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Woman Captured in Iconic Baton Rouge Protest Photo Speaks of Emotions She Felt in the Moment: ‘There Was No Fear’

Posted byBy Ricky Riley | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

In a Sunday interview with CBS This Morning, 28-year-old Ieshia Evans talks to Gayle King about the iconic photo from a July 9 protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that depicted the harsh realities Black people face with law enforcement.

The photo, taken by freelance photographer Jonathan Bachman for Reuters, has become one of many iconic photos.

The photo captures Evans defiantly standing in the streets near the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters as riot gear-clad officers storm to arrest her.

In the interview, the nurse and mother tells King that she loves her people and could no longer stand by as they were unjustly murdered. Before seeing the Alton Sterling and Philando Castile videos, Evans said that she chose to work instead of going to protests.

“All of the injustice before, I felt like I was just a bystander,” she explains. “You have a choice as a human being to do something or not do something.”

That Saturday, she attended and was arrested at her first protest. Evans describes the moment as quiet and still. She could sense the officers’ fear, but she reassured King that she had none.

“[The Sterling video] literally rendered me numb. I couldn’t cry, I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t break anything. I was just numb,” Evans recalls. “I have a passion for my people … We don’t have to beg to matter.”

 

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