ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta is lowering flags to half-staff indefinitely to honor Rep. John Lewis, who represented the city for more than 30 years in Congress before his death.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms made the announcement Saturday in a statement that says words can’t describe the loss of Lewis.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank notes the city lost two civil rights icons in a single day: Lewis and the Rev. C.T. Vivian, an early adviser to Martin Luther King Jr.
Lewis was an Alabama native who made a career of politics in Atlanta.
He won his first political office in the city in 1981, when he was elected to the Atlanta City Council.