8-yr-old girl killed near Rayshard Brooks memorial site by armed protesters

An 8-year-old girl was shot and killed last night by armed protesters near the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed in self defense by police officers. And the Mayor finally appears to have had enough:

NBC NEWS – Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told protesters Sunday to “clear out” of an area near where Rayshard Brooks was killed by police last month after an 8-year-old girl was fatally shot near the site over the weekend.

“You shot and killed a baby,” she said at a news conference. “Enough is enough.”

Bottoms said the girl, Secoriea Turner, was shot Saturday night while riding in a car with her mother and a friend after they tried to pull into a parking lot. The site had been barricaded after Brooks was killed June 12 at a Wendy’s parking lot south of downtown Atlanta, prompting weeks of protests against racial injustice and police brutality.

Interim Police Chief Rodney Bryant said the driver was confronted by a group of armed people who had blocked the entrance, which was less than a half-mile from the Wendy’s.

“At some point someone in the group opened fire, striking the car multiple times,” he said.

Secoriea was pronounced dead at a hospital.

“We understand the frustration of Rayshard Brooks,” the girl’s mother said at the news conference. “We ain’t got nothing to do with that. [We’re] innocent. We didn’t mean no harm. My baby didn’t mean no harm.”

“Local officials had been trying to talk with demonstrators…”

Bottoms said authorities had removed other barriers erected by protesters in the area after Brooks’ funeral on June 23. She said she heard that new barriers had been placed there shortly before she learned of Secoriea’s killing.

She said local officials had been trying to talk with demonstrators before closing the area.

“We’re not having any more discussions,” she said. “It’s over.”

It should have been over a long time ago. She never should have let these protesters close the area in the first place. There shouldn’t have been ‘discussions’ with anyone. The mayor can talk about all the peaceful demonstrations she wants, but they aren’t peaceful when people are putting up barricades and closing areas.

She should have allowed the police to arrest and remove these protesters by force after they burned down the Wendy’s. The Rashard Brooks killing wasn’t anything like the George Floyd killing, it was self-defense by the officers because he attacked them. There was never any point in allowing these protesters to do this. And now an 8-year-old girl is dead.


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