As protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions continued for a fifth night in Los Angeles, citizens took to the streets in dozens of cities across the country, including Atlanta.
Marching along Buford Highway on Tuesday night, hundreds of protestors carried Mexican flags and homemade signs to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement in the metro area and to support the rallies in Los Angeles.
In response to the sizable protests over immigration that began last week in Los Angeles, Trump has deployed 700 U.S. Marines and an estimated 4,000 National Guard members, against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
In Atlanta, Buford Highway is known as the city’s “international corridor,” due to the large number of immigrants that live, work, and own businesses in the area.
Protestors were met by police in riot gear from several departments across metro Atlanta.
In a haze of fireworks from protestors and tear gas from police, a man was pushed to the ground by a group of officers, hitting his head on the concrete, The New York Times reported. There’s been no update on the man’s identity or condition.
According to WSB-TV, six people were arrested last night.
More protests are reportedly planned in several cities across the country on Wednesday, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, San Antonio, and Seattle.
Read More: Trump’s Travel Ban Targets Black Migrants as Protests and Deportations Spread
GEORGIA LAWMAKERS RESPOND
In response to last night’s protests, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced that he intends to bring domestic terrorism charges against protestors involved in violence.
“All Americans have the right to peacefully protest. No American has the right to destroy property, loot businesses, or attack law enforcement officers,” Carr wrote in a press release to the media Wednesday morning. “It’s very simple. Protesters use words. Rioters use violence. There is no gray area,”
Carr, a 2026 Governor’s race hopeful, has previously touted the use of domestic terrorism charges to prosecute members of the Stop Cop City movement.
“We are not California or New York. We are Georgia. We don’t make excuses for criminals here. We prosecute them,” he wrote.
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock has not yet commented on the protests in Atlanta but described President Donald Trump as a dictator and an autocrat for his decision to deploy the National Guard and Marines to southern California against the wishes of their governor.
“[He wants] to convince us that we are at war with one another. That’s really his project. He’s trying to divide us because people who have no vision traffic in division. He’s trying to divide us in order to rule over us,” Warnock said on MSNBC Tuesday night.
On Wednesday afternoon, Governor Brian Kemp also weighed in on the Tuesday night protests.
“My office remains in close contact with state and local law enforcement and stands ready to take whatever appropriate action is needed to safeguard our communities from crime and violence while also respecting the constitutional right to peaceful assembly,” Kemp said in a statement posted on Facebook. “My support for public safety officers and the rule of law is unwavering, and any violence against those who protect and serve will be met with quick and heavy accountability.”
Former Atlanta mayor and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms also weighed in on Trump’s actions in Los Angeles, according to the AJC.
“Donald Trump’s decision to defy local leaders in deploying the National Guard and Marines is putting people at risk, wasting resources and distracting local law enforcement, all to grab more power for himself,” said Bottoms. “I have always said that it is wrong for anyone to turn to violence and vandalism, and those who do should be held accountable. “
Follow Capital B Atlanta for more updates as we follow this developing story.
