DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Six people face charges after a protest of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operations that was largely peaceful through the day experienced violence Tuesday night.
Brookhaven’s mayor told Channel 2’s Michael Doudna that the people responsible for a lot of the damage were not from the area.
“It’s clear that they were outside agitators, decided to try to basically goad us into action,” Mayor John Park said.
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Only one of the people arrested was from Brookhaven, officials said.
Around 9:30 p.m., windows were smashed on multiple police cars and fireworks were thrown.
Park said those actions are a crime, not a protest.
“Pretty much all the protesters, they don’t want violence,” he said. “They want to be heard.”
Estevan Hernandez helped organize the protest, speaking out against ICE operations across the country.
“L.A. was the spark, and we’re seeing it travel across the country now,” he said of the nationwide demonstrations.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr on Wednesday warned against people getting violent.
“If you use violence for the purposes of changing public policy, we can and will charge you with domestic terrorism,” Carr said.
For most of the evening Tuesday, hundreds of people peacefully rallied along Buford Highway. This will likely be one of multiple protests in the near future, as law enforcement will have to balance First Amendment rights with public safety.
“People have the right to be heard,” Park said. “We support that, but our main concern is we want to keep people safe.”
The same group that organized Tuesday’s protest has scheduled another one Saturday in DeKalb County.
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