The below news report was originally posted June 27, 2007 on the subscription Website Insider Advantage Georgia [1] – Mr. Dick Pettys editor. It is gratefully reposted here with permission.
On The Sidelines Of A Protest March At Capitol, D.A. King Finds ‘Peaceful’ Action Is Not Without Incident
By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia
(6/27/07) Old hippies, American Indians, gays, anti-war protesters, Bush-haters and social activists of every stripe for almost any cause in the country opened a social forum in Atlanta on Wednesday with a march from the state Capitol – – and anti-illegal immigrant activist D.A. King can tell you it wasn’t entirely without incident.
I happened to be standing on the sidewalk next to King — who was wearing his t-shirt emblazoned “No Amnesty” on the front with the legend “Kick Me I’m A Citizen” on the back — when he was approached by two swaggering young men who, looking at his t-shirt, demanded to know why he was taking crowd pictures.
I heard King tell them he was taking pictures on a public sidewalk. That, however, led to a few animated words from one of the young men, and one of them raised his hand in front of King’s camera to block his shot. Then one of them made a grab for his camera, but King held onto it. At one point, a bottle of water was splashed on King.
Several other people on the sidewalk intervened to prevent a further dispute with the two young men, one of whom said he was from Chicago and who sprinkled his comments with a lot of street vernacular. They moved on down the sidewalk, but a third young man took up the fight with words.
“I don’t get this? Who is the f—– illegal alien in this? I mean, white people kill Indians, you know, take over the land, and you’re actually telling the people whose land it was that it’s not theirs? That’s ridiculous. You are the thieves. Let’s just f—- make it straight. I’m so f—- tired of these lies,” the young man told King.
King shot back: “You know what’s protecting you right now? The rule of law is protecting you … I want the rule of law to be equally applied.”
The incident drew several reporters, including WXIA-TV’s Dennis O’Hayer, but after that point it was soon over and King resumed his photo-taking as the march began and passed by the Capitol.
He laughed about it later, saying there were so many people in the march protesting so many different causes, he actually found some he could agree with. “There was a lady with a ‘Save The Water’ sign,” he said. “I’m fully on her side.”
Participants in the march were aware of a fairly large law enforcement presence outside the building. What few of them saw was that there was plenty of backup inside the Capitol building, as well.
What’s drawing this crowd to Atlanta? Something called the first United States Social Forum [2]. It runs through Sunday featuring workshops, plenary sessions and concerts. The Civic Center seems to be ground zero for the event.
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