As anti-Israel protests continue at multiple colleges across Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp warned demonstrators that there is a line between the right to protest and the wrong of violence.
“If they spit in officers’ faces like we have seen, they are gonna have a bad day and they will be put in jail,” Kemp said, according to WJCL-TV.
“People need to pay the piper,” Kemp said.
“If you’ve broken the law, it you’re damaging property, if you’re assaulting especially police officers, you should have harsh penalties to send a message,” he said.
“We are not going to allow Georgia to become the next Columbia University,” he said.
We are not going to allow Georgia to become the next Columbia University. pic.twitter.com/KqtzEWeGnY
— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) May 2, 2024
On Wednesday during a bill signing event, Kemp praised the police response to the protests, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I want to first thank our law enforcement across the state who are standing strong and maintaining order in the face of protests and disturbances on our college campuses.
Despite what some in the media and other circles are saying, these officers are showing immense restraint in the face of agitators bent on causing disturbances and we are grateful for their professionalism and service in keeping our places of learning safe,” he said.
On Thursday, protests broke out at two campuses of Georgia Southern University. However, in addition to the pro-Palestine marchers at the Statesboro campus, a pro-America group showed up, according to WJCL.
"We live in the United States of America, not Palestine. Palestine is halfway around the world. We need to worry about what's going on back here, before we start what's going on out there," organizer Landon Owenby said.
“I came out here originally with no sign and then I just went to the bookstore and bought some markers and a poster board and wrote fix our country first because I think that’s more valuable than what they’re doing,” he said, according to WTOC-TV.
“We need somebody in office that will be able [to] fix it and get that under control and that’s why I’m saying, ‘fix our country first,’” Owenby said.
Despite dueling groups, there was no violence.
“The university clearly supports our students’ rights to speak their minds and share their opinions on any subject, so this is another example of that,” Shay Little, vice president of student affairs at Georgia Southern, said.
On Monday, 16 arrests were made at the University of Georgia in Athens, according to WAGA-TV. The college said nine of those were students at the college.
In a statement, the college said protesters knew the rules and disregarded them.
"Make no mistake: These individuals chose to be arrested, and they chose to resist arrest. They are all adults, and they consciously made these unfortunate decisions. But actions have consequences,” the statement said.
Protests have also taken place at Emory University that resulted in 28 arrests last week, according to WXIA-TV.
