Live updates: 'No Kings' protests in metro Atlanta on Saturday
Thousands are expected to take to the streets this weekend as the 'No Kings' protests make their way back to metro Atlanta for a third time.
These protests are in response to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies and the deadly January shootings that happened in Minneapolis, which left two people dead. Previous iterations of "No Kings" protest days have been held in the last year. Organizers of the rallies are saying they expect their largest demonstration to date on Saturday.
11Alive is tracking protest developments throughout Saturday morning and afternoon, with at least one large demonstration planned near Downtown Atlanta. 11Alive+, our streaming channel, will have coverage starting at 10:30 a.m.
Atlanta demonstration largely wrapped up
Following an earlier rally near the Georgia Capitol and march around the building, the protest in Atlanta trickled back to the Memorial Drive Greenway and has now by and large dispersed as of 1 p.m.
As for the rest of the day, organizers for "No Kings" demonstrations listed several more happening later into the afternoon in metro Atlanta. Those include one in McDonough running from 12:30 to 2 p.m.; one in Marietta from 1-3 p.m.; one in Sandy Springs from 2:30-4:30 p.m.; one in Smyrna from 3-5 p.m. and one in Fayetteville from 4-5:30 p.m.
11Alive's live coverage has discontinued as of 1 p.m. You can see clips both in the blog entries below and in the video player above this story, as well as on our YouTube page.
Memorial Drive march video
Here's a sped-up version of the Atlanta "No Kings" march moving along Memorial Drive a little after noon.
Atlanta march returning to Memorial Drive Greenway
The march paused for a moment at Memorial Drive and Capitol Ave., and is now coming down Memorial.
As of about 12:20 p.m., it's crossing the Fraser Street and Memorial intersection.
'No Kings' protest also in Cobb County
There's also a No Kings demonstration underway in East Cobb, at the intersection of Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road.
Several dozen people were lining the four corners of the intersection arond noontime.
'No Kings' protesters are marching around Georgia Capitol
The protest Saturday includes a march from the greenway running about a half mile to the state Capitol, going around the Capitol and returning. It's currently underway.
Traffic cameras showed the rear of the march was passing back through the intersection of MLK Jr. Drive and Piedmont/Capitol Ave. (northeast corner of the Capitol complex) just before noon.
Senator Raphael Warnock speaks at rally
Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, the Ebenezer Baptist Church pastor, spoke at Saturday's rally.
Warnock spoke at length about the funding standoff over ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, which has left a funding gap for agencies under DHS such as TSA (resulting in callouts and long security waits at airports), the Coast Guard and FEMA.
Democrats are aiming to gain concessions from Republicans on immigration enforcement through the standoff, and Senator Warnock said Saturday said he would "not vote to give ICE another single dime until they fix this situation."
"I've been on the floor of the Senate all week fighting Donald Trump's ICE and fighting the SAVE Act," Warnock said, referring to the voting bill endorsed by the president and conservatives that would, among other provisions, create a national voter ID requirement.
The Democrat returned to the subject of ICE, saying he was "afraid that a wannabe king, who is busy building himself and his billionaires a ballroom, intends to use ICE as his own private army to do his bidding to make him king. But he is not a king, this is our land, this belongs to 'We the People,' and these powers that he arrogates to himself, these buildings that he tries to put his name on, these things no more belong to him than that fake Nobel Peace Prize that he had somebody to give to him."
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