Troubleshooting Jammed Sewing Machine

Hi all, very new to the group, but I've accomplished a few projects so far. I recently came across an issue, that I thought was a bent needle, but I'm not so sure any more having just replaced the needle. I'm desperate for any clues as to what might be wrong.

Firstly, here are my current settings and a picture of one of the symptoms I'm having: https://imgur.com/gallery/bQbfL My machine is an entry level Singer Tradition 2259 I've noticed this issue with my last two attempts. One was on a stretch straight stitch and the most recent (and pictured) was with a zigzag. I'll be feeding fabric into the machine, when all of a sudden the machine freezes up. I can't manually advance or retract the needle. If, however, I loosen the foot and tug on the needle side-to-side and/or front-to-back while attempting to advance and/or retract the needle, I can often get it to free up. This freeing happens with a clank and I can continue, but not for long, as this will happen again.

Now, when the needle frees up, sometimes (1 of 4 maybe) it will loop the bobbin thread and I'll have loop on the high-side of the needle (my terminology here is falling apart). This issue can be seen in the picture.

What is happening?!? How can I avoid this? How can I recover from this?