Over the weekend, hundreds were arrested as protests against police violence broke out across the country. Tensions were particularly high in Baton Rouge, where Alton Sterling was killed at the hands of police. Protesters there formed a blockade across Airline Highway, which runs in front of Baton Rouge police headquarters, according to The Atlantic. And a photo of one woman standing calmly in the road in a sundress as she faced off with two officers in full body armor has made a serious impact.
The photo was taken by Jonathan Bachman, a freelance photographer who was on the scene for Reuters. He described the scene for The Atlantic:
I had my attention on people confronting the police on the side of the road … I had turned to look over my right shoulder, I think that I had heard this women say something about she was going to be arrested, and I saw this woman, and she was standing in the first lane in that road.
It happened quickly, but I could tell that she wasn’t going to move, and it seemed like she was making her stand. To me it seemed like: You’re going to have to come and get me. And I just thought it seemed like this was a good place to get in position and make an image, just because she was there in her dress and you have two police officers in full riot gear.
It wasn’t very violent. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t resist, and the police didn’t drag her off.
Some outlets are reporting that the woman in the photo is Ieshia L. Evans, a 35-year-old mother of one, whose name appeared on arrest records over the weekend. “I appreciate the well wishes and love, but this is the work of God,” read a Facebook post on an account reportedly belonging to Evans. “I’m glad I’m alive and safe. And that there were no casualties that I have witnessed first hand.”
