Black Female Georgia State Senator Arrested, Strip-Searched For Doing Job

Black women working hard is scary as hell.

Apparently, a black woman can find herself arrested at a moment's notice, even though the only crime she commits is being damn good at her job. Georgia State Senator Nikema Williams is that particular type of black woman: good at her job, dedicated, and willing to put her freedom on the line to get the job done. So why was Williams dragged from the Georgia state Capitol building, arrested, zip-tied, and tossed into a police van for hours like some common Paul Manafort -- oh, andUPDATE, she says she wasSTRIP-SEARCHED TOO? (See end of post.)Let's find out.

Georgia state Sen. Nikema Williams was arrested Tuesday at a rally at the state's Capitol building, where she joined activists to demand the counting of every ballot cast in the state's razor-close governor's race between former Secretary of State Brian Kemp and former state Rep. Stacey Abrams.

 WBS-TV got caught in the middle of the action with reporter Richard Williams live streaming on Facebook as the protest broke out. Let's watch Williams being arrested while calmly explaining that she actually works there.

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Williams, who was was one of several protesters taken into custody, said she was arrested because she "refused to leave the floor of this building where I'm a state senator," the Associated Press reported.

Well, like our hero John Lewis, apparently William doesn't mind a bit of "good trouble." She stands with the people who are seeking corrective action against the vote thieves who did their damnedest to disenfranchise minority voters in GA.There is no black person in AMERICA that doesn't understand that sometime we have to take one for the team to help others realize their dreams. If one truly believes "we are all in this together", then we should all appreciate the determination it takes for legislators to fight for the people, fight their battles with them, and get arrested and zip-tied if the struggle demands it.

The Georgia Democratic Party is not fucking happy with its members being dragged from the Capitol where they actually work, especially when they are working in their official capacity as state senators. It's not like she just put on her protest outfit and got her hair did to look all cute on camera in hopes of some extra attention. She saw people in need of support on an issue that matters, and she did what she had to do. And went to jail.

 "Senator Williams was at the Capitol serving in her official capacity as a state senator when she was arrested. It is beyond troubling that an elected member of the General Assembly has been arrested for peacefully standing in support of citizens exercising their First Amendment rights. Even more troubling that it is in conjunction with citizen speech about counting every vote." 

Before you say, "But Wonderbitch, is it really her JOB to protest votes not being counted in the Georgia Gov race and raise a ruckus over people being disenfranchised by petty politicians using dumbass exact match bullshit to make sure white men win?", let me say OF COURSE IT IS. Just like our Congress is supposed to be a check on the President (LOL, McConnell check Trump? LOLOL!) the Georgia State Senate is supposed to check the power of public officials in the state. And she DID HER DAMN JOB VERY WELL.

After six hours, Nikema Williams was released from Fulton County Jail with ACTUAL CHARGES, like she was doing something wrong.

Williams, a civil rights advocate who organized domestic workers for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, was charged with misdemeanor obstruction of justice and spent about six hours at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.

Please explain how fighting for justice at your job where you work is obstructing justice? Nevermind, that was rhetorical, like all questions that have the obvious answer of "Black people...", but what if Williams were a white man? Would she have been arrested if she were a white male Georgia state representative who joined the protesters in demanding their suffrage rights be upheld? Wish we had a way to test this out to see.... OH WAIT!! There WAS a white man there doing the EXACT SAME THING as Williams!

From Huffington Post :

One of Williams' white male colleagues, state Rep. David Dreyer (D-Atlanta), went to the same protest with Williams for the same reason and was not arrested. He stood outside the jail after her arrest and spoke out about Williams' unfair treatment by Capitol police.

Well lookie here, lookie here! You see this shit? Dude was out there doing the damn thang right along side of her, being all protest-y, but his nondescript self didn't even get noticed. It's almost like white men have privilege or something. Weird.

Dreyer said he went down to the Capitol about the same time as Williams, "but for some reason, Sen. Williams was treated differently than I was treated."

Even the white guy was like, "DAAAAAMN, y'all racist as hell." He is still a bit shaken from the concentrated racism.

"Because of our system, because of the bias and the way that our laws are enforced, just like I went down with Sen. Williams to try to de-escalate the situation, Sen. Williams was taken away," he said. "We understand she's been left in a van for a very long time on a cold and rainy day."

I suppose we should just be grateful that they didn't take her on a "rough ride" like the Baltimore Police did to Freddie Gray . Apparently black state senators are not allowed to go and talk to people who are protesting to hear their concerns. OK, ladies, it's time to chain our asses to our desks at work and let white guys be the saviors, because we KNOW that will solve everything. Naw, fuck that. ARREST US, THEN! We'll protest that too ... the second we get out.

Apparently Nikema Williams will be right there with us in lock-up, as she does NOT regret her decision to join the fracas.

"I'm incredibly proud and will continue to stand with the citizens of Georgia to demand that their votes be counted," she said.

And we are incredibly proud to stand with you. You go, girl. We will continue bringing you the updates on everything Georgia until the LAST VOTE IS COUNTED.

UPDATE: Georgia State Senator Nikema Williamsrevealed that she had been strip searched while in the Fulton County Jail, after her arrest.

She gave a tearful speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying she was booked and strip-searched at the Fulton County jail and held for five hours. She said her 3-year-old son heard news of her arrest on the radio and told a baby sitter: "That's mommy.

That's enough. How much more degrading can you be to a woman who had every right to be where she was and should not have been arrested in the first place? Apparently they didn't have the right to arrest Williams in the first place, especially since it's literally written into the laws of the State of Georgia.

The Georgia Constitution says legislators "shall be free from arrest during sessions of the General Assembly ... except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace."

Looks like the police have got LOTS and LOTS of explaining to do on why they violated the constitution of their own state in order to illegally incarcerate Williams on a trumped up charge. Williams spoke regarding her arrest, and says this situation will be resolved to ensure no other members of the state legislature will ever be arrested for doing their goddamn jobs to the best of their abilities. Williams would DO IT AGAIN. Counting every vote matters.

We will let Williams have the last word today.

[ MIC / WSB-TV / Huffington Post / Georgia Democratic Party / WALB ]

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