//Small Group of Protesters Attempt to Disrupt Kemp’s Office

Small Group of Protesters Attempt to Disrupt Kemp’s Office

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AJC Photo
AJC Photo

ATLANTA — Moral Monday Georgia attempted to make a point to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp Monday. After allowing their points to be made, Georgia State Patrol officers made theirs, arresting the small group after they refused to leave Kemp’s office after Capitol closing hours.  That seemed to be their goal in order to make their point.

The group, according to reports in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, describe themselves as “a multi-racial, multi-issue coalition of citizens working for positive change for the public good.”

When the protest started, there were possibly as many as 50 protesters.  Later, 10 of the protesters moved into Kemp’s office to deliver a letter they said alleged that more than 40,000 voters in Georgia did not know their voter status due to “problems in the state office.”

The group, through a voter registration campaign, had registered new voters in many urban counties throughout the state.  They said, in the report, that the status of some of these voters had not been disclosed by Kemp’s office.  Through legal proceedings they have pushed for more information, and used Monday’s rally to put pressure on Kemp’s office.

“Today, [Moral Monday Georgia] delivered a demand letter and said they’re willing to sit in Brian Kemp’s office until the issue’s dealt with,” said Tim Franzen, a spokesman for Moral Monday Georgia. “Instead of dealing with the issue, they’ve just been arrested.”

Again, that seemed to be their goal from the start.

After rally participants spoke in Kemp’s office for about 40 minutes, Capitol police informed them that anyone remaining in the office after 5 p.m. would be arrested.

Sure enough, at five o’clock, eight of the remaining participants — four men and four women — were arrested.

“Capitol Police made eight arrests due to protesters refusing to leave the [Secretary of State’s office] and the Capitol after the building was closed for business,” Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Tracey Watson said. All were arrested without incident and taken to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

To some political activists, 1960’s protest tactics are still effective.  So, it seems, are Capitol office hours.

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