{UAH} ATLANTA CALLING IN NATIONAL GURDS AFTER VIOLENT WEEKEND

Kemp to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops after violent weekend

By

• Greg Bluestein, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Brian Kemp will deploy as many as 1,000 Georgia National Guard troops to protect state buildings in Atlanta on Monday following a burst of violence across the city that left four dead, including an 8-year-old girl, and saw the ransacking of the headquarters of the Georgia State Patrol.

Kemp, a Republican, issued the emergency order after threatening late Sunday to “take action” to curb the unrest in Atlanta if Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms failed to do so, a move that highlighted the complicated, and increasingly tense, relationship between two of the state’s most prominent politicians.

The National Guard troops will be dispatched to three locations in the city: The state Capitol, which has been the focus of protests over statues of segregationists and Civil War leaders; the Governor’s Mansion in Buckhead; and the recently-vandalized Department of Public Safety building in southeast Atlanta.

“Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda. Now, innocent Georgians are being targeted, shot, and left for dead,” said Kemp. “This lawlessness must be stopped and order restored in our capital city.”

The governor’s aides earlier Monday said his emergency powers grant him the authority to deploy Georgia National Guard troops to Atlanta’s streets. He took that step in late May, after widespread looting and violence, at Bottoms' request.

The mayor did not immediately address Kemp’s decision but issued her own plea to residents to end the violence. At least 93 people were shot in Atlanta between May 31 – roughly when the George Floyd protests began – and June 27. That’s roughly double the number from the same span a year ago.

“This random wild, Wild West shoot-‘em-up because you can, has gotta stop. It has to stop,” she said after the violent weekend.

State Democrats criticized Kemp for using his executive powers to protect buildings - one where he works, the other where he lives - instead of people. 

“For months, we have begged the governor to take serious steps to stop COVID-19 from decimating our communities, but he refuses,” said state Sen. Nikema Williams, who chairs the state Democratic Party.

“His choice to deploy National Guard troops for today's selfish purpose is outrageous and will endanger lives.”

Shotguns and shuttered businesses

Kemp and Bottoms are at odds at a pivotal moment. Kemp is arguably the state’s highest profile Republican and one of President Donald Trump’s top allies in Georgia, though they’ve skirmished over his approach to the coronavirus and his selection for an open U.S. Senate seat.

And Bottoms, one of the state’s top Democratic elected officials, has catapulted to the national stage as a high-level contender to be Joe Biden’s running-mate largely because of her firm, impassioned response to the twin crises – the coronavirus and the protests for racial justice.

The two never seemed destined for the same sort of friendly relationship their predecessors, Gov. Nathan Deal and Mayor Kasim Reed, enjoyed. But their iciness during the 2018 campaign threatened to spill over after Kemp’s narrow victory.

At times, Kemp invoked the federal corruption probe of City Hall as he flirted with supporting a state takeover of Atlanta’s crown jewel, the bustling Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. And he slammed Bottoms for blocking the city jail from holding any more U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.

Firing back, Bottoms mocked a notorious Kemp campaign ad by saying she doesn’t “take advice from people who hold shotguns at children.” And she vigorously campaigned for Stacey Abrams, saying her victory would offer Democrats a chance to “change the world.”

Still, both seemed willing to set aside the vitriol as Kemp prepared to take office, and he notably walked the roughly 300 steps from the Gold Dome to the mayor’s office to meet with Bottoms in a sign of respect for one of the state’s top Democratic leaders.

He quietly opposed an effort last year to grant the state oversight over the airport, the closest it has come in years to passage. And he tapped Bottoms to the state’s coronavirus task force, a panel that was created to hash out Georgia’s strategy to contain the disease.

Bottoms echoed many of Kemp’s decisions in the opening weeks of the pandemic, but then forcefully broke with him as he enacted statewide restrictions that banned Atlanta and other cities from taking more drastic steps — and then began to relax the limits that he put in place.

As Kemp began to ease restrictions, Bottoms took to cable news and other outlets to urge the city’s residents to shelter in place despite the message from the governor. Though she often didn’t directly criticize Kemp, she pointedly noted that she and other top officials were left in the dark.

“It is the governor’s prerogative to make the decision for the state, but I will continue to urge Atlanta to stay at home, stay safe and make decisions based on the best interests of their families,” she said after an April order that allowed some shuttered businesses to reopen.

‘Back the blue’

The protest movement surrounding George Floyd’s death has ratcheted up the tension. Early on, as peaceful demonstrations on Atlanta’s streets gave way to violent, chaotic bouts of looting and chaos, Kemp deployed the Georgia National Guard to help restore order and impose curfews.

After a period of relative calm, the protests surged again after the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks, prompting Bottoms to force the resignation of the city’s police chief. The killing resulted in criminal charges against two officers involved in the botched arrest attempt.

Amid mass sickouts of Atlanta officers angry over their treatment by Bottoms and other city officials, Kemp took to social media with a message of his own: “Georgia backs the blue.”

“While so much of our attention is on the few that have violated their oath, we have failed to express our deepest appreciation for the many more who uphold it every day,” said Kemp. “So today and every day, we say ‘Thank you.’”

A spate of shootings that left four dead and two dozen injured over the weekend appears to have further strained their relationship. Around the same time 14 people were shot early Sunday at an outdoor party, a crowd of at least 60 busted out the windows of the Georgia State Patrol headquarters.

The violence was roundly condemned by many politicians, including Kemp, who promised to track down the vandals who attacked the state building.

On Monday, one of his legislative allies, Democratic state Rep. Vernon Jones, showed reporters where a homemade grenade destroyed a supervisor’s office at the southeast Atlanta compound. Dust and debris were still strewn across the room, and a computer was warped from the heat of the blaze.

 

This is a supervisor’s office at the command center of the @ga_dps HQ that was vandalized this weekend. Authorities say a homemade grenade was tossed into this room, where state @RepVernonJones tells reporters he backs @GovKemp’s pledge to “track down those responsible.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/bGA4jDW4mE

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) July 6, 2020

But one of the most notable responses came from U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler. The newly-appointed Republican was Kemp’s hand-picked selection to the chamber, and she shares many of the same advisers as the governor.

Though she didn’t specify Bottoms, she linked the violence to a velvet-glove approach to protestors by city leaders and blamed the “defund police” movement for the chaos.

“I’m furious that elected officials with a radical agenda have decided to appease violent criminals instead of protecting the public,” Loeffler said. “And I’m furious that these ‘leaders’ refuse to support law enforcement at a time when they need it most.”

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