As protests over police brutality continue across the US, one scene from a demonstration this weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has quickly gained attention for its stark contrasts. A Reuters photo shows a young woman in a dress, standing apparently serenely as heavily armored state police run toward her.
The woman has been identified as Ieshia L. Evans (also recorded by the East Baton Rouge sheriff’s office as Jeshia). Evans was arrested after blocking highway traffic on Sunday, the sherriff’s office told Quartz. She has since been released.
The Atlantic’s Yoni Appelbaum spoke with the Reuters freelancer Jonathan Bachman, who described the scene:
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.
The protest took place Sunday, July 10, following last week’s fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.