Fulton County’s district legal professional mentioned Wednesday that she is not going to prosecute the Georgia legislator arrested for knocking on Gov. Brian Kemp’s workplace door final month as he was signing the state’s controversial voting bill into regulation.
“After reviewing the entire proof, I’ve determined to shut this matter,” District Legal professional Fani Willis mentioned of the investigation into state Rep. Park Cannon.
“Whereas a few of Rep. Cannon’s colleagues and the cops concerned might have discovered her conduct annoying, such sentiment doesn’t justify a presentment to a grand jury of the allegations within the arrest warrants or some other felony expenses,” Willis mentioned in a press release.
Cannon was charged with obstruction of regulation enforcement and disrupting the Normal Meeting, each felonies, whereas attempting to object to Kemp’s signing the bill that President Joe Biden has decried as “Jim Crow 2.0.”
Video of the incident confirmed Cannon, who as a lawmaker works on the statehouse, being handcuffed after she knocked on Kemp’s door whereas calling for the transparency of the bill signing. She was then forcibly faraway from the state Capitol by two officers and surrounded by extra whereas repeatedly figuring out herself as a legislator.
The arresting officer, Lt. G.D. Langford of the Georgia State Patrol, mentioned the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol was “at the back of my thoughts” during the incident.
In a 13-page incident report obtained by NBC Information final week, Langford mentioned he repeatedly requested Cannon to cease knocking on Kemp’s workplace door during the bill signing, however she continued. He mentioned that he “seen the opposite protestors started to get louder as she was refusing to comply with instructions,” and “felt that if I didn’t take motion, the opposite protestors would have been emboldened to commit related acts.”
Willis mentioned her workplace’s investigation into the incident included “full cooperation from a number of citizen witnesses who have been keen to offer in-person interviews about what they witnessed” and proof from the Capitol police, “who supplied statements, video proof and a number of police stories in an expeditious method.”
Cannon’s legal professional, Gerald Griggs, instructed NBC Information, “Info and proof confirmed to the world that Rep. Park Cannon dedicated no crime and will have by no means been arrested.” He recommended his shopper, who’d been freed on $6,000, was considering taking authorized motion herself.
“We thank the district legal professional for her thorough overview of the proof and are weighing our subsequent authorized actions,” Griggs mentioned.
Cannon told reporters last week she wasn’t the one who did one thing legal.
“I’m going through eight years in jail on unfounded expenses,” she mentioned. “I consider the governor signing into regulation essentially the most complete voter suppression bill within the nation is a much more critical crime.”
