On the first day of Georgia’s legislative session since March when lawmakers were forced to pause because of the coronavirus, a bill that months ago appeared stalled — the hate crimes bill — took center stage in both chambers.
This while outside the state Capitol, about a thousand people marched from the federal courthouse Monday morning, after a weekend of protests over the shooting of Rayshard Brooks by an Atlanta police officer. That follows on the heels of weeks of protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
A consistent demand in Georgia, particularly after the shooting death of Arbery in Brunswick, has been passage of hate crimes legislation, which passed the House narrowly last year but has been stalled in the state Senate. Recent court proceedings revealed Travis McMichael, who has been arrested in the shooting of Arbery, allegedly used a racial slur as Arbery lay dying.
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