ATLANTA — Video showing dozens of people ignoring the Atlanta mayor's executive order to stay inside is going viral on social media.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones was on Edgewood Avenue, where a large crowd gathered for what looked like a block party earlier this week. The event was captured on camera and posted on Facebook.
Babyahk Abdur Rahim posted the videos on Facebook March 30. At one point, it had 48,000 views. Jones reached out to Rahim but got no response.
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The comments Rahim's page are angry and point out public gatherings like this put lives in danger.
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But the gathering seemed to be about defying police. Rahim said on his Facebook post that the issue isn’t the virus, it’s about stopping police brutality.
You can see police in the video. The Atlanta Police Department sent Jones a statement that said that when officers are made aware of these gatherings, they have attempted to, and will continue to address the participants with a goal toward educating them about the stay at home order.
Doctors said people need to take precautions if we are going to slow the virus down and save lives.
"Social distancing is so important," Dr. Carlos Del Rio said. "If you have one infected person going about their day not social distancing, at the end of 5 days you’re going to have 15 infected people."
Police said they didn’t arrest anyone, and once they educate large crowds about the executive order, they voluntarily disperse.
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