More Than 90 Arrested, Journalist Detained During Atlanta Protests On Monday
Crowds line up in front of Atlanta police during a demonstration Monday, June 1, 2020, in Atlanta over the death of George Floyd, who died May 25 after being restrained by Minneapolis police.
John Bazemore / Associated Press
Updated at 5:23 p.m. Wednesday
As Atlanta’s citywide curfew went into effect at 9 p.m., protests continued for the fourth day in the metro area.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the CNN Center, a spot where crowds have gathered for nights during the protests for George Floyd, who died in Minnesota after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.
A spokesman for the Atlanta Police Department said that as of 11 p.m. Monday the department had made 95 arrests. At least 52 of those arrests came before curfew went into effect, while others came after, according to Sergeant John Chafee.
There has been a strong police presence in front of the CNN Center, along with the state’s Capitol. There have also been sizeable crowds marching throughout the night.
Around 7:49 p.m., police unleashed pepper spray onto crowds in front of the Capitol, according to Channel 2 Action News. The news station reported that the reason why this happened is unclear.
Earlier today, Alyssa Pointer, staff photographer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was detained by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources while she was covering the protests, according to a release sent out by the Society of Professional Journalists Georgia. She reportedly identified herself as a journalist before being detained and was later released.
On Sunday, Haisten Willis was working as a freelance journalist for The Washington Post when he was detained, handcuffed, and had his cellphone confiscated by Atlanta police, as stated in the SPJ release. He was later released after showing a business card in his wallet.
On Monday, Megan Harrison and Asia Parks were arrested in Atlanta while they were near Centennial Olympic Park while serving as legal observers documenting the arrest of protestors, according to a National Lawyers Guild news release. The pair weren’t released until 17 hours later on Tuesday and were charged with a minor offense of breaking the curfew.
Protests have been happening throughout Atlanta this past weekend, from Centennial Olympic Park to Atlantic Station. Sunday night, chaos ensued as some set off fireworks and lit materials on fire.
There were 298 arrests related to protests made from May 29 to 31, according to a tweet sent out by the Atlanta Police Department. Seventy-seven were arrested on Friday, 157 on Saturday, and 64 on Sunday.
Atlanta is planning to continue it’s curfew from 9 p.m. on Monday to Tuesday at sunrise. The city’s tweet says to “Please stay home.”
The curfew in the city of Atlanta has been extended starting tonight, June 1, 2020 at 9 P.M. and continuing through sunrise tomorrow June 2, 2020. Please stay home. pic.twitter.com/rjK8Aq6mKz
— City of Atlanta, GA (@CityofAtlanta) June 1, 2020
This is the third curfew in the city since Saturday night.
In accordance with the curfew, MARTA will suspend rail, bus and paratransit services within the city of Atlanta at 9 p.m. Monday. Streetcar services have been suspended for the night.
Transit services are scheduled to resume Tuesday morning at their scheduled time.
WABE’s Emil Moffatt and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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