ATLANTA – A rally and “March on Georgia” demanding an end to systemic racism in the criminal justice system and voter suppression in Georgia was underway Monday at a federal building here, bound for the Georgia State Capitol a little more than a mile away.
An energized crowd of hundreds gathered at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building, with a list of speakers ranging from rapper Jeezy to Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce and elected officials, activists and NAACP leaders.
“I didn’t come here to speak as a head coach. I came here to speak because a lot of people know me as a friend, cousin, a nephew, a brother,” Pierce said. “I’m a Black man and I came here to speak as a Black man to the city of Atlanta.”
The speakers memorialized Rayshard Brooks, 27, a Black man killed by Atlanta police outside a Wendy’s restaurant late Friday. They also decried police violence, voter suppression, citizens arrest laws and disparities in the education system.
“We’ve come this morning because we are sick and tired of being sick and tired,” the Rev. Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church said to the crowd. “We’re sick and tired of having to beg for human decency.”
Jerry Gonzalez, founder of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, urged the crowd to demand the resignation of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Georgia NAACP President James Woodall spoke against citizen arrests.
“Citizens arrest was a way for people to recapture emancipated slaves,” he said. “There is no reason why we should continue to see our brothers and our sisters, our sons and our daughter, our mothers and our fathers dead for no apparent reason.”
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The state NAACP announced plans for the rally soon after the death of Brooks, who had fallen asleep in his car in the drive-thru and was later shot as he fled following a struggle. Rally organizers want state lawmakers to repeal the “Citizens Arrest” and “Stand Your Ground” statutes and oppose a proposal that would not longer require the State Election Board to ensure Georgia counties comply with federal voting laws.
Marvette St. Clair, a protestor from Conyers, Georgia, said she feels a responsibility to continue the work Martin Luther King Jr. started.
“I’m out here because as a people we have to stand together against racism,” said St. Clair, who is Black. “We have to dismantle this system and build a system that works for our people.”
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Josie Skinner, a white woman from Atlanta, held up a sign that said “Your fight is my fight.”
“I care about the cause even if I’m not directly impacted by it,” Skinner said. “It’s like they never learn. Why are you still shooting black men? How many more steps could have been taken prior to shooting him that were not taken.”
Brooks’ death was ruled a homicide Sunday, the result of “two gunshot wounds of his back that created organ injuries and blood loss,” the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office said in a release.
Brooks’ widow, Tomika Miller, said Monday she wants the officers involved charged with murder. They should be treated the way her husband would be treated if he was the shooter, she said.
“I want them to go to jail,” Miller said on CBS This Morning. “If it was my husband who shot them, he would be in jail, he would be doing a life sentence.”
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Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said a decision on possible charges could be made this week.
Within hours of the shooting, Police Chief Erika Shields stepped down from her post. On Sunday, the department announced that officer Garrett Rolfe, a seven-year veteran of the force, was fired. Officer Devin Brosnan, on the force for less than two years, was placed on administrative duty.
Bacon reported from McLean, Virginia
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