A series of protests against racism and police brutality continued Sunday, with demonstrations planned across the metro Atlanta area.
The demonstrations came after the recent killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, two of whom died at the hands of police officers.
It made the 10th day of protests within the city of Atlanta, and the second consecutive day without a curfew. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms imposed 9 p.m. curfews last weekend after demonstrations ended with dozens of arrests.
She moved the curfew up to 8 p.m. Friday, and lifted it Saturday and again Sunday after Atlanta police reported no arrests during the weekend demonstrations.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Atlanta protests
Events were held in Clarkston, Brookhaven, Marietta, Kennesaw and Woodstock, as well as numerous downtown locations, including Ebenezer Baptist Church and Atlantic Station.
» PHOTOS: Demonstrations held in Gwinnett County
10:29 p.m.: No arrests were made during Sunday's protests, Atlanta police spokesman Officer Anthony Grant said.
9:13 p.m.: As the crowd returned to Centennial Olympic Park, the protest leaders said their goodbyes. A small group of people danced in the streets, before the crowd dispersed.
8:45 p.m.: Demonstrators walked in the middle of street as they headed down West Peachtree Street back to Centennial Olympic Park Drive.
Walking in the middle of the street seemed to be a very intentional act, as marchers chanted “whose streets? Our streets!” Marchers walked against the flow of traffic, showing their signs protest signs to drivers stuck in traffic.
ALYSSA POINTER/ AJC.COM
ALYSSA POINTER/ AJC.COM
8:28 p.m.: At North Avenue and Peachtree Street, the march leader addressed a group of onlookers who were watching from the balconies at the Windsor.
“You got your fists up, but if you cared, you would be down here,” he yelled.
When the crowd made a left on North in front of the building, several people streamed out to cheers.
8:15 p.m.: At Peachtree and Pine streets, a splinter group of marchers veered off to chant "hands up, don't shoot" at a phalanx of Georgia State Patrol troopers. The leaders of the march, who were at least one block ahead of the scene, sprinted back to bring the group back into the line.
7:54 p.m.: The Georgia State Patrol block the on ramp to the downtown connector in the area of Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard and Williams Street. A group of protesters continued to make their way through downtown Atlanta.
» PHOTOS: 10th day of protests in Atlanta(
7:44 p.m.: Demonstrators converged at the intersection of Centennial Olympic Park Drive and Marietta Street.
7:30 p.m.: Just over a week ago, the famous sign at CNN Center was vandalized while a patrol car was burning in the street nearby. On Sunday, peaceful was the best description for the scene.
At 7:23, in front of the CNN sign — the site of so much destruction and turmoil at the start of the protests in the city — the peaceful protesters, who had earlier kneeled at the Capitol, kneeled again.
“We don’t want justice,” a leader with the megaphone said. “We’re demanding it.”
7 p.m.: Hundreds of protesters , who had marched from the Capitol, paused atop the MLK overpass over 75/85 about 6:30 p.m. They chanted all of the familiar refrains that have defined the movement.
On the bridge, the protesters held up traffic, but the drivers didn’t seem to mind.
Neither did police officers who stood by silently.
A few minutes later, the swelling crowd had made it back in front of the Capitol. There, they all kneeled for a moment of silence. For eight minutes and 46 seconds — the amount of time that it took for George Floyd to die when an officer’s knee was on his neck in police custody.
6:20 p.m.: Protesters vowed last night to return to the Capitol until a statue of former Georgia Gov. John Brown Gordon, a Confederate war general generally believed to be a leader of the Ku Klux Klan, is removed. So far, a few dozen are already at the building.
Meanwhile, a large crowd gathered at City Hall continues to make demonstrators’ voices heard — some in different ways. For example, one protester stood out in the crowd with names of African Americans who have died from police brutality written on her motorcycle helmet.
5:30 p.m.: Throngs of protesters continue to mobilize outside both City Hall in Atlanta and at the Governor's Mansion.
Hundreds had marched from from Cleopas Park and then gathered at City Hall listen to speakers.
Steve Schaefer
Steve Schaefer
Steve Schaefer
Steve Schaefer
4:49 p.m.: A group who started at Piedmont Park stopped at the intersection of 10th and Piedmont, the historic hub of Atlanta's LGBTQ community. The marchers held a moment of silence for Tony McDade and other black people who have died at the hands of police.
4:28 p.m.: A group in Cleopas R. Johnson Park in Atlanta gathered to recognize black women who have died at the hands of police. The demonstration, billed as the #SayHerName March, comes after 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by police who entered her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
The marchers marched from the park to Atlanta City Hall.
ALYSSA POINTER/ AJC.COM
ALYSSA POINTER/ AJC.COM
4:07 p.m.: A crowd of about 150 marched through the heart of Georgia State University through Decatur.
Leaving from Woodruff Park on their way to the State Capitol, they waved signs and chanted: "No justice. No Peace."
Then, they reached Alania Smith. Wearing a mortarboard and a GSU T-shirt, she stood on a median and posed for graduation pictures. The juxtaposition of protest and achievement seemed to be a sign that the city is slowing returning to normal, as the crowd stopped chanting to congratulate Smith, 22, for graduating.
"With everything that has been going on, with COVID-19, then the protests it was discouraging, but you still have to push through," said Smith, who now has a degree in political science. "I knew I had to finish school and today I was just trying to find a bright moment with everything that is happening."
4:01 p.m.: A group of demonstrators assembled outside of Atlanta's City Hall.
3:57 p.m.: Protesters in Piedmont Park began walking past Grady High School down Charles Allen Drive.
3:17 p.m.: Protesters gathered in Piedmont Park ahead of a march through Midtown in honor of Tony McDade. Demonstrators shouted "no justice, no peace," and held signs that said "Black Trans Lives Matter."
McDade, a black transgender man, was fatally shot and killed on May 27 following an encounter with a police officer in Tallahassee, Florida. The details of what led to that incident remain murky.
“When we say Black Lives Matter, we mean all, every single one of us,” a demonstrator said.
1:24 p.m.: A group of African-American pastors have convened for a "Preachers for the People" protest against racism.
The marchers sing protest songs reminiscent of the Civil Right Movement as they move down Auburn Avenue toward the state Capitol. One marcher bellows through a bullhorn: “Ain’t going to let nobody turn me round. I’m going to keep on walking, keep on talking, marching up to freedom land.”
The pastors are joined by Jon Ossoff, a candidate for Georgia’s senate.
12:59 p.m.: A crowd of several hundred people gathered near the Beauty Master store at Gwinnett Place Mall for a "socially distant" protest.
John Amis
John Amis
Demonstrators walked with their arms out by their sides to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 while demanding the passage of hate crime legislation in Georgia. Georgia is one of four states without such a law.
Earlier
The Capitol
After protests ended peacefully Saturday night, a group of nearly 100 people remained at the Capitol into the night. Demonstrators demanded the removal of a statue of former Georgia Governor John Brown Gordon, a Confederate war general generally believed to be a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
Law enforcement officers surrounded the statue, and protesters had dispersed by 11 p.m. but vowed to return.
An announcement Sunday on social media confirms protesters expect to continue their efforts at the Capitol. The digital flyer said protests at the Capitol will reconvene every day at 6 p.m.
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