Kemp, a Republican, said the executive order follows “weeks of violent crime and destruction of property in the city of Atlanta.”
The governor’s statement says more than 30 Georgians were shot and wounded during the extended holiday weekend, including five people who died.
One of the five deaths was that of an 8-year-old girl who was shot while riding in a car with her mother and one other person. Secoriea Turner died Saturday night when the car attempted to enter a parking lot that had illegal barricades, police said.
The shooting was near the scene where a now-fired Atlanta police officer fatally shot Rayshard Brooks after he fought officers and tried to flee with a stolen Taser.
“We have had more than 75 shootings in the city in the past few weeks,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said when speaking about the death of the 8-year-old boy on Sunday. “You can’t blame APD (Atlanta Police Department).”
After George Floyd’s death in late May, there were protests in downtown Atlanta, several of which were followed by looting and vandalism.
“Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous and destructive agenda. Now innocent Georgians are under attack, shot and killed,” Kemp said in a statement. “This anarchy must be stopped and order restored in our capital city.”
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