David Peisner, a guest on CNN, told the network’s Pamela Brown that protestors weren’t committing violent acts on the streets of Atlanta. Instead, Peisner claims the only violence he’s seen is at the hands of police as they apprehend rioters – tackling them in an effort to stop the burning of cars and breaking windows.
Peisner’s comments echo past remarks from the summer of 2020 when one reporter standing before cars on fire described the Antifa protests as “mostly peaceful” to his viewers. The reporter in question was wearing safety goggles.
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) has condemned the Antifa protests, which are a reaction to the apprehension of protestors earlier last week as well as the shooting death of an environmental protestor. Kemp told news outlets that peaceful protests are respected by the government, while property destruction will not.
Individuals on Twitter expressed concern that CNN and its guests are downplaying the destruction associated with the riots. Not only did casual observers tweet about the riots, but so did Gov. Kemp and the popular Libs of TikTok account owner.
Peisner would go on to infer that Antifa’s destruction of private and public property was tolerable “violence” because it didn’t harm any humans physically. However, the riots of 2020 taught us that there is a price that comes with causing such property destruction. In places like Portland and Minneapolis, many business owners in areas where riots and looting lost everything they had.
Peisner claims that the police “tackled” the rioters in an effort to calm things down. At least six protestors were arrested and charged with, among others, domestic terrorism. The protestor shot and killed by Georgia police last week had first shot and wounded a state trooper. Several environmental activists were protesting a construction site.
Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, the environmental protestor who was killed, died when Georgia troopers returned fire.
The mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens (D), spoke out against the Antifa protests. Dickens said that rioters used explosives, broke windows in commercial buildings, and “burned down a police car.”
Rioters had promised a “night of chaos” in response to the events surrounding Teran’s death.
