The protests started as peaceful earlier in the afternoon when crowds gathered in the city's famous centennial park. The protests followed the death of George Floyd, who was killed May 25 in Minneapolis.
At around 6:00 p.m. ET, the protesters began to march toward the front of the CNN Center, where the police had gathered. In the hours that followed, the crowd grew when SWAT was called in to help control the crowd.
Around 7:00 p.m. ET, protesters could damage the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta, which is sandwiched between Philips Arena and Centennial Park.
Protesters were vandalized ransacking the CNN logo outside its offices, breaking the glass of the building and entering the center. Protesters were also heard chanting anti-media rhetoric.
At approximately 7:40 p.m., demonstrators were able to see vehicles from the Atlanta Police Department parked outside CNN.
The demonstrators entered the CNN Center and destroyed the interior of the building around 9 p.m. AND. A man was seen breaking glass inside the center with a skateboard.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms at a press conference Friday evening spoke directly to protesters: "You degraded the CNN building. Ted Turner launched CNN in Atlanta 40 years ago because he believed in who we are as a city. "
The protests in Atlanta closed a complicated day for the network.
A CNN crew was arrested while reporting live on Friday morning in Minneapolis while covering the protests. The journalists were released about an hour later.
Source link
