Capitol police arrested a Kennesaw State University professor Friday morning who tried to display a sign protesting a bill that for the first time would legalize firearms on all public colleges in Georgia.
Witnesses said the woman had a sign critical of the bill on the fourth floor of the Capitol near the audience gallery of the state Senate, which was scheduled later Friday to debate House Bill 859. According to building officials, the woman was twice asked to remove the sign but did not.
Signs are banned in some areas of the Capitol, according to police. Witnesses said the woman, who by then had made her way to the third floor of the Capitol, resisted when officers tried to grab the sign from her. According to Capt. Lewis Young, with the Georgia State Patrol, the woman then threw herself to the ground before officers arrested her.
Young identified the woman as Amy Donahue, 44, of Marietta. Police charged Donahue with obstruction and disrupting the General Assembly.
University officials released a statement Friday saying they were aware of the arrest: “We have the utmost respect for the General Assembly, and while we support appropriate expressions of opinion, we do not condone the disruptive activities associated with this incident,” the statement said.
