BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — Hundreds gathered along Buford Highway on Tuesday evening for an ICE protest.
Organizers planned a rally to stand in solidarity with the protests going on in Los Angeles against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdowns and deportations.
The protest lasted a few hours and got hectic as it was wrapping up. Officers confirmed they arrested at least six people from the protest.
The party for socialism and liberation hosted the rally to stand in solidarity with the protests in California.
“It makes me happy that everyone is like fighting for us. People of every single skin color, not just us, I’m so proud of us,” Brianna Zetino said.
“By sending the National Guard into LA, Donald Trump has intentionally escalated this situation,” organizer Claudia Andrade said.
Protests started Friday in Los Angeles when agents searched four businesses in the city suspected of employing undocumented immigrants.
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Tensions escalated after President Donald Trump called in the National Guard despite objections from state and city leadership.
“If we didn’t get involved right now, Los Angeles would be burning just like it was burning a number of months ago, with all the houses that were lost. Los Angeles right now would be on fire, and we have it in great shape. We’re not playing around,” Trump said.
But protesters lining Buford Highway said neither are they.
“It’s very sad. We have a lot of family who are immigrants, and it’s very scary that they have to go out and be scared that they won’t make it back home. It’s really unfair,” Nicole Zetino said.
A crowd of hundreds held signs and used their voices to drum up support for those families.
“There are some people who are protesting wrong. It should be done like this. Everyone out here is behaving, but I do see why they’re angry because there are families ripped away,” Kaytlen Morales said.
By the end of the night, there was a heavy police presence that lined the roadway.
But people who came out said that didn’t stop the spirit from stepping through the crowd.
“I come from an immigrant family. I’m Nigerian, so to see all the people, whether they were born here, or their family comes from somewhere else, just coming together in the city of Atlanta. It’s beautiful,” another protester said.
But as police told the crowd to go home around 9:30 p.m., the mood changed, and some protesters began to fight back.
Video captured by our Channel 2 Action News photographer showed people throwing fireworks at law enforcement.
That’s when officers began arresting people. Police also used tear gas to help disperse the crowd.
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