ATLANTA — John Lewis was lauded as a warrior and hero during a ceremony Wednesday at the Georgia Capitol, where the civil rights icon who represented much of Atlanta in Congress will lie in repose in one of the last memorials before he is buried.

Referencing the poem by Langston Hughes, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Lewis called on “America to be America again.”

“And so we gather here today in what was once a stronghold of the Confederacy together because this prophet lived and this prophet named John Lewis loved,” she said.

People lined the streets as the hearse carrying Lewis’ body moved through downtown. It stopped briefly in front of a mural of Lewis with the word “Hero” before arriving at the state Capitol, where it was met by Kemp and Bottoms.

Weather system brings heavy rain to Caribbean SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Heavy rains pummeled the eastern Caribbean on Wednesday due to a weather system headed to Puerto Rico and other islands that was expected to develop into a tropical storm and unleash flooding and landslides.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm system was expected to move near or just south Puerto Rico on Wednesday night, then brush the northern shores of Hispaniola the following day on a path that could take it to the U.S. mainland by the weekend.

The center said the system is expected to strengthen before it move near or over the Dominican Republic today and eastern Cuba on Friday, although it cautioned it’s still unclear what it would do in upcoming days.

Black Buffalo Soldiers museum vandalized

HOUSTON — A museum in Houston honoring the nation’s Black Buffalo Soldiers was vandalized with graffiti, including with a symbol that appears to be a swastika, according to the facility

Residents who live near the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum discovered the vandalism, according to a police report filed Tuesday.

The incident happened either Monday or Tuesday. The museum has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The museum was spray-painted with what appears to be a swastika symbol and a statement that seems to read “Sucks Democratic Party,” according to a Facebook post by Desmond Bertrand-Pitts, the museum’s CEO.

Wire Reports