SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon was arrested for knocking on Gov. Brian Kemp's office door on Thursday, March 25, 2021. (Photo: Screengrab/Facebook Live)
Georgia Rep. Charged With Felonies for Knocking on Kemp's Door as He Signed Voter Suppression Bill
"This is straight out of Jim Crow."
Mar 26, 2021
Democratic Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon was arrested and reportedly charged with two felonies late Thursday for knocking on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's office door as he signed into law a sweeping voter suppression bill that aims to curtail ballot drop boxes, impose more strict voter ID requirements for absentee ballots, and give the GOP legislature significant control over the state election board.
Video footage posted online shows Cannon, who represents Georgia's 58th House district, exchanging words with a state trooper standing in front of Kemp's closed office door as the governor moved to grant the omnibus election bill final approval just hours after the 96-page measure cleared both the House and Senate Thursday afternoon.
"The governor is signing a bill that affects all Georgians," a person standing behind Cannon said as the lawmaker spoke with the state trooper. "Why is he doing it in private? And why is he trying to keep elected officials who are representing us out of the process?"
When Cannon began knocking on the governor's door and continued after being told to stop, two state troopers detained her and removed her from the building as activists protested the arrest.
"There is no reason for me to be arrested. I am a legislator!" Cannon yelled at one point.
Watch:
Cannon was released hours later and, according to an arrest affidavit seen by CNN, is facing "two felony charges--felony obstruction and preventing or disrupting general assembly session." Gerald Griggs, one of Cannon's attorneys, said the lawmaker's team intends to "vigorously defend against these charges."
In a series of tweets early Friday morning, Cannon wrote that she is "not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression."
"I'd love to say I'm the last, but we know that isn't true. But someday soon that last person will step out of jail for the last time and breathe a first breath knowing that no one will be jailed again for fighting for the right to vote," the lawmaker continued. "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."
Shortly after the arrest, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)--the senior pastor of the church Cannon attends--arrived at the Atlanta jail where she was being held and addressed activists and reporters, saying, "Today is a very sad day for the state of Georgia."
"What we have witnessed today is a desperate attempt to lock out and squeeze the people out of their own democracy," said Warnock. "This effort to silence the voices of Georgians who stood up in the historic election in November and January will not stand."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Democratic Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon was arrested and reportedly charged with two felonies late Thursday for knocking on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's office door as he signed into law a sweeping voter suppression bill that aims to curtail ballot drop boxes, impose more strict voter ID requirements for absentee ballots, and give the GOP legislature significant control over the state election board.
Video footage posted online shows Cannon, who represents Georgia's 58th House district, exchanging words with a state trooper standing in front of Kemp's closed office door as the governor moved to grant the omnibus election bill final approval just hours after the 96-page measure cleared both the House and Senate Thursday afternoon.
"The governor is signing a bill that affects all Georgians," a person standing behind Cannon said as the lawmaker spoke with the state trooper. "Why is he doing it in private? And why is he trying to keep elected officials who are representing us out of the process?"
When Cannon began knocking on the governor's door and continued after being told to stop, two state troopers detained her and removed her from the building as activists protested the arrest.
"There is no reason for me to be arrested. I am a legislator!" Cannon yelled at one point.
Watch:
Cannon was released hours later and, according to an arrest affidavit seen by CNN, is facing "two felony charges--felony obstruction and preventing or disrupting general assembly session." Gerald Griggs, one of Cannon's attorneys, said the lawmaker's team intends to "vigorously defend against these charges."
In a series of tweets early Friday morning, Cannon wrote that she is "not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression."
"I'd love to say I'm the last, but we know that isn't true. But someday soon that last person will step out of jail for the last time and breathe a first breath knowing that no one will be jailed again for fighting for the right to vote," the lawmaker continued. "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."
Shortly after the arrest, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)--the senior pastor of the church Cannon attends--arrived at the Atlanta jail where she was being held and addressed activists and reporters, saying, "Today is a very sad day for the state of Georgia."
"What we have witnessed today is a desperate attempt to lock out and squeeze the people out of their own democracy," said Warnock. "This effort to silence the voices of Georgians who stood up in the historic election in November and January will not stand."
Democratic Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon was arrested and reportedly charged with two felonies late Thursday for knocking on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's office door as he signed into law a sweeping voter suppression bill that aims to curtail ballot drop boxes, impose more strict voter ID requirements for absentee ballots, and give the GOP legislature significant control over the state election board.
Video footage posted online shows Cannon, who represents Georgia's 58th House district, exchanging words with a state trooper standing in front of Kemp's closed office door as the governor moved to grant the omnibus election bill final approval just hours after the 96-page measure cleared both the House and Senate Thursday afternoon.
"The governor is signing a bill that affects all Georgians," a person standing behind Cannon said as the lawmaker spoke with the state trooper. "Why is he doing it in private? And why is he trying to keep elected officials who are representing us out of the process?"
When Cannon began knocking on the governor's door and continued after being told to stop, two state troopers detained her and removed her from the building as activists protested the arrest.
"There is no reason for me to be arrested. I am a legislator!" Cannon yelled at one point.
Watch:
Cannon was released hours later and, according to an arrest affidavit seen by CNN, is facing "two felony charges--felony obstruction and preventing or disrupting general assembly session." Gerald Griggs, one of Cannon's attorneys, said the lawmaker's team intends to "vigorously defend against these charges."
In a series of tweets early Friday morning, Cannon wrote that she is "not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression."
"I'd love to say I'm the last, but we know that isn't true. But someday soon that last person will step out of jail for the last time and breathe a first breath knowing that no one will be jailed again for fighting for the right to vote," the lawmaker continued. "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."
Shortly after the arrest, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)--the senior pastor of the church Cannon attends--arrived at the Atlanta jail where she was being held and addressed activists and reporters, saying, "Today is a very sad day for the state of Georgia."
"What we have witnessed today is a desperate attempt to lock out and squeeze the people out of their own democracy," said Warnock. "This effort to silence the voices of Georgians who stood up in the historic election in November and January will not stand."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.