Georgia Rep. Park Cannon (D) was arrested on Thursday after she knocked on Gov. Brian Kemp’s office door as he was signing a controversial election bill.
Video of the incident shows Cannon being handcuffed after knocking on Kemp’s door to argue for transparency in signing the bill. Cannon was then carried out of the Georgia Statehouse by two state police officers and was placed into a police cruiser.
The bill Kemp signed adds a host of restrictions to voting in the state including requiring identification for mail voting and making it illegal to take food or water to voters in line to vote. Kemp, who was blamed by former President Donald Trump for losing the state to Biden, signed the bill immediately calling it “common sense.”
Georgia
isn’t the only state that is gearing up to pass new, restrictive election laws. This comes in the aftermath of Trump’s 2020 election loss and all of his election lawsuits being dismissed or thrown out. Since Biden was inaugurated as president, more than 100 election bills have been introduced in 43 states to restrict voting in an effort not seen in the U.S. since the Jim Crow era.Cannon was charged with two misdemeanors, obstruction of law enforcement, and preventing or disrupting the General Assembly. According to her attorney, Gerald Griggs, the vice president of the NAACP’s Atlanta branch, Cannon was released on a $6,000 signature bond.
After she was released, Cannon took to Twitter to express her will to continue the fight for fair voting rights.
Lt. W Mark Riley, a spokesperson for the Georgia State Patrol, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
that Cannon was warned to stop knocking on Kemp’s door because the area was reserved for Kemp’s staff.The photo of Cannon being carried out of the statehouse by two large white officers has prompted condemnation on social media from celebrities, politicians, and voting rights advocates.