Over the weekend, this image from the protests in Baton Rouge has gone viral, and understandably so. It reminds me of a 2016 version of the Flower Power photograph. The woman in this powerful image has been identified as Ieshia Evans. [lead image via Reuters]
According to Daily Mail, Evans, who is the mother of a five-year-old boy, had become ‘overwhelmed with emotion’ while watching the demonstrations and so had decided to travel from her home in all the way in New York down to Baton Rouge to take part in the protests. Natasha Haynes, a friend of Evans’, said she traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following the shooting of Alton Sterling because she ‘wanted a better future for her five-year-old son’. Evans left her son with his father in New York and traveled to the protests where she was arrested. While protesting, as seen in the image above, Evans was cuffed and arrested.
Evans was arrested when officers attempted to push the crowd back from the Baton Rouge Police Department. Evans said: ‘I went into the street with my arms crossed and just stared at them. I guess they didn’t like it because they detained me.’ Evans said that the arrest and processing were a little rough, while she was actually in jail, an officer made sure all of the demonstrators were treated well. Police records show Evans was detained overnight before being booked and released on Sunday morning. She has now returned to her Louisiana hotel.
Evans released a statement saying:
“I just need you people to know. I appreciate the well wishes and love, but this is the work of God. I am a vessel! Glory to the most high! I’m glad I’m alive and safe. And that there were no casualties that I have witnessed first hand.”
