Protest Planned in Buckhead for Monday Night

Atlanta, GA — For the fourth straight night, thousands of protesters converged on downtown Atlanta to show their anger over recent police shootings nationwide.

Another protest is being organized for Monday night, but instead of a downtown rally, protesters plan to converge on Atlanta's upscale Buckhead community.

Lenox Square is one of the city's most upscale shopping districts.

On Monday, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said officers have been subjected to insults and obscenities during the protests, and in some instances, had water bottles thrown at them.

Reed said officers and support staff have worked about 6,000 hours in overtime since the protests began, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

"As a part of our response, the Atlanta Police Department canceled all off days, went on 12 hour shifts and had every available officer, including administrative officers, working to keep the protestors safe and to keep the city of Atlanta safe," Reed said. "For that they deserve and extraordinary amount of credit for their work.”

Before taking to the streets Sunday night, police met with former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young.

Young was one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s closest advisers and was with King in Memphis, Tennessee, when the civil rights leader was assassinated in 1968. Young later become a U.S. congressman, UN ambassador and mayor of Atlanta.

The series of Atlanta protests began Thursday night of last week and continued through Sunday. The largest so far has seemed to be Friday, when thousands marched through downtown Atlanta Friday afternoon into early Saturday morning to protest recent police shootings.

The march came a day after a similar demonstration in Dallas was marred by a deadly sniper attack, in which five police officers were killed and seven others wounded.

A large law enforcement presence from the Atlanta police department and the Georgia State Patrol blocked the group, which led to a standoff of up to two hours.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed spoke with protesters during the Friday march, urging them to stay off Atlanta interstates and remain peaceful.

On Saturday night, police arrested 10 people for attempting to block the interstate, and one person was charged with disorderly conduct.

See also:

• Thousands in Atlanta Protest Police Shootings
• Ten Arrested in Atlanta Protests