not currently using the image.”
The super PAC is independent of Craig’s campaign and is legally barred from working with Craig directly.
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