A video has gone viral that shows a police officer appear to hit a woman with a bicycle during the unrest in Atlanta, Georgia. The video was posted to Twitter by a CBS 46 journalist named Brittany Miller.
“WATCH: I was recording when the first clash between police & protestors broke out in Atlanta,” Miller wrote on her Twitter page. Here’s the video she posted:
Heavy has reached out to Atlanta police for comment on the video, as well as details about what, if any, discipline was resulting against the bike officer. This story will be updated if response is received.
Miller also posted a video showing a police squad car on fire as tensions rose on May 29 in Atlanta.
Police patrol car set on fire @cbs46
Here’s what you need to know:
The Woman in the Video Has Spoken Out & Says She Was There to ‘Peacefully Protest’
peaceful protest turn to riot because of cop behavior like this!
Here’s another angle of the situation.
The woman in the video is named Ashley Simpson-Haley. She spoke to Law & Crime about the video. “As a black woman in America, I see the media and the attacks on black people and I’m tired of it,” she told the publication. “I went out there to peacefully protest,” she continued. “I made a sign and wanted to show up in numbers. We are tired of seeing black people being killed by cops and other racists.”
Simpson-Haley has also weighed in on the incident on her Twitter page, writing, “This is when it all started. This cop pushed me with his bike for no reason, besides that I was standing there. Than you to the woman in the red dress who intervened on my behalf.” She shared Miller’s video with that post. Her Twitter profile reads, “God takes us through troubled waters, not to let us drown but to teach us to swim. UGA alum.”
It was a chaotic night in the streets of Atlanta on May 29. People even vandalized the CNN logo at one point. Protests and riots broke out throughout the United States in the wake of the Minneapolis death of George Floyd; a former Minneapolis police officer has been charged in the death of Floyd, who was restrained with a knee to a neck (read more about his cause of death here.)
Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Atlanta mayor, said in a news conference, speaking to people committing vandalism: “You have defaced the CNN building. Ted Turner started CNN in Atlanta, 40 years ago because he believed in who we are as a city.”
Watch @Atlanta_Police‘s broadcast: APD provides updates on protests in downtown Atlanta.
In another post, Simpson-Haley wrote, “peaceful protest turn to riot because of cop behavior like this!”
Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp wrote, “State and local leaders are working together to ensure public safety and keep the peace in Atlanta. I have signed an order authorizing as many as 1,500 National Guard troops to deploy throughout the city to maintain order and address hotspots of illegal activity.” He added: “State law enforcement officials have been working closely with Mayor @KeishaBottoms and @Atlanta_Police throughout the day. When asked to provide support and assistance, the state immediately responded, and we will continue to do so.”
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