A civil rights group has called on the city of Atlanta to drop pedestrian-related protestor charges as concern is raised about the level of response to different groups.
Atlanta police records show 23 people were arrested along Peachtree Street Northwest during a protest that began just after 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
The group was protesting recent news that there would be no officer charged in the Jacob Blake shooting.
In a video shot by Stormy Henderson and posted by the Atlanta Justice Alliance, you can hear the call to disperse come over police radio, and then officers immediately begin pulling and arresting people from the sidewalks.
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Records show a slew of non-violent pedestrian and traffic obstruction charges filed, with officers noting there were “reports” of a rock thrown at a patrol car, a protester “passively resisting” arrest, and another interfering with an arrest. One arrestee had weapons pulled from a backpack after being detained for a pedestrian offense. The report did not note the weapons as being brandished before the arrest.
The arrests were made hours after armed militia gathered, without being arrested, on city property outside the state Capitol. A state elections officials had to be escorted from his office. It also came on the day a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol, with delayed security response and few initial arrests.
“I could not believe what I was seeing in D.C. in contrast to what was happening here in Atlanta,” said Sara Totonchi, executive director for the Southern Center for Human Rights.
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The group called on the city to drop charges, pointing towards different standards for immediate force and response to protesters, both locally and nationally.
In a statement, Atlanta police said the department supports peaceful protests, and stood by the arrests.
“The Atlanta Police Department (APD) continues to support peaceful demonstrations,” the statement read. “During protest events, we utilize our resources to ensure the safety of demonstrators and those in our communities. Our goal is to ensure demonstrations remain peaceful and lawful. Police action is taken against those who choose to be disruptive and act in an unsafe and illegal manner.”
“For questions regarding law enforcement agencies other than the Atlanta Police Department, we recommend that you reach out to those agencies regarding their response to recent protest events,” it added.
“Whose First Amendment rights are worthy of being respected and defended and whose First Amendment rights are constantly under attack?” asked Nse Ofot, Executive Director of the New Georgia Project.
Ofot objected to the arrests, saying the government too often decides what merits a “good” protest and a “bad” one based on who the protesters represent.
“What we see is our system is more patient and indulgent with whiteness, while it criminalizes Black behavior,” said Totonchi. “What we see is that we have two different systems of justice and that they entirely depend on the color of your skin.”
Records for initial protestor court appearances were not immediately available. Totonchi noted a call for attorneys to assist in legal aide, similar to the response to arrested and facing similar, non-violent charges in Atlanta’s summer social justice protests.
Carr asked Atlanta police leadership to address the concern in terms of the optics of all of Wednesday’s events. In part of the statement, a spokesman said the agency supported peaceful protest.
“….Our goal is to ensure demonstrations remain peaceful and lawful. Police action is taken against those who choose to be disruptive and act in an unsafe and illegal manner…”
Atlanta police referred to other agencies in terms of asking about other events outside their jurisdiction and the optics of what’s going on in the country.
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