{"id":334515,"date":"2021-03-28T09:48:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-28T13:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=334515"},"modified":"2021-03-28T09:56:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-28T13:56:55","slug":"georgia-lawmaker-arrested-at-state-capitol-shortly-after-state-election-reform-bill-signed-into-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-lawmaker-arrested-at-state-capitol-shortly-after-state-election-reform-bill-signed-into-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Lawmaker Arrested at State Capitol Shortly After State Election Reform Bill Signed Into Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgeorgia-lawmaker-arrested-at-state-capitol-shortly-after-state-election-reform-bill-signed-into-law%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=334515&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-georgia\">Georgia<\/a> lawmaker, state Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta), was arrested on Thursday and charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement and with \u201cdisrupting General Assembly sessions or other meetings of members.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The incident occurred while\u00a0Gov. Brian Kemp was holding a press conference after he signed into law a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/georgia-governor-signs-into-law-sweeping-election-reform-measures-including-voter-id-for-absentee-ballots_3750125.html\">sweeping state election reform bill<\/a>.\u00a0As Kemp delivered his remarks he was interrupted by a commotion before a livestream of the event cut out.<\/p>\n<p>Video widely circulated online captured by a bystander shows Cannon trying to knock on the door of Kemp\u2019s office multiple times before she is handcuffed and forcibly removed from the area by Georgia State Patrol officers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3750400\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_334566\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-334566\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-334566\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cannon-700x420-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cannon-700x420-1.jpeg 700w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cannon-700x420-1-300x180.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cannon-700x420-1-675x405.jpeg 675w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cannon-700x420-1-480x288.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-334566\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">03\/25\/2021 \u2014Atlanta, Georgia \u2014 Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta) is placed into the back of a Georgia State Capitol patrol car after being arrested by Georgia State Troopers on day 38 of the legislative session at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Thursday, March 25, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer \/ Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3750400 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-3682.jpeg\" alt=\"park cannon\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta) is placed in handcuffs by Georgia State Troopers after being asked to stop knocking on a door that leads to Gov. Brian Kemp\u2019s office at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Ga., on March 25, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer\/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)<\/figure>\n<p>Georgia State Patrol spokesperson, Lt. W. Mark Riley issued an emailed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HayleyMasonTV\/status\/1375276143243366401\/photo\/1\">statement<\/a> to media outlets detailing the circumstances surrounding the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-arrest\">arrest<\/a>. The statement was shared in full on Twitter by journalist Hayley Mason.<\/p>\n<p>According to the statement, Cannon was \u201cbeating on the door to the Governor\u2019s Office\u201d and was told that \u201cno one was in the front office and to stop beating on the door.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cannon then\u00a0\u201cmoved and went to the Governor\u2019s Ceremonial Office door,\u201d the spokesperson said in the statement, noting that the door was marked off with stanchions and a \u2018Governor\u2019s Staff Only\u2019 sign. Despite that, the Democrat state representative \u201cwent inside the stanchions and began knocking on the door.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Officers at the door then told Cannon to stop knocking on the door, telling her that Kemp was holding a press conference inside. But she continued to knock on the door, after which she was advised that her actions were disturbing the events inside Kemp\u2019s room, and if she did not stop, she would be arrested.<\/p>\n<p>Cannon retreated for a little bit before walking toward the door and knocking on it again, after which an officer at the door told her to stop for the third time, and said she would be arrested if she continued.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3750525\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3750525 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-3683.jpeg\" alt=\"cannon\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta) is placed in handcuffs by Georgia State Troopers after being asked to stop knocking on a door that lead to Gov. Brian Kemp\u2019s office at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Ga., on March 25, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer\/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)<\/figure>\n<p>The statement continued, saying \u201cRep. Cannon refused to stop knocking on the door,\u201d after which she was\u00a0arrested and sent to the Fulton County Jail.<\/p>\n<p>An affidavit for\u00a0arrest\u00a0citing Officer E. Dorval said that Cannon \u201cdid knowingly and willfully hinder [officers of the Georgia Capitol Police Department] \u2026 by Use of Threats Or Violence to the person of said officer by stomping on LT Langford foot three times during the apprehension and as she was being escorted out of the property. The accused continued on kicking LT Langford with her heels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The other affidavit for arrest, also citing\u00a0Dorval, said that Cannon \u201cknowingly and intentionally\u201d committed the offense of Preventing Or Disrupting General Assembly Sessions or Other Meetings of Members by \u201cknocking the governor\u2019s door during session of signing a bill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The affidavits for arrest were <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bluestein\/status\/1375262510312521731?s=20\">shared<\/a> by a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>Both charges are felony charges. The obstruction of law enforcement charge is punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Cannon\u2019s attorney,\u00a0Gerald Griggs, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AttorneyGriggs\/status\/1375293499843571712?s=20\">announced on Twitter<\/a> in the late hours of Thursday that she was released from custody, and he intends to \u201cvigorously defend\u201d Cannon against the charges. \u201cAll requests for comment should be forwarded to her attorney,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Griggs is associated with the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). He told reporters outside the jail upon her release late Thursday that Cannon sustained bruises during her arrest. He called the arrest \u201can overreach of law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3750524\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-3684.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-3750524 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" alt=\"Georgia Democrat\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-3684.jpeg\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3750524 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-3684.jpeg\" alt=\"Georgia Democrat\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) at Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 10, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who was with Griggs outside the jail, told reporters that Cannon \u201cdid not deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we have witnessed today is a very desperate attempt to lockout and squeeze the people out of their own democracy,\u201d he said of Cannon\u2019s arrest, later adding,\u00a0\u201cI want to know what makes her actions so dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Warnock noted that Cannon is a parishioner at the\u00a0Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Warnock was a senior pastor.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/georgia-governor-signs-into-law-sweeping-election-reform-measures-including-voter-id-for-absentee-ballots_3750125.html\">new state election law<\/a>\u00a0Kemp signed, S.B. 202, has\u00a0multiple provisions designed to ensure secure, fair, and accessible elections, according to Republicans and Kemp. However, opponents of the new law, which include Democrats and some advocacy groups, accuse the measure as one that would\u00a0disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color.<\/p>\n<p>Among the numerous measures in the new law are voter ID requirements for absentee mail-in ballots, measures to ensure dropbox security, a mechanism for the State Election Board to\u00a0address local counties\u2019 election problems, and mandatory early voting dates.<\/p>\n<p><em>Melanie Sun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Georgia lawmaker, state Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta), was arrested on Thursday and charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement and with \u201cdisrupting General Assembly sessions or other meetings of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2311263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cannon-700x420-1.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Georgia Lawmaker Arrested at State Capitol Shortly After State Election Reform Bill Signed Into Law","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-334515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cannon-700x420-1.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Georgia Lawmaker Arrested at State Capitol Shortly After State Election Reform Bill Signed Into Law","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}