Students counter-protest religious demonstrators

Photo by Unique Rodriguez | The Signal

Unity Plaza erupted into a student-led counter-protest this afternoon against Street Preachers, a familiar sight for many Georgia State students.

The organization sends a handful of its members with signs to the campus. They gather in one of the free speech zones beside the statue of Pounce to condemn everything from lifestyles to sexual orientations to other religions.

With prospective-student tour groups wandering the plaza and through nearby Student Center West, Georgia State students surrounded the protesters in one of the largest counter-protests against the preachers.

The religious organization mobilizes its demonstrators the most around Atlanta Pride, which occurs this upcoming weekend.

The crowd of students erupted into chants, eventually coralling the demonstrators to the sidewalk where a van covered in words condemning abortion pulled up so they could leave.

The Georgia State University Police Department acted as a barricade between the protesters and students, keeping the peace and preventing altercations.