First Brush with Danger
One morning in early April, Foley was reporting on a story near Brega, Libya, accompanied by a host of other professionals, including freelance reporter Clare Morgana Gillis, Spanish photographer Manu Brabo, and photojournalist Anton Hammerl. The group was taken by surprise by forces loyal to Gaddafi, and Hammerl was killed shortly after the fighting began. The forces quickly captured and beat the rest of the party, taking them prisoner and relocating them to a jail nearby.
Journalist Jim Foley films Libyan NTC fighters attacking the west side of Colonel Gaddafi’s home city of Sirte on October 05, 2011 in Libya. NTC forces are continuing their advance on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte. (Photo by John Cantlie/Getty Images)
After 44 days in confinement, the party (along with Nigel Chandler, a previously-captured English journalist) was released and brought to the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Shortly after the ordeal, Foley retreated to America to thank the people of Milwaukee for praying for his safety. Though he enjoyed a brief respite from the dangers of the frontlines, Foley quickly returned to Libya, where he was witness to the capturing of Gaddafi on October 20th, 2011.