My aim was not to equate their moral weight, but to point to other iconic images of protest. I’ve also heard from a number of readers, upset at the invocation of what they regard as fundamentally dissimilar events. I understand that officers have been hurt in other cities, but down here it’s remained peaceful. It’s representative of the peaceful demonstrations that have been going on down here. She didn’t resist, and the police didn’t drag her off.
#Photo police choke black women full#
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. To me it seemed like: You’re going to have to come and get me. It happened quickly, but I could tell that she wasn’t going to move, and it seemed like she was making her stand. 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. In that attempt, they arrested three to four people as some of the demonstrators confronted the line that the police had created, but for the most part they were able to move everyone off to the side of the road. So law enforcement came out, consisting of several departments within Louisiana … they had come out in riot gear to clear the protestors off to the side of the road. I asked him to describe what he’d seen:Ī group of demonstrators had formed a blockade-blocked Airline Highway, which runs in front of Baton Rouge Police headquarters. He arrived in Baton Rouge on Thursday, and returned again on Saturday. I also spoke with Jonathan Bachman, the New Orleans-based freelance photographer who snapped the photo for Reuters. Several have provided us with a name that we’re working to confirm. Update: Thanks to the many readers who’ve written in to share what they know.
#Photo police choke black women update#
( Update: Her name is reportedly Ieshia Evans more details in the second update below.) If you were there, or know her, please write to us: This story will be updated as we learn more. We’re working to gather details about the moment it captures, to find her name. ( Update: As explained below, there were multiple agencies on the scene the officers in the picture were apparently Louisiana State Police.) I wonder what these officers thought about as they hauled her away. The Baton Rouge police department lists the virtues it seeks to instill in its officers. A high school student attacked by police dogs in Birmingham, Alabama. One man staring down a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square. There are images that are impossible to forget, searing themselves into our collective consciousness. And she is being arrested by officers who look better prepared for a war than a peaceful protest. She stands in front of police headquarters, on Saturday. She is there to protest the excessive force which Baton Rouge police allegedly deploy against the city’s black citizens. A single woman stands in the roadway, feet firmly planted.