A lawmaker from the Democratic state of Georgia was arrested by state forces and charged Thursday after she sued Gov. Brian Kemp
Brian KempGeorgia Allows All Adults To Get Vaccine Starting Thursday Trump Allies Line Up For Potential Bruising Primary Governor Races To Test COVID-19 Response, Trump Affects MORE‘s (R) through several times when he signed a controversial bill into law.
Police told The Hill that Rep. Park Cannon (D) was taken to Fulton County Jail, where she was charged with obstructing law enforcement as well as “preventing or disrupting General Assembly sessions or other meetings of members.”
Lieutenant W. Mark Riley, The Georgia State Patrol’s public information director said in a statement to The Hill that Cannon started knocking on the door of Kemp’s office when he hosted a live-streaming event for the bill’s signing.
Police said the door to the governor’s ceremonial office was marked with a “Governor’s Staff Only ”sign, along with uprights blocking the door.
“Rep. Cannon kept knocking on the door and was told again not to knock on the door again,” Riley told The Hill. be placed under arrest. ”
Riley said that after Cannon “took a step back,” she continued knocking on the door.
“She was again advised that if she didn’t quit, she would be arrested for obstruction and disrupting the press conference,” he added. “Rep. Cannon refused to stop knocking on the door” and was subsequently “arrested and escorted out of the Capitol.”
The controversial bill in question includes voting restrictions such as restricting the use of ballots and setting photo ID requirements for absentee voting. It has been widely condemned by Democrats who argue that the legislation was largely fueled by recent losses in the 2020 and early 2021 Republican elections.
A Facebook Live video later shared on Twitter showed some of the interaction, with Cannon standing in front of a police officer and walking past him to knock on the door before she was turned into handcuffs.
“Why are you arresting her?” This Facebook Live video from @WareStevens shows the moment when the authorities called the State Rep. Park Cannon @GovKemp was behind those doors and signed election restrictions into law. #gapol pic.twitter.com/U1xMJ6tZrY
– Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 25, 2021
Additional footage Posted on Twitter, multiple police officers showed escorting a handcuffed cannon through the Capitol, while other protesters repeatedly asked, “Why are you arresting her?”
This is insane: Georgia Dem rep @ Mrjoshua1971 was arrested for trying to watch Brian Kemp sign a new voter suppression bill. Watch her being treated by the police. This comes straight from Jim Crow pic.twitter.com/zRpMWumbkQ
– Ari Berman (@AriBerman) March 25, 2021
Tamara Stevens, who posted the Facebook Live video, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Cannon did not cause any inconvenience, adding that it was within her right to witness the signing of the bill by the governor.
She knew he was signing a bill that would affect all Georgians – why would he hide behind closed doors? This is not a monarchy, ”Stevens said. “You have a woman of color fighting for the rights of Georgians and they have her arrested for knocking on the door because she wanted to see our governor sign the bill.”
Fellow Democratic State Representative Erica Thomas said Cannon “did her job as an elected official.”
“She asked where the governor was and where the bill was signed,” added Thomas, according to the Journal-Constitution.
Attorney Gerald Griggs told the Journal-Constitution in an interview from prison that he intended to represent Cannon.
“I’m afraid this has happened,” he said. “I’ll fight to get her out.”
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 legislature is also a parishioner at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where Sen. Raphael Warnock
Raphael Warnock Trump Allies Line Up For Potential Bruises For Primaries Clyburn: Democrats To ‘Run’ On COVID-19 Relief Act In 2022 Poll: Doug Collins Leads Among Georgian Republicans MORE (D-Ga.) Was a senior pastor, according to a statement obtained by the news broadcast.
Updated 11:07 pm