It is the photo seen around the world: A young woman in a flowing dress standing with her arms crossed facing down a line of heavily armed police while two armored officers rush forward to put her in handcuffs.

Now Dailymail.com can exclusively reveal that she is Ieshia Evans, 28, a mother and licensed practical nurse from New York, who was attending her first protest when she was arrested.

Natasha Haynes, a lifelong 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'.

Haynes said: 'She's a vision with a beautiful heart and peaceful stance in life. I've known her for 20 years. She was the maid of honor at my wedding. I'm a god-mother to her son.

'She's everything to me and I'm just happy she's safe, not hurt and - most importantly - happy that she got up and did something about injustices here in the states.'

Haynes explained that Evans, a nurse's assistant, was 'overcome with emotion' while watching the demonstrations on TV and decided to take action.

She left her son behind with his father in New York and traveled to the protest site where she was taking part in the main demonstration shortly before she was arrested.

Haynes said that the fateful moment she was arrested came when officers attempted to push the crowd back from the Baton Rouge Police Department, despite the protest being peaceful until that point.

Evans told her: '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.'

While Evans said that the arrest was a little rough, as was processing, while in jail she said a kind officer made sure all of the demonstrators were treated well.

Police records show she was held overnight before being booked and released earlier today, and she is now in her hotel room in Louisiana recovering from her ordeal.