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How This Protest Image Became An Instant Icon
She was arrested shortly after the photo was taken.
10.23.17
A stunning photo of an African-American woman confronting police at a Black Lives Matter rally blazed across social media this weekend, with some calling it a touchstone image that will stand as a powerful symbol for many years to come.
<p>The photo, captured by Jonathan Bachman of <em>Reuters</em>, comes from a Black Lives Matter rally outside Baton Rouge police HQ this weekend. Police in full riot armor are shown descending on a poised, well-dressed woman, apparently about to be cuffed.</p><div id="upworthyFreeStarVideoAdContainer"><div id="freestar-video-parent"><div id="freestar-video-child"></div></div></div><p>Her name is Leshia Evans, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3683863/Woman-icon-Baton-Rouge-mother-five-year-old-son-attending-protest-wants-better-future-him.html">according to the <em>Daily Mail</em></a>, a 28-year-old nurse from New York who had not been to a protest rally before this one. The AP says Evans was arrested for blocking a public roadway shortly after the image was taken.</p><p>DeRay McKesson, one of the most prominent voices of the Black Lives Matter movement, was also arrested at Saturday’s rally. McKesson was released after 16 hours in a cell; he <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/11/us/deray-mckesson-arrested-in-baton-rouge-protest.html?_r=1">told the <em>New York Times</em></a> that he felt Saturday’s mass arrests were unlawful, as the protesters were peacefully assembled on the side of the highway.</p><p>“What we saw in Baton Rouge was a police department that chose to provoke protesters to create, like, a context of conflict they could exploit,” said McKesson. Over 100 other protesters were also arrested Saturday.</p><p>The protests were a direct response to the <a href="https://www.good.is/articles/alton-sterling">killing of Alton Sterling</a> in Baton Rouge last week, after two officers shot him repeatedly outside a Baton Rouge convenience store. Shortly after Sterling’s death, a school cafeteria worker <a href="https://www.good.is/articles/philando-castile">was shot and killed by police</a> in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. And at a protest rally in Dallas following Falcon Heights, five police officers <a href="https://www.good.is/articles/dallas-police-shooting-video">were killed</a> by snipers.</p><p>Last week’s violence is already proving to be an intensely raw and revealing piece of American history. Bachman’s photo will surely be one of the images that lasts.</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"></p><p></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="LQIJPH1564674212" id="9c5bd"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="752401736300716032"><div style="margin:1em 0">Jonathan Bachman's #BatonRouge protest photo will become as iconic as "woman in red" during 2013 protests in Turkey. https://t.co/igMnWOdL4g</div> — Matt Sandiford (@Matt Sandiford)<a href="https://twitter.com/catsbegrey/statuses/752401736300716032">1468221527.0</a></blockquote></div><p></p><p></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2T3MMN1564674212" id="2fd06"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="752427582612725761"><div style="margin:1em 0">When you see this image you think thank God America won the Cold War and defeated tyranny
(JONATHAN BACHMAN/REUTERS) https://t.co/ryVd3lGqIw</div> — Karl Sharro (@Karl Sharro)<a href="https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/statuses/752427582612725761">1468227689.0</a></blockquote></div><p></p>
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