In solidarity with protests over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles, a few dozen local demonstrators gathered midday Monday at ICE’s Atlanta Field Office downtown to decry the Trump White House’s aggressive immigration enforcement. By Tuesday evening, that had swelled to nearly a thousand protesters at a rally billed “From Atlanta to LA: ICE Out!” on Buford Highway, which resulted in at least six arrests.
Both protests were overwhelmingly peaceful. It was only after police issued a 9:30 p.m. dispersal order on Tuesday night, when the Buford Highway protest permit expired, that they clashed with about 50 remaining protestors.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organized the Monday protest to demand the release of SEIU California’s president, David Huerta, whom Los Angeles police had arrested during the Friday protests. “We’re here in solidarity with the people of LA,” said Gerald Green, a Teamsters Local 728 organizer. Huerta was released on a $50,000 bond that night after rallies in cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York on his behalf.
While those crowd sizes may seem relatively modest for Atlanta, the rallies were planned just days in advance, and they weren’t on a weekend. There are more to come. A coalition of progressive groups including 50501, Indivisible and the ACLU is organizing a national “No Kings” protest for June 14 to coincide with the $45 million military parade in Washington D.C that President Donald Trump is throwing on his birthday.
‘It’s about time’
“It’s about time we raise our voice,” said Acauan Van Deusen, a Brazilian-American who joined the June 10 Buford Highway rally after dropping off his landscaper co-workers in the neighborhood. Van Deusen, 21, said many of his colleagues “are scared – they are afraid of being stopped,” regardless of their immigration status. A dual Brazilian-U.S. citizen, Van Deusen moved here from Brazil three years ago.
He did not mince words about ICE raids and Trump’s immigration policy. “I f—ing hate it,” he said.
This week’s demonstrations in Atlanta, like others across the nation, popped up after four days of protests in Los Angeles over heavy handed immigration raids targeting workplaces, and even elementary schools.
Anger against ICE and the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda has spread quickly. Trump’s federalization of 4,000 California National Guard troops and then his deployment of 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles added fuel to the fire.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom. on Tuesday night called the president’s move to override his authority an “assault on democracy” and warned that other states would be next.
‘A crime against our neighbors’
“We’re going to be out there in the streets,” said State Rep. Gabriel Sanchez (D-Smyrna), who turned out for the Monday rally outside ICE’s building downtown. “It’s ridiculous that they’re out here kidnapping people, acting like secret police.”
“If they want to violently crack down on protestors who just want to protect people, then I think we know where the real violence is and who the bad guys are,” Sanchez added.
The ICE raids and deportations, many without due process, are “a crime against our neighbors,” said Estevan Hernandez, a Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) organizer. The PSL organized the June 10 Buford Highway rally with the Immigrant Rights Alliance and other organizations.
“I would say all Latinos should be concerned, because it’s clear that we are under attack,” said Victoria Hernández, who was draped in a Colombian flag at the Buford Highway protest and is not related to Estevan. “It is important to know your rights, to learn from others. That experience is just going to show us that as a community we need to come together.”
Hernández is a Georgia board member for 50501, one of the groups organizing this Saturday’s No Kings protests. She said she’s experienced job discrimination for being Latina and wants people to recognize the substantial economic contributions of the Latino community.
Police response
Yesterday’s rally started at 6:30 p.m. near where Buford Highway intersects with Briarwood Road and drew a heavy police presence. Atlanta Civic Circle observed law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions, including the cities of Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, and Dunwoody; DeKalb County; and the Georgia State Patrol.
But it wasn’t until police issued the 9:30 p.m. dispersal order that the clashes started. Only a few dozen demonstrators remained at that point. It was unclear who attacked first, but within minutes, Brookhaven Police deployed tear gas canisters, while some of the protestors set off fireworks and threw water bottles at officers.
Brookhaven Police Sgt. Jay Smith said law enforcement started deploying tear gas after “several individuals began throwing rocks and firework mortars at officers,” in a Wednesday email.
In addition to the six arrests, Smith said, “three Brookhaven Police vehicles were damaged by agitators,” with “multiple windows being smashed in.”
Smith added that protest organizers had agreed at 8 p.m. to the 9:30 p.m. cutoff time. Most people started leaving at 9 p.m., after the police notified the crowd that their protest time was almost up.
Atlanta Civic Circle did not witness police giving dispersal orders in Spanish over loudspeakers. Some local Spanish-speaking residents watching the protest said they were unaware of the order. Reporters raised that concern with Smith, who responded that he would “share this information with our team for future incidents.”
In an email received after publication, Captain Abrem Ayana, the incident commander on Tuesday night, said “all police orders and dispersal announcements were delivered in both English and Spanish. These announcements were made by Spanish-speaking Brookhaven Police officers to ensure clear communication with all individuals in attendance. Officers used the public address systems installed on marked police vehicles in an environment with several hundred individuals many of whom had their own public address systems to project their various message(s).”
Upcoming demonstrations
More protests are planned in Atlanta and nationwide for Saturday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and other organizations have joined with Indivisible to hold the “No Kings” rally against Trump, which starts at 10 a.m. at Liberty Plaza outside the State Capitol.
The PSL is holding a separate protest against ICE deportations at noon on Saturday, June 14, located at 3535 Chamblee Tucker Road in northeast Atlanta.
Note: This story was updated to include comment from Brookhaven Police Captain Abrem Ayana regarding police orders being delivered in Spanish. Both reporters involved in this article have an intermediate to fluent level of Spanish.
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