Atlanta, GA
Atlanta City Council member: Arrests of ‘Cop City’ bail fund organizers appears to be ‘intimidation tactic’
ATLANTA – A member of the Atlanta City Council is speaking out about the arrests of three activists involved in supporting protests against the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center that critics have derisively nicknamed “Cop City.”
Adele MacLean, 42, Marlon Scott Kautz, 39, and Savannah Patterson, 30, were arrested Wednesday on charges of charities fraud and money laundering. The three lead the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which has provided bail money and helped find attorneys for arrested protesters.
Friday, Magistrate Court Judge James Altman granted each of the activists $15,000 bond, expressing concerns about their free speech rights and saying he did not find the prosecution’s case, at least for now, “real impressive.”
In a statement, Liliana Bakhtiari, who represents District 5, called the three arrested organizers “some of the best of our Atlanta mutual aid network” and said that they had provided bail funds for “elected leaders and friends of mine.”
WHAT WILL ATLANTA END UP PAYING FOR THE PLANNED PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING CENTER?
Deputy Attorney General John Fowler argued against bond in a Zoom call during the hearing Friday, saying the MacLean, Kautz, and Patterson pose a danger to the community.
“On its face, it appears to be laudable, it appears to be lawful,” he said of their nonprofit, noting that they run a bail fund and a food fund. But he said investigators have found that the activists “harbor extremist anti-government and anti-establishment views and not all of the money goes to what they say that it goes to.”
Fowler said some of the money has been used to fund violent acts against people and property around the city of Atlanta. He cited an attack on Georgia’s Department of Public Safety headquarters in July 2020, vandalism at Ebenezer Baptist Church in January 2022, and protests related to the planned training center that turned violent.
In her response to the hearing, Bakhtiari described arguments such as the one’s Fowler used as “weaponizing the law in pursuit of a political agenda.”
“Actions like these should be disconcerting to us all, and they cannot stand,” she wrote.
The council member also questioned the timing of the arrests, which came less than a week before the City Council is expected to vote on allocating $31 million to support the construction of the training center.
“The execution of this raid, from its timing – just days before the Atlanta City Council is scheduled for a final vote on the controversial Public Safety Training Center – to the excessive means in which it was conducted, appears to be nothing more than an intimidation tactic by the state,” Bakhtiari wrote. “And in the words of Judge Altman yesterday, ‘I don’t find it real impressive.’”
The training center, approved by the Atlanta City Council in September 2021, has drawn opposition from the start. City officials say the new 85-acre campus would replace inadequate current training facilities and would help address difficulties in hiring and retaining police officers that worsened after nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice three years ago.
CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: CHARGES AGAINST ‘COP CITY’ PROTESTERS ‘WILL LIKELY STICK’
Local opponents, who have been joined by activists from around the country, say they fear it will lead to greater militarization of the police and that its construction will exacerbate environmental damage. Protesters had been camping at the site since at least last year, and police said they had caused damage and attacked law enforcement officers and others.
Several dozen people accused of involvement in the protests have been arrested since May 2022, including more than 40 who have been charged with domestic terrorism, a felony charge that carries a penalty of five to 35 years in prison.
The arrest warrants for MacLean, Kautz and Patterson say that they committed charity fraud by misleading contributors by using funds collected through the Network for Strong Communities, which runs the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, to fund the actions of Defend the Atlanta Forest.
The money laundering charges stem from a transfer of funds out of and then back into the Network for Strong Communities account and reimbursements from the organization to the personal accounts of the organization’s officers, the warrants say.
ATLANTA RESIDENTS VOICE OPPOSITION TO PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING FACILITY
MacLean, Kautz and Patterson are respectively the CEO, chief financial officer and secretary of the Network for Strong Communities. The cited reimbursements were for expenses including “gasoline, forest clean-up, totes, COVID rapid tests, media, yard signs.” Other expenses include moving a jail support hotline to a new phone plan and adding two phone lines, and expenditures for Forest Justice Defense Fund townhall meeting and building materials, according to the warrants.
You can ready Bakhtiari’s full statement below:
“The three Atlanta Solidarity Fund organizers arrested earlier this week were granted bond yesterday. These three organizers are some of the best of our Atlanta mutual aid network. I have seen them clothe and feed the homeless, protect and give a voice to our disabled community, and yes, provide bail funds for countless individuals since the 2020 protests, including elected leaders and friends of mine. They have taught me about what it means to be in community. I have personally witnessed the impact they have had on people’s lives, and I’ve seen their unwavering commitment to their values in pursuit of a more fair and just community.
“In yesterday’s hearing, we heard little about what these three human beings did to break the law. Instead, we heard rhetoric framing the state’s view of a movement, using these people and their life’s work as an example of something to be feared. Weaponizing the law in pursuit of a political agenda is an affront to our fundamental freedoms as Americans. Actions like these should be disconcerting to us all, and they cannot stand.
“The execution of this raid, from its timing – just days before the Atlanta City Council is scheduled for a final vote on the controversial Public Safety Training Center – to the excessive means in which it was conducted, appears to be nothing more than an intimidation tactic by the state. And in the words of Judge Altman yesterday, ‘I don’t find it real impressive.’
“The beauty of mutual aid is that it is decentralized. The gaps are constantly being filled through communal effort. Yes, three people were arrested and their work constrained this week. But the movement is much broader than three people. The cries will grow louder as a result of this week’s actions. It is in the best interest of all of us to listen.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Atlanta, GA
17-year-old shot in foot on Christmas Eve, Atlanta police say
ATLANTA – A 17-year-old male is recovering after being shot in the foot on Christmas Eve, according to the Atlanta Police Department.
Officers responded to Grady Memorial Hospital around 10:39 p.m. on Dec. 24, after receiving a report of a gunshot victim. The teenager was being treated by medical staff for a gunshot wound to his left foot.
Preliminary information suggests the shooting may have occurred near 609 Thurmond Street NW. Investigators from the department’s Aggravated Assault Unit are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Authorities emphasized that details are subject to change as the investigation continues.
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta police officer surprises 12-year-old with Christmas gift for good behavior
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – An Atlanta police officer made a 12-year-old boy’s Christmas a little brighter this year.
On Monday, Officer Sebastian Kertchaval surprised 12-year-old Amir with a PlayStation 5, police said in a social media post.
Police said Kertchaval met Amir and his family over the summer while “responding to a 911 call for an unruly child.”
During that visit, Kertchaval saw that Amir was upset with his mother and grandmother.
“And though tensions were high in their home, Ofc. Kertchaval remained patient with Amir, and took the time to positively connect with Amir and was ultimately able to de-escalate the upset child,” police said.
Since that first meeting, Amir’s grandmother has kept Kertchaval updated on Amir’s “increasingly positive behavior throughout the year.”
After hearing of Amir’s progress, Kertchaval bought Amir a new PlayStation 5 for both Christmas and as a reward for his progress.
“Thank you, Officer Kertchaval, for your dedication to community policing and for being a positive example during this holiday season,” police said.
Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.
Atlanta, GA
Some Metro Atlanta Starbucks employees go on strike amid the holidays
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – You may experience order delays if you are headed to a Starbucks on Christmas Eve. Some workers in Metro Atlanta are on strike.
Representatives with Starbucks Workers United tell Atlanta News First they feel underpaid and understaffed and are protesting the lack of progress in contract negotiation with the company.
Starbucks union workers in Alpharetta are making their voices heard loud and clear. They allege unfair labor practices.
“When Starbucks workers first started to unionize, they gave non-union workers pay raises and the partners that were unionized didn’t get that until later and so they’re owed back pay,” said Danielle Stolton, Shift supervisor at the Alpharetta store.
Stolton said she has been a part of the bargaining process.
“Personally, last year was the worst year,” she said. “I had a mental breakdown, actually.”
Stolton and others planned this one-day strike to stand in solidarity with over 5,000 workers at more than 300 stores that are protesting.
Strikes have been going on in some places since last Friday. Some baristas said they want better pay and better benefits.
“I know baristas in my store personally who are having to choose between gas or groceries so when you see problems like that it’s really hard to not feel some type of way about the fact that Starbucks made 24 billion dollars in profit this year, two percent more than last year and we’re still seeing two percent pay raises,” said Vivek G, a Starbucks employee.
Starbucks Workers United said the company failed to honor a commitment made in February.
In a statement to Atlanta News First, Starbucks said:
“Only around 170 Starbucks stores did not open as planned. With over 10,000 company-operated stores, 98% of our stores and nearly 200,000 green apron partners continuing to operate and serve customers during the holidays,” the coffeechain added.
Some workers feel differently.
“It’s just basic living wages and also again to reiterate is just to have. We’re asking for minimum staffing and realistic expectations and just the ability to run our floors and run our stores in a way that makes the most sense. They say they want to hear us, they say they want to listen but every time we ask for help, we get told no,” Stolton said.
Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.
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