June 11, 2025
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Tuesday night along Buford Highway in Brookhaven to protest recent immigration raids and deportations carried out under the Trump administration, joining a wave of unrest that has swept across the country.
The protest, held outside Northeast Plaza, drew a large and passionate crowd of activists, families, and community members. Many carried signs, chanted in English and Spanish, and shared personal stories of family members detained or deported.
Officials say they arrested one person around 7:30 p.m. and five people were arrested after the protest continued past the time that officers and organizers agreed for the rally to end.
Charges range from disorderly conduct to assaulting a peace officer.
In a press release Wednesday, the Brookhaven Police Department said their officers responded to the organized protest in the 3300 block of Buford Highway, which was led by the Atlanta branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Police said the demonstration began peacefully, and Brookhaven officers “maintained open and constructive communication” with organizers throughout the protest, which remained nonviolent for most of the evening.
Around 7:30 p.m., police said they made their first arrest of the night – a man who allegedly walked into the road despite multiple warnings from officers to stay on the sidewalk.
[News source] cameras were on the scene as clashes between officers and the protesters began around 9:30 p.m.
Protesters set off fireworks as officers moved to break up the remainder of the rally.
Brookhaven police say that the officers made multiple announcements of the agreed-upon cutoff, telling the remaining group that the “assembly would be deemed unlawful” after that time.
Once the cutoff arrived, authorities say several people began throwing rocks and shooting firework mortars, which led to the officers using tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Officials say that three Brookhaven Police vehicles were damaged in the incident; they described that as including “multiple windows being smashed in.”
Found on Mainstream News