The Jolt: Image of lawmaker's arrest spoils victory lap on election law

[DonViejo]

POLITICAL INSIDER | 1 hour ago

By Patricia Murphy - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tia Mitchell - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Talk about mixed messages.

Even as Gov. Brian Kemp was denying charges that the sweeping elections changes he just signed into law didn’t suppress the vote, authorities outside his office were dragging away a Black legislator who knocked on his office door during his remarks.

The arrest of state Rep. Park Cannon — who faces two felony charges — far overshadowed the victory lap that Kemp and other Republicans hoped to take with the signing Thursday of Senate Bill 202, legislation that imposed new ID requirements, limited drop boxes and instituted other restrictions.

The image of Cannon, an Atlanta Democrat, being forcibly dragged from the statehouse lobby was hard to watch and the arrest could be legally questionable, since state law protects sitting lawmakers from arrest during a session except for charges of treason, felonies or breach of the peace.

Not only will the encounter add to the charged atmosphere at the Statehouse during the final days of the legislative session, but it will also play into the expected 2022 rematch between Kemp and Stacey Abrams, who called Park’s arrest as SB 202 was signed into law a “reminder of Georgia’s dark past.”

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https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/the-jolt-image-of-lawmakers-arrest-spoils-victory-lap-on-election-law/ANSKFQJUPVGOHAYNVIFTJ5HMDA/

[2naSalit]

1. Never let it drop from the front page of every newspaper.

[lindysalsagal]

2. Paywall. What are her charged felonies?

[CrispyQ]

3. Ousting Trump was just one battle.

I hope all our new voters are in it for the long haul.

[lindysalsagal]

4. NPR link:

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/26/981471672/police-arrest-georgia-lawmaker-as-governor-signs-law-overhauling-elections

Cannon is facing a charge of obstructing law enforcement officers by use of threats or violence and she faces a second charge of disrupting general assembly sessions or other meetings of members.

It's unclear what was said between Cannon and one state trooper guarding Kemp's office door.

Several videos posted online show arresting officers were told repeatedly that Cannon is a state lawmaker.

As she is being pulled away, Cannon identifies herself as a Georgia state lawmaker and demands to know why she is being arrested.

[lindysalsagal]

5. Even better link:

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national-politics/ga-state-rep-arrested-while-protesting-passage-of-bill-that-rolls-back-voting-rights

A Georgia state representative was arrested Thursday after she knocked on the door to Gov. Brian Kemp’s office as he signed a bill that curtailed voting rights in the state.

State Rep. Park Cannon, a Democrat, was arrested Thursday night as fellow lawmakers and activists protested the passage of a bill that adds new restrictions on voting by mail and gives the Republican-controlled legislature greater control over how elections are run.

Video shared on social media showed Cannon speaking with police officers stationed outside Kemp’s office. During the discussion, Cannon knocked on the door, at which point, officers placed her in handcuffs and escorted her out of the Capitol.

“And make no mistake, when I say hate, I mean white supremacy. The closed-door signing of #SB202 and the senseless murder of #AAPI Georgians are both products of a white supremacist system. Different tactics, same goal: fear and control,” Cannon wrote. “We will not live in fear and we will not be controlled. We have a right to our future and a right to our freedom. We will come together and continue fighting white supremacy in all its forms.”

[DonViejo]

6. If it's so much "better" feel free to open a new thread with it.

[Hortensis]

7. This has hit the media nationally. Hard to watch, all right, but

valuable because it illustrates like a gut punch what the white male authoritarian party intends.

I can only hope state troopers are called to arrest and haul away white people to take the point even stronger. President Biden was right, if a bit obscure in his meaning, when he said, the laws make "Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle." They intend to destroy the sovereignty of the American people. Whites are still nearly 3/4 of the electorate (including white Hispanic/Latinos), and they can't control while voters can take it away from them. As we did in 2020.

The seditious legislative action Representative Cannon was not allowed to witness:

[Wednesdays]

8. They've got the wrong flag behind them

Rather than the flag of the USA, it should be the stars and bars. The Georgia state flag strongly resembles it, anyway.

[Hortensis]

9. That or the Trump flag, anything but dishonoring ours