An AP photographer standing nearby caught the sight that came to symbolize Birmingham: a white policeman in dark sunglasses grasping a Negro boy by the front of the shirt as his other hand gave just enough slack in the leash for the dog to spring upward and bury its teeth in the boy’s abdomen. And most compelling was the boy himself, who was tall, thin, and well dressed, leaning into the attacking dog with an arm dropped submissively at his side and a straight-ahead look of dead calm on his face.
