More than 150 demonstrators marched through downtown Atlanta on Thursday night as outrage grew over the killing of a 37-year-old Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer a day earlier.
Protesters held signs and chanted as they marched from the Georgia State Capitol toward Atlanta City Hall at a rapid clip. Thursday marked the second consecutive night of protests in Atlanta, but the crowd had grown significantly as people took to the streets in cities across the country to protest the shooting of Renee Nicole Good.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Good, a mother of three, had just dropped off her youngest child at an elementary school in Minneapolis on Wednesday when she encountered a group of ICE agents in the road, The Associated Press reported.
Trump administration officials have said the woman tried to ram federal agents with her Honda SUV and that the officer who killed her fired in self-defense. But many remained skeptical Thursday as additional cellphone footage of the deadly shooting emerged.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“Justice for Renee,” demonstrators in Atlanta shouted as they converged on the steps of the Capitol.
“What happened to Renee Nicole Good yesterday was outrageous,” said protest organizer Addison Clapp. “It was not self-defense by ICE.”
Meanwhile, federal officials said two people were hospitalized Thursday following a separate shooting involving federal immigration officers in Portland, Oregon.
“Down, down with deportation,” marchers chanted as at least a dozen police vehicles escorted the protesters through several downtown blocks.
Traffic in the area came to a standstill as Atlanta police officers shut down streets for the demonstrators. Meanwhile, Georgia State Patrol troopers stood along the fence outside the Capitol.
Many protesters carried signs that read, “ICE Out of our Communities.” Others linked arms in the roadway as state troopers dispersed the crowd.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Clapp said she thinks the cellphone video of Good’s shooting made it “clear as day” that agents were never really in danger.
“She did not need to die,” Clapp said. “This is the natural result of ICE’s terror across the country.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The protest remained peaceful and lasted a little more than two hours before crowds begin to thin out. Some vowed to continue protesting.
“They call immigrants criminals. They call them the worst of the worst,” said protester Claudia Andrade. “But the real criminals, the real thugs, are the ones who are behind the masks terrorizing our neighborhoods.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
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