Georgia Governor Kemp to Deploy 1,000 National Guard Troops to Atlanta After City Explodes in Violence
By Rick Moran
Over the weekend, the city of Atlanta exploded in violence as rioters tore into Georgia State Patrol headquarters, trashing the place, and 20 people were shot on Saturday alone.
This is a supervisor’s office at the command center of the @ga_dps HQ that was vandalized this weekend. Authorities say a homemade grenade was tossed into this room, where state @RepVernonJones tells reporters he backs @GovKemp’s pledge to “track down those responsible.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/bGA4jDW4mE
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) July 6, 2020
Several other locations saw protesters clashing with police as Atlanta authorities seemed paralyzed with fear.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms decried the violence, begging the rioters, “This random wild, Wild West shoot-‘em-up because you can, has gotta stop. It has to stop.”
No word on whether she stomped her little foot while saying it.
Meanwhile, the adults in the room are going to take action. Governor Brian Kemp will deploy up to 1,000 National Guard Troops to protect public buildings in Atlanta.
Gov. Brian Kemp will deploy as many as 1,000 Georgia National Guard troops to protect state buildings in Atlanta on Monday following a burst of violence across the city that left four dead, including an 8-year-old girl, and saw the ransacking of the headquarters of the Georgia State Patrol.
Kemp, a Republican, issued the emergency order after threatening late Sunday to “take action” to curb the unrest in Atlanta if Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms failed to do so, a move that highlighted the complicated, and increasingly tense, relationship between two of the state’s most prominent politicians.
Indeed, Bottoms is playing the old political game of forcing the governor to act while she stays above the fray. Kemp takes the heat, Bottoms gets plaudits for showing “restraint.” It’s cowardly and despicable, but there’s no one to call her out for it.