Last week, Brian Kemp, Georgia’s governor of Black vote purgatory, surrounded himself with equally Klan-ish white men who appropriately stood in front of a plantation portrait while Kemp signed legislation that sent a single message to non-white voter demographics across the state: Either start voting Republican, or they’ll make it harder to vote at all.
The white men, who wore suits likely because Klan robes are out of season, closed the door to the room where it happens and watched as Kemp signed the legislation, but that didn’t sit right with state Rep. Park Cannon, who was arrested for knocking on the door to demand that Kemp stop being a punk-bitch and sign his little Jim Crow 2021 law in front of the people. On Thursday, Cannon spoke out for the first time since her arrest.
11 Alive reports Cannon spoke during a press conference in front of the John Lewis mural on Auburn Avenue on Thursday morning. After describing her experience as “painful, both physically and emotionally,” she dropped a bomb that should only further enrage people who are already enraged at the injustice of voter laws that even Kemp sort of admitted are largely arbitrary—Cannon said she’s facing eight years for knocking on a door.
“I felt as if time was moving in slow motion,” Cannon said while holding back tears. “As difficult as it is to acknowledge that I am facing eight years in prison on unfounded charges...I believe the governor’s signing into law the most comprehensive voter suppression bill in the country is a far more serious crime. A law with such nefarious qualities that several of Georgia’s Fortune 500 companies have begun knocking on the door.”
Despite what the caucasity-infused Georgia state patrol officer who arrested her implied, Cannon did not storm a Capitol building with violent intent, so the idea that she should be facing even a day in prison is as ridiculous and racist as the legislation that led to her arrest in the first place.
Cannon also spoke with CNN’s Don Lemon about her “terrifying” arrest on Thursday.
“I was afraid, just like many Americans are when they come into contact with law enforcement, that there would be a need for me to protect myself. But instead, I was able to just continue to think about the world was watching, people could see, and it was still very terrifying.”
When Lemon asked her how watching the video of her arrest made her feel, Cannon said, “It makes me wonder, why?”
“Why were they arresting me? Why were they doing this? Why did the world have to experience another traumatic arrest?” she continued.
She also said that during her arrest, she was “hopeful that people would see that I was being nonviolent.”
From CNN:
Cannon said as the House Democratic caucus secretary, “it has always been my job to take minutes and to be present to witness bill signings.”
“When we learned late in the hour, all of a sudden that this bill, SB 202, was being passed, it was important to be there to witness it and to get the information out, just like I always would,” she said.
Cannon faces two felony charges: felony obstruction and preventing or disrupting general assembly session, according to an arrest affidavit viewed by CNN.
Cannon’s attorney, Gerald Griggs, told CNN that Cannon’s arrest was unlawful under the Georgia State Constitution. He said they “plan to litigate to the fullest extent of the law,” but hopes the district attorney will review the evidence and dismiss the case.
The truth is, only one crime was committed that day and it wasn’t by Cannon. Unfortunately, legal criminality ruled the day and now the Peach State is worse for it. Thankfully, we still have lawmakers and activists like Cannon out there fighting the good fight. Let’s just hope she remains free to do it.