More than 100 people rallied in the Pittsburgh community of Atlanta on Saturday.
ATLANTA -- The crowd at a Pittsburgh community rally cheered on Saturday when they learned of the arrest of the first suspect in the videotaped beating of a gay man last weekend.
"I was so happy. I was so overwhelmed," said neighbor Katrina Green, who called the arrest a good first step. "We've got to turn our neighborhood around. This crime has to stop, and it's officially stopping today."
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The victim who inspired the rally did not join in, but no one could blame Brandon White, 20, for staying home.
"I can understand the fear that may be involved in coming back to the place where this took place," said Devin Barrington-Ward of Change Atlanta. "It happened, and we're gonna make sure it didn't happen in vain."
More than 100 people, including Congressman John Lewis (D-Atlanta) and Atlanta City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow, gathered at the church across from the crime scene one week after the beating that put this troubled neighborhood in the national spotlight.
Former State Representative Doug Dean put a target on the convenience store on the corner where the beating happened.
Prosecutors have said police have responded to 500 calls in the area in the last two years.
"This store is an eyesore for this community and a haven for crime," Dean said. "People in this community want this store closed."
But the beating took place outside the store, and workers shared their surveillance video to help police investigate the case.
No one inside the store wanted to comment on Saturday.
State Representative Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta) used the rally to announce plans to introduce a new hate crimes bill.
"All we're saying is there ought to be enhanced penalties for people who commit these heinous crimes against people because of their race, gender, sexual orientation or religion," he said.
Rep. Taylor said he would talk to his Republican colleagues and introduce the bill in the state House next week.
Georgia passed a hate crimes law in 2000, but it was struck down by the Georgia Supreme Court four years later for being too broad.