Protesters clear downtown with few arrests following start of curfew

ATLANTA — Protesters took to the streets of Atlanta for a 7th day Thursday in the wake of George Floyd's death.

Channel 2′s Justin Wilfon and Steve Gehlbach were in downtown Atlanta, where protests kicked off in the morning at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and continued at Centennial Park later in the afternoon.

Dr. Bernice King led the march from the site of her parent's burial with other Atlanta faith and elected leaders Thursday morning. King first spoke to young people about carrying on her father, Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy.

"Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won," King said. "You earn it in every single generation. You in this generation are earning and winning this freedom struggle and this justice struggle."

Thousands of people marched from the King Center down Auburn Avenue and towards the capital. Many wore masks.

Later, dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Atlanta outside of Centennial Olympic Park.

Channel 2′s Justin Wilfon was there as Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Police Chief Erika Shields spoke to the crowds and then marched with them.

“I have been reminded of the words of Audre Lord: ‘Revolution is not a one-time event.’," Bottoms told the crowd. “What I see right now as we’re all on our streets together, we are grieving together. We are feeling each other’s pain. And the solutions will come.”

Bottoms said the civil rights movement wasn’t a one-time event or a one-week event, it was an extended period of time with thoughtful planning.

Atlanta mayor meets with protesters as 7th night of demonstrations continues Channel 2's cameras caught the moments that Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms arrived near Centennial Olympic Park and spoke with protesters.

Shields says the problems facing the black community are systemic and go beyond the police.

“The message is real. It’s valid," Shields told Wilfon. “But if change is going to come, there has to be change that’s occurring in areas other than this government. Because the underlying drivers that are prompting this, a lot of them are socioeconomic. Until we find a way to better manage that and find more opportunity, and we don’t have the disparities in income, we’re going to have a lot of issues."

As the citywide curfew was about to take effect, many protesters remained in the streets. But within about an hour many had left.

There were a handful of arrests, but for the most part they evening remains peaceful.

Channel 2′s Tom Jones was in Gwinnett County earlier in the day, where protesters were peaceful until they were taunted by a teenager who had a MAGA flag and was chanting “U.S.A!” Protesters later tore down the flag and got into a scuffle with the teen.

"Then there were some punches thrown. Then he walked over and sort of taunted them again," Jones said. "Police had to get between the crowd and him."

Jones showed the teen being taken into custody on live television. It’s unclear if he was charged. Protesters cheered and sang as he was put in the back of a squad car.

(We’ve removed video of the protester after learning that he was a minor.)

The organizer of the event told Jones that she didn’t want that moment to get in the way of the protesters message demanding justice and equality.

Teen taken into custody following scuffle with protesters Channel 2's Tom Jones said the teen then taunted the protesters following the scuffle.

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