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TIMELINE: Follow daily highlights on local and national civil unrest

On May 29, 2020 • By

Live coverage of the protest by WSB-TV.

Saturday, June 6

On Saturday night, the crowd had grown smaller than previous weekend nights, despite the mayor lifting the curfew she had put in place earlier in the week.

The crowd began a march down the street, noticeably divided between a louder group in the front and a “silent march” in the back.

A woman who identified herself as Kim Denmark said she had already visited 16 states and made her way to Georgia in her “walk across America.”

Friday, June 5

Marches across the city took place throughout the day, through Piedmont Park, 10th Street and Auburn Avenue.

Exactly a week after the first major night of protest which ended in many arrests over a week, this Friday, not even a single arrest was made.

Thursday, June 4

The day began with a speech from Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King, the AJC reported. During the day, groups gathered at Piedmont Park to make their way down to Centennial Olympic Park.

In the evening, Mayor of Atlanta Kiesha Lance Bottoms took some time to address the protestors and walk along with them. 

Although there was a 9 p.m. curfew in place and some protestors stuck around afterward, no tear gas was released and only six arrests were made — significantly less than previous nights over the past week.

Wednesday, June 3

The City of Atlanta announced the curfew will extend throughout the week, into the weekend. The curfew begins at 9 p.m on Wednesday and Thursday night, but an hour earlier at 8 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, ending at sunrise the next day.

Gov. Kemp held a press conference where he supported peaceful protests but condemned the actions of violence and vandalism.

“In what started as a peaceful protest Friday, ended in violence and destruction,” Kemp said. “A powerful moment was ultimately corrupted by some with a different agenda.”

Tuesday, June 2

Ahead of anticipated protests, some Atlanta businesses and buildings boarded up their windows to prevent potential destruction.

On the fifth night in a row of protests, 52 arrests were made, totalling to more 350 since the first night in connection to the protest, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

At 7 p.m, the AJC reported that demonstrators gathered outside of the historic Fox Theatre to hold a moment of silence for the death of George Floyd.

As the evening arrived, police deployed tear gas near Centennial Park. At stores in Underground Atlanta, blocks from campus, some protestors fought back looters.

Monday, June 1

The main protest in Atlanta for the day began at city hall, in response to the state lawmaker’s failure to pass hate crime bills in Georgia. 

MARTA began suspending all rail and bus transportation inside Atlanta at 9 p.m., suggesting that people should board their last train at 8:30 p.m.

In Gwinnett County, Lawrenceville protests grew as Atlanta Police Department police officers took a knee in solidarity.

Throughout the night, Atlanta Journal-Constitution photographer Alyssa Pointer was detained by officers while reporting. According to the AJC, Pointer said her badge was clearly displayed and she identified herself to the officials. This follows the arrest of reporter Haisten Willis the night prior.

An independent autopsy of the death of George Floyd — which sparked outrage across the nation — found that his death was a homicide caused by asphyxia “due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.”

At 6:30 p.m. in Washington, D.C. before the 7:00 p.m. curfew, non-violent, peaceful protestors remained gathered in Lafayette Park. NPR reported that suddenly, with no apparent reason, police and National Guard troops — a branch of the U.S. military — began to clear the area, using teargas. 

President Donald Trump had just finished addressing the nation and the park was cleared for him to walk through it to reach St. John’s Church, where he posed for cameras, holding up a Bible.

Saturday, May 30

By Saturday morning, the CNN logo that was vandalized the night before already saw a new coat of red paint.

During the day, crowds gathered across the city again — including at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial site and the governor’s mansion.

For the first night of several, Mayor Bottoms issued a 9 p.m. curfew across the city.

Although the night was more peaceful than the first, because of the curfew 11 Alive reported that 157 people were booked into the Atlanta City Detention Center by the next morning.

Gov. Kemp announced he would be deploying 3,000 National Guard troops across the state and that Georgia was officially under a state of emergency.

In the nation’s capital, protestors made demonstrations in front of the White House that continued into the following day.

Friday, May 29

The initial night began peacefully as hundreds of protestors gathered in Centennial Park in a moment of silence for George Floyd.


Groups made their way through downtown, eventually stopping in front of the CNN Center, as The Signal reported live. Some demonstrators began to vandalize the CNN logo and eventually, destruction of the building, windows and police cars. 

According to 11 Alive, a group gathered on the interstate, creating a blockade on I/75-85 at the Downtown Connector. 

As the night continued, some demonstrators continued the destruction across the city. Cars were burned, businesses were attacked and police and protestors clashed across the city, including inside the CNN building.

In a press conference with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, rappers Killer Mike and T.I. addressed the city beside her.

“A protest has purpose,” Bottoms said. “If you love this city … where more than 50% of the business owners in metro Atlanta are minority business owners, if you care about this city, then go home.”

Later in the night, Governor Brian Kemp made a statement through Twitter that he was deploying up to 500 National Guard troops to Atlanta, at the request of Mayor Bottoms.

Bottoms’ message continued into the night, when a billboard was lit up that said “If you love Atlanta please go home” as demonstrators continued to cause destruction and loot businesses until 2:00 a.m. 

During the night, Georgia State campus buildings — including Aderhold and the Andrew Young building — were destroyed with windows shattered.

Panther Report News, Georgia State’s broadcast news station, reported on the aftermath.

Friday, May 29, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.

Editor’s Note: Will Solomons is reporting on-scene in real time, with writing by Ada Wood. This article may be updated.

Since Monday, protests have erupted across the nation in response to the death of George Floyd while he was in police custody on Monday. And within the last month, protests have also taken place in response to the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. All of this occurs during the COVID-19 pandemic where social distancing is still advised.

Today, the crowd grows in Georgia, starting at the state capitol building. Hundreds have gathered together, wearing masks and holding signs with statements from “We stand together” to “Black Lives Matter” to “Why am I more afraid of the police than a pandemic?”

Before he died, Floyd’s neck was pinned down by the knee of Minneapolis Department officer Derek Chauvin. In video footage of the incident, Floyd said, “Please, please, I can’t breathe.”

Protestors gather at the statue of Henry Grady.

Chauvin was arrested today and charged with third-degree murder. 

The group in Atlanta has moved down through the streets, stopping at one point to protest at the statue of Henry Grady, who promoted Georgia’s past white supremacist leaders.

The protest has since moved to the Atlanta CNN headquarters. Earlier this morning, four members of a CNN camera crew were arrested by Minneapolis police while reporting on the scene, without being told a reason for the arrest. The entire incident was recorded on camera as the crew was reporting live.

At the CNN center, several protestors were hit with pepper spray, including one man named Eli Edwards.

Eli Edwards, present at the Atlanta protest.

Edwards said he was observing the protest when an officer turned around and pepper-sprayed him, his wife and the people around him. 

“That’s when all h— just, they started pepper spraying everybody for no reason,” Edwards said.

Edwards expects things to escalate further. 

“As soon as he did that, somebody ran up and pushed the cop off the bike. And they started jumping the cop,” Edwards said.

At 5:50 p.m. the crowd was warned there would be three minutes to disperse because of a code violation but after ten minutes, no one had been dispersed. A large crowd has gathered, surrounding the several police officers.

May 29, 7:05 p.m.

Protestors have placed spray paint at the Capitol building, on the monument to Henry Grady and on the logo outside of the CNN Center.

Spray paint on the monument to Henry Grady.

 

 

 

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