There was a protest/prayer vigil this morning by a group called ABLE (Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment) down in Atlanta at the Immigration and Customs office on Spring Street. They started off by staying a prayer, then things got interesting when three of the members tried to enter the building to deliver some letters asking for the support of two individuals who apparently have a say in the matter.
As far as I can tell, they didn’t do anything wrong, but they were denied entrance to the building and the verbal confrontations began. An employee of the building came out to try and talk to them, but it was kind of clear he had no idea what was going on or the issue they were even protesting (he admitted as much).
After some words were exchanged, non-threatening ones, they started singing and praying more.
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| Rev. Timothy McDonald of the group Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowermant is escorted off the property of the Atlanta Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Atlanta by police Wednesday morning after he and two others tried to gain entry to the building to deliver a letters to Raymond Simonse and Felicia Skinner. The group was protesting for the end of a 26-day fast-tracking of deportations taking place in Gwinnett. |
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| ABLE crowded around in front of the building. |
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| The representative from the building talks with one of the pastors. |
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| The prayer. |
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| Pastor Gregory Williams of the Hosley Temple CME, left, and Rev. Timothy McDonald of the First Iconium Baptist Church, right, sing “Let it Shine” infront of the Atlanta Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in downtown Atlanta Wednesday. The two are part of Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment which was protesting Gwinnett’s 287(g) agreement with ICE and were hoping to end the 26-day fast-tracking of deportations taking place in the county. |
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| Willa Rose Johnson closes her eyes as she prays during a prayer vigil infront of the Atlanta Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Atlanta Wednesday. The group assembled and tried to deliver letters to employees in the office, but were barred from entering. |
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| I liked the reflection of the flag, although the security from the building didn’t seem to agree. |
| Ernnita Stith chears as Obama appears on TV. |
| This one had some technical problems that I knew would prevent it from reproducing well in our paper, but I liked the moment and expressions. If my flash hadn’t malfunctioned it would have looked great, oh well. |
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