ATLANTA — The Georgia National Guard is continuing its lookout at the Gold Dome.
Channel 2′s Tony Thomas went out to the Georgia state Capitol on Monday where he found visible security on the Capitol grounds but much less than what he saw over the weekend.
The Guard, along with the Department of Public Safety, put the Capitol area on lockdown Sunday amid rumors of an armed militia protest.
The head of the Georgia National Guard, Maj. Gen. Tom Carden, told Thomas on Monday that so far there are no credible threats to the Georgia Capitol.
Carden believes the show of force potentially has and likely will prevent any issues on Capitol Square.
“If you are a professional force and you go big and you go early, you send a compelling message that people that might have violence in mind, this is not the place to do it,” Carden said.
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In the end, only two visibly armed protesters showed up Sunday.
“What brought you here?” Thomas asked one of the protesters.
“Freedom of the people,” the man answered.
“You are obviously heavily armed. Why?” Thomas asked the man.
“Don’t trust federal agents or the state,” the man said.
The FBI has warned of possible unrest at capitols nationwide Wednesday. That follows the chaos at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month where five people died.
Monday was quiet enough in downtown Atlanta. Conyers resident Isaac Leverett told Thomas he felt safe enough to take pictures of the security.
“Just wanted to come down myself and see it in person,” Leverett said. “Let’s just say I won’t be here on Wednesday because you just don’t know.”
The Georgia State Patrol told Thomas there were no other incidents reported around the area Sunday related to any protests.
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