Photographer Who Shot Iconic Tiananmen Square ‘Tank Man’ Dies At 64
Sep 14, 2019 | Pratirodh Bureau
China faced a storm of outrage over the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and condemnation of its mass incarceration of Muslim Uyghurs in recent years. Each time, the Chinese government has had to deal with the diplomatic fallout of its own repression.
The photographer who snapped the defining image of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown — a solitary man defiantly blocking the path of a column of tanks — has died in Indonesia, according to US officials.
American authorities confirmed the death of 64-year-old Charlie Cole in Bali, where the Texan had been a long-time resident.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” a state department official told AFP.
Cole won the 1990 World Press Photo award for his picture of a man in a white shirt, carrying a shopping bag in each hand, striding out into the road the day after troops killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in the heart of Beijing.