Multiple media organizations described the image as "iconic". The German television channel n-tv described Evans as the "icon" of the protest. Teju Cole, writing for the New York Times Magazine, said that "in spite of, or because of, its simple narrative, Bachman's photograph became an icon. It joined a small group of other images connected to the Black Lives Matter movement", including images of a man throwing a tear gas canister back at police during a protest in Ferguson, Missouri, after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown; Bree Newsome taking down a Confederate flag at the South Carolina State House; and activist DeRay Mckesson being arrested in Baton Rouge, also while protesting Sterling's death.
