Multi-state immigration rights movement makes stop in Georgia
ATLANTA, Ga. – Activists inspired by civil rights history are trying to get their anti-immigration deportation message across in a multi-state movement.
From New Jersey to Louisiana, they are calling themselves the Freedom Riders. They are stopping in key Southern cities like Atlanta to shine light on the Trump istration and on mass deportations.
“Who’s got the power? We got the power,” chanted a group of people at a town hall at Park Ave Baptist Church during a town hall as part of the Freedom Ride stop in Atlanta.
Man faces charges after woman’s body found under 15th Street bridge
A 58-year-old man is facing charges after a woman’s body was found near the 15th Street bridge near Riverwatch Parkway.
“It is time, as Americans, whatever your documentation, whatever your heritage, whatever your religion, whatever your color. It is time we all stand up and say, no more,” added another activist.
The group’s name is derived from the 1961 Freedom Rides, where activists took bus rides through the South to protest segregated bus terminals.
“We are wearing these bright yellow shirts, we are getting in people’s faces, we are holding stops at neighborhood churches. I think this is a really direct way of connecting with people,” said Carolyn Yao, a Freedom Rider from Queens, New York.
In their spiritual and political journey, riders of all faiths and religions said they are demanding dignity, justice and protection of human rights.
Rapper Silentó pleads guilty to shooting, killing cousin in Georgia
The rapper who blew up online in 2015 for his hit song “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” will spend decades behind bars after he was convicted of shooting and killing his cousin in DeKalb County four years ago.
“We are fighting back for our democratic rights, whether that is freedom of speech, the right to protest, democratic institutions, making sure there is due process and people are not unjustly detained or incarcerated at the whim of the istration,” said Yao.
“We are in the fight of our lives,” said Porchse Miller with the Black Lives Matter Grassroots Atlanta.
Atlantans showed up to the solidarity stop town hall of the Freedom Ride to add to the message.
Miller said, “We are here to say, stop the mass deportations, stop the ICE raiding, because it’s manufacturing a war that’s happening right now on our brown brothers and sisters.”
President Donald Trump has said the movements and protests against his istration are fine until they take a turn.
“The president absolutely s peaceful protests. He s the First Amendment. He s the right of Americans to make their voices heard. He does not violence of any kind. He does not assaulting law enforcement officers who are simply trying to do their job. It’s very clear for the president what he s and what he does not. Unfortunately for Democrats, that line has not been made clear,” said White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt.
“As a U.S. Army veteran, it is such a distasteful moment right now to see our president using our military to be violent against peaceful protestors. It’s unnecessary and very unconstitutional,” said Miller.
“When we are on the road and we are feeling and touching and actually at these stops, it brings the humanity back into this,” said Yao.
From Atlanta, the Freedom Ride will go to Birmingham before its final stop in Jena, Louisiana.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
