Home news the culture Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms asked for calm as protests against the murder of George Floyd grew tense

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Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms asked for calm as protests against the murder of George Floyd grew tense

Stacey Mickles

May 30, 2020

Atlanta, GA: Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, at a late evening press conference, asks protesters to disband after demonstrations turned violent.

Atlanta, GA: Protesters at CNN headquarters smash windows and deface it’s logo as peaceful demonstrations against the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police took a turn and protesters clashed with police. May 29, 2020. Mike Stewart

Friday night, Atlanta became another hot spot for protests over the death of Minnesota resident George Floyd, who was killed by the police on Memorial day. Despite the arrest of the officer who killed Floyd, Derek Chauvin, cities across the country have exploded.

Hundreds of protestors were in Atlanta’s Centennial Park in what was supposed to be a peaceful protest, but as the night drew longer some members of the crowd turned violent. Protestors attacked several businesses, including the CNN building.

Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, while understanding of the reason behind the, was furious about the damage caused to the city.

“This is not Atlanta. This is not a protest. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. This is chaos. A protest has purpose. When Dr. King was assassinated we didn’t do this to our city,”

“So if you love this city, this city that has had a legacy of black mayors and black police chiefs and people who care about this city where more than 50 percent of the business owners in metro Atlanta are minority business owners, if you care about this city then go home.”

It wasn’t just Atlanta on fire last night, Minneapolis, Dallas, Brooklyn all saw some parts of their city on fire Friday night, leaving their mayors and their citizens wondering what is next for their cities.