
Photo: WBS-TV
Via  P.J. Salvatore
Mayor Kasim Reed had been supportive of the protests, twice issuing an executive order allowing them to remain.
Reed said on Wednesday that he had no choice to arrest them because he believed things were headed in a direction that was no longer peaceful. He cited a man seen walking the park with an AK-47 assault rifle.
“There were some who wanted to continue along the peaceful lines, and some who thought that their path should be more radical,” Reed said. “As mayor, I couldn’t wait for them to finish that debate.”
Reed said authorities could not determine whether the rifle was loaded, and were unable to get additional information.
An Associated Press reporter talked to the man with the gun earlier Tuesday.
He wouldn’t give his name — identifying himself only as “Porch,” an out-of-work accountant who doesn’t agree with the protesters’ views — but said that he was there, armed, because he wanted to protect the rights of people to protest.
His intentions could not be more clear… Â (Retracted. My apologies to ‘Porch’. See updates below)
Remember this?
Unreal: MSNBC edits clip of man with gun at Obama rally to support racism narrative
Then there is this: Obama Gives His Blessing to Neo-Com #OccupyWallStreet Protesters BUT “Teabag, Anti-Government People Will Encourage Extremists”
Update:
(WXIA-TV / 11alive) –ATLANTA — Scores of Atlanta police officers in moved in overnight — some clad in riot gear, some on horseback, all under orders to clear the park of protesters. The order came from Mayor Kasim Reed, who says the last straw was a man walking around Woodruff Park Tuesday afternoon carrying an assault rifle.
……
11Alive’s Jaye Watson spoke to the man, who declined to identify himself. “(The gun is) a symbol of the last line of resistance against a government that’s going to try to push people out because of their ideals,” he said. The man told Watson the weapon was a semi-automatic version of the AK-47. Such weapons are legal in Georgia.
……
“By every measure, from the way they treated people from my administration, to things that they said on camera, to having a man with an AK47 accompany a leader that came to a press conference that I met with, all put us on a trajectory toward something bad,” Reed said. [...]
Video of Reed at link.
Update 2:
Reed’s claim “having a man with an AK47 accompany a leader that came to a press conference that I met with” is a bit of a stretch me thinks.
See David Codrea’s article (Gun Rights Examiner) here.
Now the question is; why would Reed stretch the truth? He needed a fall guy to pin blame on in order to shut down Occupy Atlanta and ‘Porch’ fit the bill? The coward.
One more thing, the main reason behind my initially posting this news was to point out the hypocrisy of the liberal MSM in regards to their coverage of OWS versus the Tea Party. Which perhaps I presented a bit to subtlety. But that was my intention.
Let me be clear, I am a strong supporter of the second amendment.
Also see:
Meet the Face of #OccupyOakland Riot “All My Heroes Kill Cops” [Photo]
Sleeping With Dogs…Democrats Launch Petition in Support of #OccupyWallStreet