A Georgia state representative was physically detained by state troopers and forcibly removed from the Capitol after she reportedly tried to crash Gov. Brian Kemp’s signing of a new voter restrictions bill.
Per an Instagram video from Hannah Joy Gebresilassie (@hannahjoytv), state Rep. Park Cannon (D) was filmed being manhandled by two state police officers and marched through the statehouse. As she is being removed, bystanders repeatedly press the troopers as to why Cannon was being detained or arrested — with no answers forthcoming.
Georgia Public Broadcasting reporter Stephen Fowler had earlier noted that Kemp cut short his signing of SB 202, a massive election overhaul bill that puts new limits on mail-in voting, increases voter ID requirements, and criminalizes handing out food or water to people waiting in voter lines.
One explanation for Kemp’s abrupt conclusion came at the end of Gebresilassie’s video, where an apparent protestor claims Cannon had been accosted by the police after knocking on the door to the room where Kemp was signing the bill, in an uninvited attempt to witness the moment.
Fowler went on to point out that the images of a democratically elected representative being physically detained and marched out of the statehouse for an apparent attempt to peacefully protest a piece of legislation was “not the look you want overshadowing *any* bill, but especially a big voting bill.”
UPDATE, 9:15 p.m.: CNN included video of the moment where Cannon approaches the door with other protestors and knocks, after which police immediately descend up her and grab her arms. Cannon’s lawyer, Gerald Griggs, confirmed to the network that she had been arrested and was taken to jail.
