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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><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><iframe class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-752401736300716032" data-rm-shortcode-id="LQIJPH1564674212" frameborder="0" height="150" id="twitter-embed-752401736300716032" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-752401736300716032&created_ts=1468221527.0&screen_name=catsbegrey&text=Jonathan+Bachman%27s+%23BatonRouge+protest+photo+will+become+as+iconic+as+%22woman+in+red%22+during+2013+protests+in+Turkey.+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FigMnWOdL4g&id=752401736300716032&name=Matt+Sandiford" width="100%"></iframe></p><p><iframe class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-752427582612725761" data-rm-shortcode-id="2T3MMN1564674212" frameborder="0" height="150" id="twitter-embed-752427582612725761" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-752427582612725761&created_ts=1468227689.0&screen_name=KarlreMarks&text=When+you+see+this+image+you+think+thank+God+America+won+the+Cold+War+and+defeated+tyranny%0A%28JONATHAN+BACHMAN%2FREUTERS%29+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FryVd3lGqIw&id=752427582612725761&name=Karl+Sharro" width="100%"></iframe></p>
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