A crowd of liberal activists gathered inside the Georgia Capitol on Monday in an attempt to “pack the Capitol” during the first day of the 2026 legislative session.

As state lawmakers gaveled in this year’s legislative session, dozens of demonstrators lined the south stairwell in the Capitol, urging the Legislature to defend civil liberties.

“The legislators need to listen more to the people than the politics,” said Christopher Bruce, policy and advocacy director for the Georgia American Civil Liberties Union. “They need to listen more to the Georgians than the lobbyists.”

The event was organized by liberal advocacy group Indivisible Georgia, the Georgia ACLU and other organizations. More than 600 people signed up for the demonstration, according to event organizers.

Among the issues demonstrators advocated for were protecting free speech, expanding voting access and challenging limits on reproductive health care.

“We know what’s at stake this legislative session,” said Kristin Crowe of Indivisible Georgia.

Lawmakers and legislative staff were told by the Georgia Department of Public Safety to prepare for up to 4,000 demonstrators, but far fewer activists were on hand and the event was not disruptive.

“This is not a protest. We are just exercising our rights to speak to our legislators to let them know what we care about,” Crowe said.

Crowe said that law enforcement may have been confused because prior demonstrations organized by the groups to protest actions by the Trump administration drew larger crowds. Monday’s event was to lobby state lawmakers at the start of the Legislature’s 40-day session, she said.

State Rep. Shea Roberts, D-Atlanta, said it was like a game of telephone.

She said it was supposed to just be a gathering of people for a day at the Capitol, but somehow it turned into this rumor of a mass protest.