Georgia State Troopers arrested Democratic Rep. Park Cannon Thursday after knocking on Republican Governor Brian Kemp’s door as he signed a controversial electoral law in a closed ceremony.
The video of the incident shows Cannon, who also works as a legislator in the Statehouse. She is handcuffed after knocking on Kemp’s door and pleads for transparency in the signing of the bill. She was then forcibly removed from the state capitol by two officers and surrounded by more, while repeatedly identifying herself as a lawmaker, and put in a police car.
A number of bills were introduced and passed by Republican-controlled lawmakers to tighten electoral laws after former President Donald Trump lost the election and unfoundedly questioned the outcome.
Cannon, who is black, has been charged with two offenses under state law, according to police: obstructing law enforcement and preventing or disturbing the General Assembly.
She was taken to Fulton County Jail. Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Arrived there a short time later to aid state lawmakers and was greeted by a small cheering crowd.
Cannon was released from prison Thursday night, said her attorney Gerald Griggs, the vice president of the NAACP Atlanta office.
“I’m not the first Georgian woman arrested for fighting voter suppression. I’d like to say I’ll be the last, but we know that’s not true,” Cannon tweeted after her release. “But one day this last person will step out of prison for the last time and take a first breath, knowing that no one will be re-imprisoned for fighting for the right to vote.”
In a tweet thanking her supporters on Friday, Cannon vowed to continue to fight for the right to vote in the state, saying she would “not stand by” while those rights are threatened.
Thank you for your love and support. My family, my team and I will take some time to rest and refuel so we can continue this fight as this is just the beginning. pic.twitter.com/i6IiKa8Vkd
– Representative Park Cannon (@ Cannonfor58) March 26, 2021
Lt. Georgia State Patrol spokesman W. Mark Riley said in a statement Thursday night that Cannon was warned not to knock on the door because the reserved area was for the governor’s staff.
“She was advised that she was disturbing what was going on inside and if she didn’t stop she would be arrested. Rep. Cannon stepped back a moment and then stepped back to the door and started knocking on the door again,” Said Riley. “She was warned again that if she did not stop, she would be arrested for disabling and disrupting the press conference.”
Cannon was among several people protesting at the statehouse on Thursday after stricter voting limits were exceeded that followed weeks of debates on Georgian law. The new law adds a number of restrictions, including changes to the identification requirements for postal voting and the fact that it is illegal to bring food or water to the polls for voters.
Kemp immediately signed the bill, calling it “Common Sense” legislation, while aligning himself with former President Donald Trump in his remarks heralding the bill.
Trump made unfounded claims that the Georgia elections were stolen from him, pressured Republican election officials to investigate, and denied claims that the elections were safe and that the results were correct. Kemp said he and lawmakers set out to make it “easy to choose and hard to cheat”.
Georgian Democrat Stacey Abrams, founder of the Fair Fight constituency, said in a statement that the law was “manifestly unconstitutional” and “nothing less than Jim Crow 2.0”.
Newly elected US Senator John Ossoff, D-Ga., Tweeted support for Cannon, saying, “I stand by Rep. Park Cannon … who was arrested and charged with a FELONY for … what?”