A call for justice
Protests held in Cedartown, Rockmart in wake of George Floyd’s death
Signs, chants and people lining sidewalks demanding their voices be heard and justice served marked the first week of June in Cedartown and Rockmart, where people young and old gathered in peaceful demonstrations.
This came in the wake of thousands of people going out in cities across the country and globe to call for justice in the death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement in Minneapolis, which has since sparked peaceful demonstrations and marches, but also riots and death.
Those who have organized locally in Cedartown and Rockmart on Facebook aren’t the large crowds seen in city centers like Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, but they all have the same message.
Underneath the chants for justice for Floyd, for Ahmaud Arbery and the names of many other men and women the type of police brutality on display when Minneapolis Police Officer Devin Chauvin placed his knee on the neck of Floyd for more than eight minutes and ended his life is not tolerated.
It was the first day that protesters were out with signs and spreading their message, but last Tuesday marked one of the largest crowds so far to demonstrate in Cedartown.
One of the organizers, Ashley Beeler, said she and a friend began protesting on Monday by themselves. Last Tuesday’s event brought out many more than they had hoped would join in to protest against ill treatment of minorities and the high profile deaths of men and women during encounters with police in weeks and years past.
On Friday, Beeler joined dozens of others on the sidewalk outside of city hall in Rockmart on North Piedmont Avenue, where their chants for Floyd were met with car horns and waves of support. She reported that additional protests held in Cedartown had met some people who didn’t agree with their message, and at one point held up traffic on Main Street arguing.
That wasn’t the case with police presence out on front of city hall alongside demonstrators last Friday night, which included Rockmart Police Chief Randy Lacey.
He like others have shown their support for peaceful protests in the community. That includes Chief Jamie Newsome in Cedartown, Polk County Police Chief Kenny Dodd and Sheriff Johnny Moats.
That is the message that Ashley Morris, who helped organize the protest to end last week. Morris said her and a friend Tish brought together people as well to help end racism.
“Personally for me, I’ve never had to experience police brutality. But my friend Tish, she’s Hawaiian and a person of color, and my niece is a person of color,” she said. “She’s 12. I don’t want her having to grow up in a world where she has to worry about whether she has to worry about walking down the street.”
Morris and Beeler — along with others — that they are planning more protests locally in the future.
“This was the first time that I ever organized a rally,” Morris said. “I would be glad to organize another one.”
Developments across the country since protests began include the upgrade to second degree murder charges again Chauvin last week, along with charges levied against the three other officers involved in Floyd’s death.
Minneapolis also agreed last week to ban police chokeholds and require officers to intervene any time they see unauthorized force by another officer. The changes are part of a stipulation between the city and state officials who launched a civil rights investigation into Floyd’s death. The City Council was expected to approve the agreement, which will be enforceable in court according to the Associated Press.
Closer to home, the legislature is looking at changes to legal code as well.
Democratic lawmakers in the Georgia House plan to push a series of bills later this month aimed at undoing the state’s stand-your-ground and citizen’s arrest laws following the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.
Bills to repeal those aspects of the state’s self-defense laws will come in a package of reform measures House Democrats intend to introduce once the General Assembly reconvenes on June 15, Democratic Minority Leader Bob Trammell said Thursday.
Trammell, D-Luthersville, said the 10-bill package seeks to prevent Georgians from adopting “the notion that they can take the law into their own hands with deadly and tragic consequences.”
More details on the bills will be unveiled this week, Trammell said.
In one case that is in the spotlight over protests is the shooting death of Arbury in Brunswick in February.
The white gunman who killed Arbery called him a racial slur as he lay dying on the street, according to court testimony last Thursday from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s lead investigator in the case.
Travis McMichael, a 34-year-old white man, allegedly called Arbery a “(expletive) N-word” shortly after shooting him three times with a 12-gauge Remington shotgun during a pursuit on Feb. 23, according to GBI Special Agent Richard Dial.
Dial, whose testimony Thursday opened probablecause court proceedings in the case, said the slur from McMichael was heard by one of three defendants who have been charged, William “Roddie” Bryan Jr.
Bryan, who did not testify directly Thursday, told a GBI investigator that he heard McMichael make the remark shortly after shooting Arbery, according to Dial. Dial said Bryan made the claim in a mid-May interview.
Bryan, who recorded cellphone video footage of the fatal encounter, also allegedly hit Arbery with his truck during a pursuit after Arbery was seen entering a construction site in the neighborhood, Dial said.
The courtroom revelations from Dial are sure to inflame public passions over the death of Arbery, whose killing was caught on cell-phone video footage taken by Bryan and circulated widely on social media last month.
Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, have been charged with murder and aggravated assault in the killing. Bryan is also facing a murder charge as well as a charge of attempted false imprisonment.
Dial’s testimony came in a preliminary hearing held in Glynn County Magistrate
Court Thursday. Aside from noting Bryan’s description of the racial slur, Dial also laid out the timeline events that led to Arbery’s death.
Dial, who led the investigation once the GBI took over last month, said the two McMichael men were alerted to Arbery’s presence at a nearby house under construction.
Gregory McMichael, 64, told police he had a “gut feeling” that Arbery was responsible for previous burglaries in the neighborhood, and decided to give chase, Dial said. However, Dial noted there is no evidence Arbery took anything from the construction site on the day he was shot.
Editor Kevin Myrick contributed to this report locally. The Associated Press and Capitol Beat News Service also provided coverage of events in recent days.