Atlanta police chief says 'black lives being
diminished' as Floyd protests grow
Erika Shields says reaction is understandable after
angry demonstrators took to the streets
Martin
Farrer
Published
onSat 30 May 2020 04.43 BST
Atlanta’s
police chief said on Friday night she understood the anger of African American
communities across the United States over the repeated deaths of black men at
the hands of police forces in the county.
“Whether
it’s by police or other individuals, the reality is we’ve diminished the value
on their life,” Erika Shields said.
Speaking as
protests raged across American cities over the death of George Floyd in
Minneapolis and angry demonstrators took to the streets of Atlanta, Shields
added the events in Minnesota were “appalling.”
Tensions in
Atlanta have been running high since the the death of Ahmaud Arbery at the
hands of two white men in the state of Georgia in February.
The city
saw large protests on Friday night with crowds smashing windows at CNN
headquarters.
“It’s a
recurring narrative. We keep having this over and over,” Shields said.
Asked how
police departments across the country could do better, Shields said: “The key
is training and weeding out bad cops especially when you a see a pattern of bad
behaviour. I think it’s getting engaged with people and getting feedback in
real time … Body-worn cameras have been tremendous, because they have shown us
how a person is behaving when other people aren’t around. It has taken the grey
area out when we’re dealing with complaints.”
After hours
of peaceful protest in downtown Atlanta on Friday, some demonstrators turned
violent, smashing police cars, setting one on fire, spray-painting the logo
sign at CNN headquarters, and breaking into a restaurant.
The crowd
pelted officers with bottles, chanting “Quit your jobs”.
Demonstrators
ignored police demands to disperse. Some protesters moved to the city’s major
interstate thoroughfare to try to block traffic.
Keisha
Lance Bottoms, Atlanta’s mayor, addressed the protesters at a news conference:
“This is not a protest. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. You
are disgracing our city.
“You are
disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed
in this country. We are better than this. We are better than this as a city. We
are better than this as a country. Go home, go home.”
Bottoms was
flanked by rappers TI and Killer Mike, as well as King’s daughter, Bernice
King. Killer Mike cried as he spoke.
“We have to
be better than this moment. We have to be better than burning down our own
homes. Because if we lose Atlanta what have we got?” he said.
After
Bottoms appealed for calm, the violence continued. More cars were set on fire,
a Starbucks was smashed up, the windows of the College Football Hall of Fame
were broken, and the Omni Hotel was vandalised.
The
Associated Press contributed to this report
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