Protesters march along Boulevard in the Old Fourth Ward on June 4.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Atlanta on Thursday, June 4, for one of the biggest displays of solidarity with George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Despite the number of protesters, the Atlanta Police Department reported just after 11 p.m. that it had only made six arrests the whole day – the lowest number since protests began on May 29.
Marches and demonstrations took place at The King Center, State Capitol, Piedmont Park, Old Fourth Ward, and once again at the central rallying point of Centennial Olympic Park, In one of the biggest marches, an estimated 2,000 marched from Ponce City Market down the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail.
Police have arrested more than 500 since protests began and a nighttime curfew remains in effect until sunrise on the morning of June 8.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields spoke and marched with protesters around Centennial Park, although not everyone was happy to see them. The National Guard’s use of tear gas and ongoing arrests of those defying the curfew have angered many protesters.
Bottoms said the National Guard would stay in place until the situation had stabilized after last Friday’s night of chaos that included looting, arson, vandalism and violence perpetrated what Shields and Bottoms have described as “agitators” and “disruptors.”
As questions continue to swirl about “outside agitators” committing or inciting the violence, looting, arson, and vandalism seen during the Atlanta protests, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields reiterated that “a whole new element of extremists” were embedded with protesters.
With APD now reporting more than 500 arrests since the George Floyd protests began on May 29, Shields said during a June 4 briefing with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta City Council that arrest reports released to the media do not paint the entire picture of the “highly organized” agitators operating in the city.
Shield said the agitators are coming from other parts of the state and communicating and coordinating electronically. “Only 35 percent of those arrested are local,” Shields stated.
“The protests have put the department – and departments around the country – in a space that is unfamiliar,” Shields said. “There is a methodology to these attacks. They are working from a playbook and law enforcement is seeing it around the country.”
The chief said the FBI is bending over backwards to gather intelligence, so communities around the country “have some idea what is before us.”
Later in the afternoon, the GBI confirmed that 30 of the Atlanta protesters have previous arrest records, including involvement in civil unrest and protests. According to WSB, the GBI flagged a number of individuals who they believe came to be disruptors or agitators. One is 34-year-old who GBI believe participated in riots and unrest in Minneapolis after George Floyd’s murder, while another is a Florida resident with multiple obstruction and assault charges during riots in Ferguson, Missouri after the police shooting of Michael Brown. At least 10 individuals were bonded out of jail in Atlanta by the same person.
Discussing the charges filed against six APD officers in the excessive force case against two students, Shields said the firing and arrests “has hit morale hard.” Shield said in a leaked memo to officers that she believed the arrests were politically motivated.
“With everything going on, our people can’t step back and process, it’s relentless,” Shields said. “You go home, sleep for a few hours, and then come back to it.”
Shields noted that there are excessive force cases that have been sitting on the district attorney’s desk since 2017 and wondered how the charges against the six officers were decided in 48 hours.
The chief said the firing of the officers was necessary and maybe the charges are, too. “We get it. We messed up. But I wanted to explain why my officers are having such difficulty on these arrests.”
Mayor Bottoms said during the briefing that her administration was trying to organize a meeting Friday or Saturday with the leaders of the protest movement. She said the nighttime curfew, which extends to Monday morning, would stay in place until things stabilized, but it could be rescinded if protests settle down.
Bottoms also announced that she’s forming an advisory council to review police use-of-force policies for possible reforms.
“What we have seen on the streets of our city over the past few days is a byproduct of an inexcusable racial bias that has been ingrained into the fabric of this nation,” Bottoms said. “While an open dialogue on racial injustice is desperately needed, action is needed as well. The establishment of this Advisory Council is designed to ensure that there is meaningful reform in action long after the fires burn out and the smoke clears.”
The advisory council will be composed of community members and partners, none of whom were yet named. Bottoms said she was inspired by a recent call for such reviews issued in a forum held by former President Barack Obama and the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, a program of his foundation that addresses unequal opportunities for men and boys of color.
As questions continue to swirl about “outside agitators” committing or inciting the violence, looting, arson, and vandalism seen during the Atlanta protests, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields reiterated that “a whole new element of extremists” were embedded with protesters.
With APD now reporting more than 500 arrests since the George Floyd protests began on May 29, Shields said during a June 4 briefing with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta City Council that arrest reports released to the media do not paint the entire picture of the “highly organized” agitators operating in the city.
Shield said the agitators are coming from other parts of the state and communicating and coordinating electronically. “Only 35 percent of those arrested are local,” Shields stated.
“The protests have put the department – and departments around the country – in a space that is unfamiliar,” Shields said. “There is a methodology to these attacks. They are working from a playbook and law enforcement is seeing it around the country.”
The chief said the FBI is bending over backwards to gather intelligence, so communities around the country “have some idea what is before us.”
We have our protesters who are lawful when curfew sets in they don’t understand why they are being forced to leave. we have to do it across the board until weed out the extremists.
Speaking of the charges filed against six APD officers in the excessive force case against two students, Shields said the firing and arrests “has hit morale hard.” Shield said in a leaked memo to officers that she believed the arrests were politically motivated.
“With everything going on, our people can’t step back and process, it’s relentless,” Shields said. “You go home, sleep for a few hours, and then come back to it.”
Shields noted that there are excessive force cases that have been sitting on the district attorney’s desk since 2017 and wondered how the charges against the six officers were decided in 48 hours.
The chief said the firing of the officers was necessary and maybe the charges are, too. “We get it. We messed up. But I wanted to explain why my officers are having such difficulty on these arrests.”
Mayor Bottoms said during the briefing that her administration was trying to organize a meeting Friday or Saturday with the leaders of the protest movement. She said the nighttime curfew, which extends to Monday morning, would stay in place until things stabilized, but it could be rescinded if protests settle down.
Bottoms also announced that she’s forming an advisory council to review police use-of-force policies for possible reforms.
“What we have seen on the streets of our city over the past few days is a byproduct of an inexcusable racial bias that has been ingrained into the fabric of this nation,” Bottoms said. “While an open dialogue on racial injustice is desperately needed, action is needed as well. The establishment of this Advisory Council is designed to ensure that there is meaningful reform in action long after the fires burn out and the smoke clears.”
The advisory council will be composed of community members and partners, none of whom were yet named. Bottoms said she was inspired by a recent call for such reviews issued in a forum held by former President Barack Obama and the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, a program of his foundation that addresses unequal opportunities for men and boys of color.
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CHRIS 180 volunteers Tamkea Askew and Selima Morrow pack food bags.
As COVID-19 disrupts our health, dally lives and the economy, nonprofits are navigating uncertainty, changing demand for services, loss of workforce/volunteers, loss of revenue, and/or other challenges while trying to stay true to their missions.
“We are experiencing a shared community trauma that is having a magnified impact on people already struggling with mental health issues, addiction, domestic violence, loneliness, physical health issues, housing instability and poverty,” said Kathy Colbenson, President and CEO of CHRIS 180.
The Georgia Center for Nonprofits (GCN), the state association for nonprofits, quickly launched an online COVID-19 resource complete with webinars, tools and guides (e.g., CARES Act Guide) and recently created a cross-sector taskforce.
“We are trying to be a steady agency to help nonprofits respond for their own organization, for their subsector and what can we learn from this,” GCN CEO Karen Beavor said. The taskforce includes representatives from 100 nonprofit providers, government, business and philanthropy sectors.
“The task force seeks to optimize our response to vulnerable populations, strengthen the nonprofit sector and pursue an inclusive recovery,” Beavor said.
GCN surveyed nonprofits about the impact of COVID-19 but received responses after the submission of this story. So, Atlanta INtown reached out to nonprofits we’ve covered – spanning behavioral services, housing, education and the arts – to see how they’re faring.
“We are seeing an uptick in anxiety, domestic violence and suicidality and our counseling referrals have increased dramatically,” Colbenson shared. “To respond to the crisis of job loss for people living on the edge, CHRIS 180 began a food delivery program which includes resource flyers, well checks and sometimes toys, baby formula and diapers. We also distributed Chrome books, tablets and MiFi cards [WiFi hotspot] to help with schoolwork, as well as tele-counseling for those economically disadvantaged.”
CHRIS 180 is concerned that social isolation, financial distress and fears are fueling a mental health and addiction epidemic alongside the pandemic, while fewer resources are available.
“Currently, we reach 5,000-plus people in 1,273 households per week with food and other resources – this service is steadily growing in response to the increasing need,” Colbenson added.
Lost-n-Found Youth? (LNFY) continues to provide shelter and support services to Atlanta’s homeless youth ages 18 to 25 – with a focus on LGBTQ youth – adapting its emergency transitional facility for extended stay and providing meals and other essential services.
“We could not afford to miss a beat,” said ?LNFY Director Nasheedah Muhammad. Before COVID-19, “LGBTQ youth represented over twice the overall youth rate in reports of unstable housing. Now more than ever, our organization is their lifeline.”
LNFY closed its thrift store for two months and recently reopened by appointment, reduced hours and virtual shopping. The thrift store represents more than 60 percent of LFNY’s monthly revenue. They’ve paused their volunteer corps and social distancing has decreased the number of occupants they can accommodate.
Leap Year had to quickly adapt in-person college prep for their first-generation Leap Year Fellows and 2nd grade literacy tutoring to virtual learning.
Lost-n-Found Youth Center
“We created a YouTube channel where the Fellows read books aloud. They introduce the book, do a guided read aloud session and then give a little quiz. We have over 30 videos and they are widely available,” said Amber Scott, executive director of Leap Year.
But Scott worries about widening educational disparities.
“There was already a learning gap before and now it’s exacerbated. There many K-12 kids who experiencing a major learning loss who are going to need additional support to make sure they are well-prepared for the future. Leap Year wants to be able to grow to help meet this immense,” Scott said.
“We shut down on March 15. We cancelled six shows and all in-person camps. All 24 full time actor/managers, teaching artists and administrative folks went on unemployment,” said Laura Cole, The Atlanta Shakespeare Company Director of Education and Training. “Our main business is selling tickets to live performances. We can’t do that right now but we are doing what we can do.”
In one weekend, they produced three educational tour show videos for their school clients and family groups.
“We’ve had over 1,600 views and I have gone into a number of digital classrooms from Atlanta to Colorado, so far,” Cole said
Their summer camps for 2-8th graders and teen programs have all gone digital.
“We so want to be performing for a live audience in our wonderful theater space. Some day soon that will happen again! Don’t forget us,” Cole urged.
The community remembered nonprofits on #GivingTuesdayNow, coordinated by GCN. On May 5, more than $1.26 million was donated, by 7,881 donors, to 700-plus nonprofit – likely amplified by giving directly to nonprofits.
“In 2019 we ran $4 million through GA Gives but the total from other platforms was $14 million,” Beavor shared. You can still make a donation to any registered nonprofit in Georgia on gagives.org or directly to the nonprofit.
And the Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, a joint effort from Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and United Way of Greater Atlanta, as of early May, raised more than $25 million through collective resources.
More than $17.3 million was mobilized to 320 nonprofits focused on childcare, education, emergency financial assistance, food security, health, housing and small business support.
“Our latest round of decisions considered more than 650 requests from nonprofits across the region,” said Lita Pardi, Vice President at Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. Foundation donors also responded with $25 million in grants from their donor-advised funds.
Support funds will be released on a rolling basis throughout the outbreak and recovery of the crisis.
“Years of disinvestment and systemic barriers have exposed families with low incomes and communities of color to the worst effects of the crisis,” said Katrina Mitchell, United Way of Greater Atlanta’s Chief Community Impact Officer. “It is critical for philanthropy to continue to strategically invest in vulnerable communities and solutions that ensure all children and families to thrive.”
Philanthropy, while often more nimble than government, is not the sole solution to the revenue loss and rising demand for services.
“Nonprofits are the human security system for the state and we have stood up over and above anything we even thought we were capable of,” Beavor said. “This system is comprised of many small agencies that have lost revenue and the concern is that they won’t be able to absorb any more impact. The scope of this problem requires that government, business and nonprofits are at the table working on solutions together.”
Despite being stretched to their limits, nonprofits remain optimistic and caring.
“This pandemic is exposing the best of us and the worst of us. We need to practice kindness and compassion for ourselves and each other. When we help someone else it always makes us feel better. Taking action helps us get to the other side,” Colbenson said.
Protesters march along West Peachtree Street in Midtown on June 3. (Photo by Karen Head)
The Atlanta Police Department made 43 additional arrests on June 3 as protests over the murder of George Floyd continued around the metro area.
As protesters marched to the State Capitol, through Midtown, and gathered at Centennial Park in Downtown and the courthouse square in Decatur, the four former Minneapolis police offers involved in Floyd’s death were charged in the case. Closer to home, six APD officers were charged in an excessive force case against two college students.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the City of Atlanta would accept a challenge from former President Barrack Obama to examine its use-of-force policies in policing. Bottoms said on Twitter last night she would issue an executive order establishing a commission of stakeholders and organizers to examine the city’s use of force policies and “call upon them to make recommendations accordingly.”
With protests showing no signs of letting up, Bottoms extended the nighttime curfew until sunrise on Monday, June 8. Starting Friday, the curfew moves up an hour to begin at 8 p.m. in an attempt to quell the type of unrest seen last weekend, which included looting, vandalism, and arson.
However, the ongoing narrative being spun by law enforcement and officials in Atlanta and nationwide that “outsiders” and “disruptors” – such as white supremacists and far-right or far-left organizations – are the cause of the violence were not borne out by arrest reports released by APD on Wednesday.
Of the 425 protesters arrested by APD between May 29 and June 1, only 51 came from outside Georgia. Records indicate that 223 of those arrested either lived in Atlanta or in the immediate suburbs such as Decatur, Marietta, and Stone Mountain. Arrest records from Tuesday and Wednesday are still pending.
Those figures contradict the “outside agitator” narrative being spun by law enforcement both here and across the country. The destruction caused during protests has been blamed on white supremacists, far-right organizations, and far-left organizations like ANTIFA.
Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields blamed the destructive weekend protests on anarchists and a “highly calculated terrorist organization,” while Mayor Bottoms labeled them “disruptors” who had come to the city to cause chaos.
GBI Director Vic Reynolds said Tuesday that he had seen intelligence that outside agitators from “various groups” and “certain organizations” were involved in the looting, and arson during the protests in Atlanta over the weekend.
“We are convinced there are individuals here from around the country bent on violence and destruction,” Reynold said. “Officers and agents have seen it.”
However, he was not prepared to identify the organizations or individuals by name.
Experts and scholars are wary of the “outside agitator” narrative because it has been historically used to delegitimize protests, distracts from the underlying causes, and justifies violence against protesters, according to a report at CNN.
Still questions linger.
Media on the ground witnessed protesters arriving and leaving flashpoints with out-of-state or obscured license plates. Social media was buzzing, not only in Atlanta but around the country, that agitators were embedding themselves into peaceful protests then committing many of the acts of looting, vandalism, and arson. Loud fireworks and incendiary devices launched into crowds and at police appeared designed to scare and agitate the situation.
Comments on INtown’s own social media platforms suggested that many of the agitators were white people dressed in black and wearing face coverings.
Around 150 to 200 vehicles — many with obscured or out-of-state license plates — were peacefully “escorted” by police away from Perimeter Mall area early on May 30 as rioters looted malls and shopping centers in Buckhead.
As questions continue to swirl about “outside agitators” committing or inciting the violence, looting, arson, and vandalism seen during the Atlanta protests, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields reiterated that “a whole new element of extremists” were embedded with protesters.
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