The visitor center at Centennial Olympic park destroyed by protesters after a night of rioting on May 29th 2020. Photo: John Disney/ALM

Lawrence Zimmerman was already outraged by the horrific death of George Floyd in Minneapolis when he returned to his home on Friday and saw images of protesters roughed up and arrested and a black CNN reporter taken into custody on live television.    

"That just really disturbed me," said the Atlanta criminal defense lawyer. "I tweeted out, 'If you're arrested in Atlanta during these protests, we'll represent you pro bono.'" 

"I have maybe 200 followers on Twitter," said Zimmerman, so he was surprised to check his Twitter feed Saturday and see more than 172,000 "likes." 

That morning also resulted in several lawyers in Atlanta and elsewhere calling to offer their services, said Zimmerman, who also serves as president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. 

Thus was born Atlanta Justice Lawyers, a nascent group of attorneys that's been tracking arrests and working to get protesters out of jail. 

"I've got more than 200 people, outside of GACDL," said Zimmerman, noting that the pro bono project is not a function of the organization. 

The effort is one of several organizations working to support protesters and monitor the actions of law enforcement, a role that assumed a new urgency after the violent tazing and arrest of two young people caught downtown after curfew left one young man with a fractured wrist and severe lacerations. Six Atlanta police officers have been criminally charged in that case. 

The Southern Center for Human Rights has also been recruiting lawyers to represent protesters, and on Tuesday attorneys with both groups worked both in-person and through Zoom to provide representation for 58 first appearance hearings, most involving curfew violation charges.

On Wednesday at 1 p.m., docket listed 38 arrestees, Zimmerman said. 

The Southern Center is convening training sessions Thursday via Zoom for lawyers wishing to get involved in representing protesters.

"We've been protesters for decades," said SCHR lawyer Tiffany Roberts, who is spearheading the organization's efforts. "We're convening to educate and coordinate resources for protesters," she said, and to offer guidance and co-counsel for lawyers for whom the "this is their first rodeo."

More than 50 lawyers have signed up for the training sessions, she said, and more than 30% have never represented protesters. 

Veteran criminal defense and constitutional lawyers Mawuli Davis, Gerry Weber, Brian Spears and Jeff Filipovits will help coordinate and train their colleagues, Roberts said. 

"We're going to have veteran campaign lawyers talk about previous coalitions, a crash course on timelines and how to handle proceedings in superior, state and municipal court," she said. 

Roberts said other groups of lawyers have also expressed an interest in coordinating with the effort, including one focused on representing students from Morehouse and Spelman colleges. 

"We're going to create a database of the lawyers and all the different groups working to get folks together with lawyers," she said.   

The initiative is a reprise of the effort Atlanta's legal community launched in 2011 during and after the Occupy Atlanta protest, when dozens of protesters were jailed.  

Zimmerman said he has heard concerns that some of those arrested in the latest protests may not be social justice advocates, but white supremacists working to stoke violence.  

"It's too early to tell," he said, "but I've talked to a lot of different people and I've yet to meet anybody I thought was like that." 

Zimmerman said he and his colleagues were spurred to act out of concern for public defenders who are already under stress from the COVID-19 outbreak.  

"Our public defenders are the life's blood of the criminal justice system, and they are the tireless champions of the accused, although they are very tired right now with this pandemic," he said.

"We also thought we could help alleviate some of their burden by agreeing to take many of these cases pro bono so that they are not overwhelmed, since they are so underfunded and understaffed."

Public defenders, Zimmerman said, "are warriors who see the systemic abuses in the criminal justice system firsthand on a daily basis."