South Fulton Today

After Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms blamed crime surges on COVID-19 and reopening the state too quickly, Gov. Brian Kemp said he'd back law enforcement in response.

The mayor says reopening the state too quickly after the COVID-19 pandemic has driven the crime numbers up, prompting Kemp to dismiss her claims. 

 "I’ll continue to back our law enforcement and give them the resources and support they need to keep Georgians safe,” Kemp said in a Tweet. 

Bottoms said that the crime wave in Atlanta was due to lack of gun laws, school being out due to summer vacation and the governor’s choice to make Georgia one of the first states to begin reopening, Fox News reported. 

 Kemp said that "plenty" of other states like Colorado, Oklahoma and South Dakota were open as well, Fox News reported.

 Kemp told Fox News that he is taking action. He said that he has earmarked additional resources to combat crime. However, the governor also told Fox News that he isn’t blaming anyone else for the issues, and he suggested Bottoms do the same.

"According to the mayor, rising crime in our capital city is everyone’s fault but her’s. Getting Georgians back to work, back to school, and back to normal didn’t lead to more crime.  The left’s anti-police, soft-on-crime agenda is to blame," Kemp said on Twitter.

Bottom told Fox News the city is getting at least 1,000 young people to work this summer, which will help until they deal with gun violence in the nation.