Sideshow Atlanta

On Thursday December 4, 2008 about 20 activists gathered outside of the corporate headquarters of Home Depot on Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta to boil crabs in protest of Home Depot’s use of cypress tress in mulch that they produce. The activists said that the crabs they brought to boil at the demonstration represented the Gulf environment they were trying to protect. Several dozen crabs were boiled to death and eaten to protest against the destruction of the crabs environment. According to the demonstrators some of the cypress tress that Home Depot uses in their mulch could live for thousands of years if they were not cut down to use as garden mulch.

(Photos by Joeff Davis)

On Monday night in downtown Atlanta, nearly 75 people gathered outside the U.S. Court of Appeals building to hold a candlelight vigil for death row inmate Troy Davis. On Tuesday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is
scheduled to meet and decide his fate. Davis was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Since Davis’ original trial, seven of nine witnesses whose testimony helped convict him have recanted. Davis has had three execution dates and three stays of execution in the last year and a half. In Tuesday’s hearing both the defense and the state will have 30 minutes for oral arguments to present their case. According to Laura Moye of Amnesty International, the court’s ruling could lead to a hearing where the witnesses who have since recanted could be allowed to testify. However, the court could also rule in favor of the state, which would lead to another date for Davis’ execution.

(Photos by Joeff Davis)

Over 1000 people rallied in front of the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta Saturday, November 15, 2008 in protest of California’s Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage in California. The protest in Atlanta was part of hundreds of demonstrations across the country Saturday in support of legalizing Gay marriage in the United States. Speakers included Representative Karla Drenner, Georgia’s only openly gay legislature. The lively crowd spilled onto the street in front of the Capitol and waved homemade signs and rainbow flags.

(Photos by Joeff Davis)