Protesters rally in Atlanta for lawmaker arrested Thursday at the governor's office

Dozens of protesters turned out at Atlanta City Hall on Saturday to rally against Georgia’s overhaul of election laws and to support a state representative who was arrested Thursday during the bill’s signing.

Georgia’s changes in voting laws, signed by Gov. Brian Kemp shortly after passing both chambers of the Legislature, have become a part of the national political conversation that has centered on whether the bill’s development and success are an affront to the Black vote or the Democratic vote, both of which grew in the 2020 election.

Meanwhile, images of Thursday’s arrest of state Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, after she knocked on the governor’s door have sparked national and international response.

The voting rights rally, organized by The People’s Uprising under the slogan “We Stand with Representative Park Cannon,” featured at least 100 demonstrators, with some carrying signs reading “Stand with Park” and “Black Lives Matter.”

Credit: Steve Schaefer

Credit: Steve Schaefer

Georgia state troopers arrested Cannon as she knocked on Kemp’s door, interrupting his livestreamed announcement that he had signed the elections bill into law.

The officers removed her, dragging her through the Capitol and pushing her into a police car. She was charged with obstruction of law enforcement and disrupting General Assembly sessions, according to the Georgia State Patrol and released on bond late Thursday.

Credit: Steve Schaefer

Cannon was with several other protesters when she knocked on Kemp’s office door, saying the public should be allowed to witness the announcement of the bill signing. The sweeping legislation requires ID for absentee ballots, limits drop boxes and changes early voting hours.

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