Demonstrations inspired by the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile faded briefly after last week’s shooting of five Dallas police officers during one such protest, but were back in force over the weekend.
Even while Dallas police were honoring their fallen at a candlelight vigil Monday evening, protesters were back on the streets — literally — in cities like Atlanta.
Protest in Buckhead now blocking Lenox Square intersection pic.twitter.com/icouJctXvu
— FOX 5 Atlanta (@FOX5Atlanta) July 12, 2016
Protestors sitting at Peachtree Road outside of Lenox Square @wsbtv #atlisready pic.twitter.com/IB4ivV6tTO
— Carl Willis (@CarlWillisTV) July 12, 2016
Lenox Square Mall "sit in" – this is Peachtree St right now pic.twitter.com/q0qDUAzhrS
— Jeremy Campbell (@JeremyWBIR) July 12, 2016
Protests continued into the night as demonstrators stationed themselves across the street from the governor’s mansion, apparently not knowing or caring that the governor is currently in Germany and is probably sleeping just fine.
In front of the Governor's Mansion:
"If we don't get no justice, then they don't get no sleep!" #ATLisReady pic.twitter.com/V7QUPw3fQ1— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) July 12, 2016
While even President Obama mentioned Sterling and Castile by name last week, there were other deaths, which some are still keeping in their tally. Delrawn Small was fatally shot in New York by an off-duty police officer during a road rage incident, although Small’s name was dropped as a hashtag pretty quickly by most.
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And then there was Piedmont Park. Atlanta is a curious case, as many still assume an unidentified black man found hanged in Piedmont Park was lynched by members of the KKK, who they say were in the park handing out flyers during a rally the previous day.
Why aren't more people talking about the lynching in #piedmontpark ?
— ZAR (@ZariyahNatalya) July 10, 2016
So are we just gonna pretend like a black man wasn't lynched last week..? Nobody seems to be talkin about that… #piedmontpark
— Emily Rose (@MISSjawngotti) July 11, 2016
So are we going to act like a man wasn't hung in #piedmontpark and no information has been released about him other than "it was suicide"
— Brandon/Brando (@theblaqgawd) July 9, 2016
Have they still not released the name of the Black male found lynched in #PiedmontPark????
— ? ??ArtsySneakerGeek (@BamaIntrovert) July 11, 2016
Its funny how the cops & media are being hush hush with info on the guy found hanging in #PiedmontPark seeing as its a 'suicide' and all.
— ? ??ArtsySneakerGeek (@BamaIntrovert) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter last week when a black man was lynched in #PiedmontPark and it was ruled a "suicide"
— Mayhem? (@NawImForrealHoe) July 11, 2016
https://twitter.com/reem79/status/752624784245035008
Why isn't MSM reporting on lynching in Atlanta, GA the other day?
— Stephanie Palmer (@palmer1619) July 11, 2016
Salon isn’t quite mainstream, but the site did jump in early, recounting much of the police report but also noting that there were “lingering questions,” none of which happened to be based on factual evidence.
Lingering questions over death of black man found hanging from tree in Atlanta park https://t.co/jP7uY6ZYeJ pic.twitter.com/dbt4wURJHW
— Salon (@Salon) July 8, 2016
On Saturday, however, the Los Angeles Times covered the incident, repeating much of what had already been announced:
“There did not appear to be any struggle or any foul play,” a report stated. “The scene and the body seemed to coincide with a suicide.”
At a Friday news conference, Mayor [Kasim] Reed cautioned those spreading social media rumors of Klan involvement at Piedmont Park the night before the hanging. “I’ve been following Internet, social media chatter, and they’re just saying a bunch of things that are not true,” he told reporters. “We have reviewed our video cameras, we have spoken to a number of individuals, and we have not found any evidence that the KKK was in Piedmont Park distributing materials.”
“Still,” added writer Jenny Jarvie, “many in Atlanta – a city with a black mayor and a black police chief – admit they remain suspicious.” Even while confronting rumors, Reed announced in a statement that he was referring the case to the FBI, although it’s unlikely anyone who suspects Atlanta’s police of covering up a lynching will be satisfied with the FBI’s findings.
https://twitter.com/ILoveRaygun/status/752716485546549248
It would seem so, yes.
Protesters asking about #piedmontpark hanging. Wanting answers. #ATLisReady
— Ari Bee (@capitol_REB) July 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/AlexisButters/status/752713012180508672
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