Live Updates: House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee Passes Floyd Justice in Policing Act

"Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate. The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents", the Atlanta Police Department said in response to the reports.

The CNN reported on Wednesday evening, citing sources, that an "unusual" number of officers had called out sick during the late shift, with the department not responding to calls in three of its six zones. Speculations have emerged that the police officers were ignoring the calls in solidarity with the officer behind the death of the African American man.

"I have sent a letter to the [House] Clerk to remove the portraits of four Speakers of the House who served in the Confederacy", Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a press conference. "Tomorrow the clerk will oversee the removal".

The former men Robert Hunter, James Orr, Howell Cobb and Charles Crisp, served as speaker in terms during the period from 1839 to 1895.

"There is no room in this temple of democracy to memorialize [the] violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy... We must lead by example", she said.

Pelosi said she and other congressional leaders had been unaware of the existence of the portraits until an inventory of statues and other art in the Capitol was taken.