CUMMING, Ga. (AP) – U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler has made opposition to the demands of the Black Lives Matter movement a centerpiece of her effort to win conservative support in her campaign, and Thursday, supporters of the movement again pushed back.
A former state Senate candidate and one other woman shouted down Loeffler when she made a campaign appearance with U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton in a northern Atlanta suburb. The protesters began to chant “Black lives matter!” after one of them shouted questions critical of Loeffler’s description of Black Lives Matter.
Police refused to remove the women from the event, saying it was in a public park building.
The disruption capped an active week in the special election race. Loeffler is contending with an array of candidates seeking the last two years on the Senate term of now-retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler to the seat earlier this year, in a bid for the support of suburban women in an increasingly competitive Georgia.
Loeffler has run hard to the right after Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins jumped into the race. She is spending millions from her own fortune and that of her husband Jeffrey Sprecher, who leads the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange.