Protesters held "I AM A MAN" and "END RACISM" signs Monday outside of the Georgia Capitol where a large crowd marched to demand justice after yet another Black man was shot and killed at the hands of a white police officer. Rayshard Brooks, 27, was killed after failing an officer’s sobriety check and grabbing one of their Tasers in what Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called a “tussle” at an Atlanta Wendy’s restaurant Friday. Brooks’ death prompted another weekend of protests in the city, continuing what started after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody after a white cop kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.
“Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Rayshard Brooks. These and countless others have died at the hands of a criminal legal system that is deeply flawed and tainted with the legacy of dehumanizing violence and white supremacy,” Rev. James “Major” Woodall, president of the Georgia NAACP said in a news release Sunday. “We need a hate crimes law, now. We need to repeal Citizens Arrest. We need an end to voter suppression. We need police accountability. And we need friends and allies more than ever, as we are all in this fight for justice together. We are done dying and we need structural change.”
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Outrage over Brooks’ death and that of many others inspired demonstrators to shut down a major Georgia interstate with calls for action in a showing of outrage that also led to someone burning down the Wendy’s where Brooks died. Videos of the building up in flames drew national attention over the weekend.
The Georgia NAACP, however, has been planning the protest dubbed a “March on Georgia” for much longer. The organization’s goal was to urge lawmakers at the start of the state’s legislative session Monday to work to end police violence and address widespread voting issues that substantially delayed voting in the state’s primary last week, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Activists also called on lawmakers to roll back rules that allow Georgia residents to make citizens' arrests, a defense former Georgia cop Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael used in an effort to justify the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery, a Black man, was unarmed when the men allegedly accused him of committing a crime for running near a property under construction in a South Georgia neighborhood.
“We must confront and address the systemic criminal justice and electoral failures immediately and with the upmost urgency as they continue to lead to the dehumanization, disenfranchisement and death of too many Georgians,” Woodall said at the protest.
Democratic Senate nominee Jon Ossoff also made his way to a microphone to address protesters.
“Does not our United States Constitution meant to protect every citizen’s right to vote?” he asked and was met with affirmative cheers. “So where are these politicians who hide in this building and who don't respond to an invitation to address you when they keep talking about our constitution? But we don't have equal protection under the law and we have not secured the right to vote?
"Y'all standing right here are showing your power to make demands from those who represent you in high office. And I will never know how it feels to have Black skin in America, but let me tell you this, I will fight with you and march with you every step of the way, and you can count on me to do that.”
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