NAACP Holds March In Atlanta After Death Of Rayshard Brooks

ATLANTA, GA — The Georgia NAACP organized a protest Monday morning, which includes the Hawks’ head coach, Lloyd Pierce. They are marching in downtown Atlanta to address police brutality, the criminal justice system and voting rights. They also want to repeal the Georgia Citizens Arrest law.

The protest began at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and the crowd is marching to the state capitol.

"From the murder of Ahmaud Arbery & Koby Edwards and the dehumanizing violence of local police departments on protesters all over Georgia to what some have called the worst election of a lifetime, we are simply unwilling to carry on as normal," said the Rev. James Woodall, state president of the Georgia NAACP, in a statement. "No longer can we idly watch as our democracy is challenged and our communities are destroyed."

On Saturday night, protesters marched onto the Downtown Connector and a Wendy's restaurant that was the scene of the fatal police-involved shooting was set ablaze.

The streets filled after the death of Rayshard Brooks, a black man, who was shot by Atlanta police Friday when he resisted arrest after failing a field sobriety test.

The NAACP and Just Georgia Coalition held a news conference on Saturday to share their demands. After the fatal police shooting of Brooks at a local Wendy’s, the group demanded that Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields be held accountable. They even started an online petition. Shields resigned Saturday, but the NAACP wants her completely removed from the police department.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Shields offered her resignation, which she accepted. The city will launch a search for a new police chief. Former Assistant Police Chief Rodney Bryant will serve as the interim police chief.

The mayor also issued an administrative order for an advisory council that will review the city's use of force policies and procedures. It'll be made up of community members who will make recommendations.

The Fulton County district attorney has launched an independent investigation following the death of Brooks, 27, of Atlanta. Witnesses said Brooks struggled with police over a Taser, ran from officers and was shot.

GBI Director Vic Reynolds said at a news conference that video showed Brooks grabbed an officer's Taser, ran a few feet away and then pointed it at officers before they fired, WSB TV said. Authorities have not released the name of the officer who fired the fatal shot.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Atlanta Police Department was called to the Wendy's restaurant at 125 University Ave. around 10:30 p.m. Friday for a complaint of a man in a vehicle parked in the drive-thru who was asleep, causing customers to drive around the vehicle.

The man, later identified as Brooks, failed a field sobriety test, and officers attempted to place him in custody, according to the GBI. But he resisted and a struggle ensued, leading the officer to use a Taser.