Group Arrested in Gainesville During Protests

Hall County Courthouse

Gainesville, Ga. - The City of Atlanta is not the only municipality experiencing riots and protests. Gainesville reported that there were nearly ten arrests within the city on Saturday night as a result of protests in the area.

According to police, demonstrators gathered at the pedestrian bridge off of Jesse Jewell Parkway. Unlike the City of Atlanta, there is no mandated curfew in Gainesville, and by 9:00 PM, the group's number grew in size. Police officers stated that there was alcohol involved, and that they intervened at the scene in order to help maintain a safe environment as pedestrians were gathering in the middle of the roadway. No violence or injuries were reported.

Of the multiple arrests, most were alcohol related offenses such as disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. As a Georgia DUI Lawyer, I will outline the law behind the offense of disorderly conduct in Georgia.

Disorderly Conduct in Georgia

Georgia law defines disorderly conduct in Georgia by outlining a multitude of acts:

• When a person acts in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another person whereby such person is placed in reasonable fear of the safety of such person's life, limb, or health;
• When a person acts in a violence or tumultuous manner toward another person whereby the property of such person is placed in danger of being damaged or destroyed;
• When a person without provocation, uses to or of another person in such other person's presence, opprobrious or abusive words which by their very utterance tend to incite to an immediate breach of the peace, that is to say, words which as a matter of common knowledge and under ordinary circumstances will, when used to or of another person in such other person's presence, naturally tend to provoke violent resentment, that is, words commonly called “fighting words”; or
• When a person without provocation, uses obscene and vulgar or profane language in the presence of or by telephone to a person under the age of 14 years which threatens an immediate breach of the peace. (O.C.G.A. §16-11-39)

Once convicted, the person is deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Misdemeanor convictions can include up to 12 months in jail or up to $1,000 in fines or both. 

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