DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Protesters were back home Wednesday night after spending four days in jail following arrests at an anti-deportation rally last weekend in DeKalb County.
Organizers with the Party for Socialism and Liberation say about 30 people were arrested Saturday during a demonstration on Chamblee Tucker Road.
On Wednesday, they held a news conference at the Atlanta Liberation Center, calling for the charges against those arrested to be dropped.
Among those arrested was Kimberly Paz-Fuentes, who said the protest was deeply personal for her.
ICE deported her brother after he had lived in the United States since he was one year old.
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“They threw me on the ground, they emptied out my front pockets, then they flipped me over on the pavement,” Paz-Fuentes said. “That was obviously very painful and very painful. The way they were grabbing me, I still have bruises,” Paz-Fuentes said, pointing to visible marks on her body five days later.
She said she and the other protesters were advocating for immigrant rights when police intervened.
“You can go and stand up for what you believe in, like democracy, on the sidewalk, and you can be put in jail for four days and put through those traumatizing conditions,” Paz-Fuentes said.
Paz-Fuentes and another protester, Rachel Stone, told Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers they didn’t know each other before Saturday but became friends while being held in jail from Saturday through Tuesday.
“It felt like every single morning was, ‘Tomorrow morning you’ll see the judge,’” Stone said.
The women said they were nearing the end of their 48-hour hold when an officer signed their warrants, extending their detention another night.
“I’m really in this cell block with barely any A/C, not much water, I’m not getting my medications, and they had moved us to general population,” Stone said.
DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said she is reviewing the police response to Saturday’s protests but will not comment further until that review is complete.
When Channel 2 Action News was on the scene Saturday, police said they were dispersing the crowd due to an unlawful assembly.
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“I still feel really traumatized,” Paz-Fuentes said.
At the news conference Wednesday, organizers continued calling for accountability.
“We demand the immediate release of everyone arrested on June 14 and the dropping of all charges,” one speaker said.
But despite the arrests, the protesters say they’re not backing down.
“This has made me want to go out and protest even more. I’ll be arrested as many times as it takes to show justice for what’s going on,” Stone said.
Protesters told Channel 2 they are facing misdemeanor charges of unlawful assembly and obstruction of an officer.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation is planning another protest this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Lawrenceville at Bicentennial Plaza.
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