A visibly exhausted Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms established a curfew for Atlanta one day after violent protests and looting erupted in the city.
Bottoms put the measures in place after protesters vandalized several buildings in downtown Atlanta, including CNN Center, where the restaurant McCormicks & Schmicks is located.
Protesters gathered downtown to draw attention to the violent death of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The incident was caught on camera and has ignited protests throughout the nation.
In Atlanta, a protest that was advertised as a peaceful movement that would observe social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic turned chaotic as night fell.
What Are The Atlanta Curfew Hours?
The mayor of Atlanta signed an Executive Order for a citywide curfew from 9 p.m. to sunrise the next morning.
A couple of demonstrators jumped on a police car and as officers pulled away, the vehicle was set afire and engulfed in flames moments later.
In one tense moment, an officer was seen shoving a bike onto a woman, which was quickly exposed by the crowd.
In a plea for calm, Bottoms evoked billionaire and CNN founder Ted Turner to ask protesters to go home.
“You’re not honoring the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. You’re not protesting anything with bricks in your hand breaking windows in this city,” Bottoms said.
"This is chaos. A protest has purpose. When Dr. King was assassinated we didn't do this to our city," Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said. "If you want change in America, go and register to vote." https://t.co/1M9DJg6CSz pic.twitter.com/74p8sryX0D
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) May 30, 2020
She also brought out rapper T.I. and Killer Mike, who both told protesters to keep the peace and resist the urge to turn violent.
Rapper Killer Mike delivers an impassioned plea to protesters in Atlanta to strategise, organise, mobilise, and hold their politicians to account, after clashes with police over the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minneapolishttps://t.co/FsiLiw0F1a pic.twitter.com/VZ4oAEPhd5
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 30, 2020
“If you sit in your homes tonight instead of burning your homes to the ground, you will have time to properly plot, plan, strategize, organize znd mobilize in an effective way.”
But after those speeches, small fires broke out across the street from CNN Center at Centennial Olympic Park.
As news cameras kept pace with the demonstrators, the crowds started to die down. SWAT team police began to mobilize as well to move people back toward the park.
But unbeknownst to the authorities, the protesters began to make their way to Buckhead, the richest area of the city. They would descend on the Lenox Square area, choosing to break into Phipps Plaza across the street.
Social media video showed people running up to the glass doors, looking to breach them.
Lenox Mall in Buckhead (Atlanta) right now pic.twitter.com/9wos4pwneX
— Scott Stewart (@StewStewart) May 30, 2020
Protesters also showed up in the Lindbergh area, vandalizing the Target there and looting items from the store.
UPDATE: Looters have damaged a Target in #Buckhead and another in the Lindbergh area. In addition, windows were broken at an AT&T store near Lenox Square Mall: https://t.co/KIp3i5LG43 #AtlantaProtest #AtlantaRiot pic.twitter.com/nFo0HDTpgU
— AJC (@ajc) May 30, 2020
Meanwhile, in Phipps Plaza, looters commandeered a vehicle inside the mall and were able to break into several upscale stores, including Gucci and Dior.
They going crazy in Lenox mall I’m Gucci lol 😂 pic.twitter.com/lBaJpu7l9k
— Phil B. (@Arnaz_X) May 30, 2020
As a result, Bottoms instituted a curfew, saying Saturday afternoon that the protests — which she knows quite a lot about as a native Atlantan — were different this time around.
“When I saw the people out today cleaning up our city and our crew were out there, that felt like Atlanta to me,” she said. “This shouldn’t have been about police cars burning… this is about lives being lost.”
Update on protests in downtown Atlanta https://t.co/51k63pwAcc
— Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) May 30, 2020
“What it felt like to me today was we are the city that cities across this country only wish that they could be, which is why last night I said we are better than this as a city and we’re better than this as a country,” she said.
What started out as a peaceful demonstration, quickly turned into mayhem and unnecessary destruction, and ultimately an assault on businesses that are already struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bottoms remarked.
“This was a highly calculated terrorist organization,” Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields pointedly said, noting that many of the protesters were out-of-towners.
In Gwinnett County at Sugar Mills Mall, throngs of protesters emerged as authorities met them with a show of force on a beautiful Saturday.
@wsbtv @11AliveNews Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville right now! Please use your platform to bring Gwinnett PD aggression to light! #riot #gwinnett #BLACK_LIVES_MATTER #protest #georgesfloyd pic.twitter.com/OVuSrQmdzi
— ciara dubose (@ciaratheedoll) May 30, 2020
Meanwhile, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp ordered 1,500 National Guard troops to protect the city’s structures and monuments as tensions continued to rise for a second night.
Late Saturday disturbing video emerged from downtown Atlanta, which saw officers bust the windows out of a vehicle, pulled the passenger out and tase the driver.
The occupants of the vehicle were later identified as a Spelman and Morehouse student.
this is so wrong.. they’re pigs pic.twitter.com/aWebYvhMy2
— 𝑙𝑜𝑔₁₃🧸⁷ (@chimdesires) May 31, 2020
On Sunday, demonstrators took to the streets for a third straight day after more damage to buildings the night before.
#HBCUs4BlackLives rally from Cleophus R. Johnson Park to downtown Atlanta. @ajc pic.twitter.com/UTvDxQ68BB
— Adrianne Murchison (@Adriannemarie19) May 31, 2020
On Sunday, May 31, Bottom announced that the officers involved in the tasing of a Spelman and Morehouse student were fired from the force.
Hours later, one of the officers involved emerged on social media, explaining how he actually showed “compassion” for the driver, who he said he helped to safety.
.@KeishaBottoms who exactly did you fire? Officer A. Jones is literally over here justifying his actions and the actions of the other cops who attacked Messiah and Taniyah. Why is this officer in duty the next day? Why is this man still with a job? pic.twitter.com/ihEBBVoIU6
— Eyerusalem (@_eyerusalem) May 31, 2020
The officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes is at this moment facing third-degree murder charges.
Protesters and many people around the nation are agitating for the other three officers to be charged in Floyd’s death as well.
Atlantafi.com is bringing you the latest on the coronavirus pandemic, which has the state of Georgia and the city of Atlanta under a state of emergency. More definitive advice on health, please visit CDC.gov. Here are some helpful links: