Atlantan Iranians on Saturday protested the violence to kinsmen halfway around the globe in their motherland.
Several hundred Iranian Americans and others lined Techwood Drive in front of the CNN Center to speak out against the current regime in Iran, and oppression reportedly levied against protestors there.
"People are gathered here just to show unity," said Meisam Davoudi.
Davoudi said many like himself were in the streets to "bring an end to the Islamic Republic of Iran and support the people who are dying and being jailed for what they believe in."
The many Iranian protesters claim fraud in the June 12 election resulted in president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory. And peaceful protests of the election's outcome have reportedly been met with violent crackdowns by the Islamic Republic government.
"Iran! Azadi! Iran! Azadi!" the crowd of Atlanta protesters shouted a call-and-response in Farsi, declaring "Iran, Freedom."
The crowd lined both sides of Techwood, dressed in green and black and waving signs declaring "Where is my vote?" and "No Oppression."
Speaking on behalf of the Iranian Students of Georgia, ACLU project director Azedeh Shahshahani read a statement demanding the Iranian government stop attacking peaceful protesters.
"We refuse to remain silent when authorities use bloody violence to crush dissent and deny Iranian citizens their right to freedom of speech and association," Shahshahani said. "We hereby declare our strong objection to the recent violations of civil rights."
The protesters shared the sidewalks with concertgoers attending the Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash concert at Phillips Arena. As cars passed by and honked their horns in support, the crowd of protesters would cheer.
Atlantan and Iranian descendent Naz Bagherzadeh circulated petition with friends demanding the end to violence. Bagherzadeh, whose father was born in Iran, said she refused to feel helpless.
"This does make me feel like I'm doing something," she said.
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