Georgia state lawmaker arrested for protesting Kemp’s signing of a comprehensive voting bill

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A Democratic lawmaker from the state of Georgia was arrested by state soldiers and charged Thursday after calling the governor. Brian KempBrian KempGeorgia allows all adults to get vaccinated starting Thursday Trump allies rejoice ahead of potentially contusive primaries Governor races to test COVID-19 response, Trump’s influence MORE(R) leads several times when he signed a controversial bill to vote.

Police told The Hill that Representative Park Cannon (D) was taken to the Fulton County Jail, where she was charged with obstruction of law enforcement, as well as “preventing or interrupting sessions. of the General Assembly or other meetings of members ”.

Lieutenant W. Mark Riley, The director of public information for the Georgia State Patrol, in a statement to The Hill, said Cannon began knocking on Kemp’s office door while hosting a live event for the signing of the project. law.

Police said the door to the governor’s ceremonial office was marked with a “Sign of the governor’s staff only “, together with the tobacconists who block the door.

“Rep. Cannon kept knocking on the door and he was ordered again to stop knocking on the door,” Riley told The Hill. “She was warned she was bothering what was going on inside and if she didn’t stop, she would be arrested.”

Riley said that after Cannon “stepped back for a moment,” he kept knocking on the door.

“Again she was warned if she did not stop, she would be arrested for obstruction and disrupting the press conference,” he added. “Representative Cannon refused to stop knocking on the door” and was “arrested and escorted outside the Capitol.”

The controversial bill in question includes voting restrictions, such as limiting the use of ballot boxes and setting photo identification requirements for absentee voting. He has been widely condemned by Democrats who claim the legislation was largely fueled by recent Republican election losses in 2020 and early 2021.

A Facebook Live video later shared on Twitter showed part of the interaction, in which Cannon stood in front of a police officer and can be seen passing in front of him to knock on the door before they put her in handcuffs.

Additional images posted on Twitter showed several police officers escorting a handcuffed cannon through the Capitol building while other protesters repeatedly asked, “Why are you stopping her?”

Tamara Stevens, who posted the Facebook Live video, told Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Cannon did not cause any inconvenience, adding that it was within his rights to witness the signing of the bill by the governor.

“I knew I was signing a bill that would affect all Georgians: why would it hide behind closed doors? This is not a monarchy,” Stevens said. “You have a woman of color fighting for the rights of Georgians and she was arrested for knocking on the door because she wanted to witness our governor signing the bill.”

Democratic state Rep. Erica Thomas said Cannon “did his job as an elected official.”

“I was wondering where the governor was and where the bill was being signed,” Thomas added, according to the Journal-Constitution.

Attorney Gerald Griggs told the Journal-Constitution in an interview from prison that he planned to represent Cannon.

“I’m worried this will happen,” he said. “I will fight to free her.”

Cannon, 24, is Georgia’s youngest lawmaker and one of three openly gay lawmakers elected to the state House in 2016, according to CNN.

The legislator is also a parishioner of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., Where the senator. Raphael WarnockRaphael Warnock: Trump allies rejoice over potentially wounded primaries (D-Ga.) He was a senior pastor, according to a press release.

Updated at 11:07 p.m.

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