COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A group of pro-Palestine demonstrators are facing charges after a Thursday morning protest.
Just before 4:30 a.m., Cobb County police officers learned Olympic Industrial Drive was being blocked by a car and several protesters.
One woman, 21-year-old Rosemary Cochran from Tucker, was inside the car and had cemented her hand to the inside.
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Fire and EMS workers were able to free her and she was subsequently arrested.
Police say she used a common protester locking device called a “sleeping dragon” to lock her arm inside the car and make it difficult to separate herself from it.
Cochran has been charged with loitering and prowling, obstruction, pedestrian in the roadway, impeding the flow of traffic and improper stopping in the roadway.
Five more people were also arrested: 32-year-old Zachary Kerr from Atlanta, 33-year-old Alexandra Husted from Atlanta, 23-year-old Parker Demos from Atlanta, 42-year-old Daniel Hanley from Sandy Springs and 21-year-old Zoe Fitzgerald from Decatur.
All five have been charged with loitering and prowling and improperly stopping in the roadway.
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“While we respect the right to peaceful protests and the right to express views on issues. We understand the importance of the right to free speech and freedom of assembly, but actions that obstruct public roads or involve self-harm are not protected forms of protest,” police said in a statement.
The car was removed and the road has since reopened.
It’s unclear why the protesters chose Olympic Industrial Drive as their location.
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