Posted on 11/21/2014 8:13:29 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Janice Mathis with Rainbow Push Coalition says she’s never seen anything like it, nothing so deliberate and focused on a particular incident that was about to happen. According to Mathis, “I’ve seen meetings sort of like this in the aftermath of Jena, or in the aftermath of Trayvon, but I’ve never seen anything like this in preparation for an announcement.”
Close to 200 metro Atlanta law men and women, administrators from various jurisdictions, members of clergy and civil rights organizations, along with high school and college students gathered Thursday afternoon inside the chambers of the DeKalb County School Board. They were there, according to DeKalb County Public Safety Director Dr. Cedric Alexander, “to address how individual entities were planning for incidents that may occur as a result of the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri.” In addition he said the briefing “was to review how the region is collaborating to ensure metro Atlanta communities remain safe and are not negatively impacted by events that may unfold in Ferguson.”
The grand jury will determine whether or not criminal charges will be brought against white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the August 9, 2014, shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. The killing of Brown sparked protests in and outside of Ferguson, including Atlanta.
At Thursday’s planning meeting, held at the headquarters of the DeKalb County School District, Dr. Alexander called on individual representatives from city and county police departments, members of the civil rights and ministerial communities, as-well-as students from local high schools and colleges. They provided details as to how they are preparing for what could happen in their areas once the grand jury’s decision is announced.
Georgia State Patrol Captain Nikki Renfroe called the meeting “vitally important and very necessary in order to bring the community together with law enforcement and so many other entities.” Renfro adding, “this is the beginning of great dialogue and that’s what it takes in order to come to an understanding. We have to be able to come together and talk.”
Deputy Chief Ernest Finley, with the Atlanta Police Department said, “It’s all about engagement, enrichment, and also communication.” Following the meeting Findley said, “one message that we want to make clear is about peace and quality of life for everybody that choose to protest or choose to go to a route. We want to make sure that they’re safe and secure, but also we want to make sure that we give them that right and that opportunity to voice their concerns.”
DeKalb NAACP President John Evans said “they’re preparing themselves for whatever might come about. We are fired up and ready to go.” Asked about his message to the community, Evans said, “We have to protect our rights to peacefully protest. If something should happen to that, we have to have law enforcement and others involved. We just have to be ready, we have to know how to talk to people, and know how to quiet the conditions.”
DeKalb County Interim CEO Lee May called Thursday’s meeting “an opportunity to learn from what we saw in Ferguson, but also to prepare for whatever may come forward here in the Atlanta metro area.” Fire, police, and sheriffs were represented, along with school systems, clergy and civil rights organizations. May said, “it really reflects a coordination of efforts in preparation. We’re at the intersection now of public safety and politics when we bring in the question of how do we protect all citizens.”
Michael Thurmond, the DeKalb Schools Superintendent and host of the meeting, said, “Lives have been saved today. I think this will continue to resonate throughout the law enforcement community. We’re building bridges, we’re closing the gap, engaging the community in a positive way.” In his address to the gathering, Thurmond said that he has 45,000 potential Trayvon Martins and Michael Browns in his district each day. “We don’t want them to become another statistic”, said Thurmond. The DeKalb Superintendent added that’s the reason that he and other superintendents around metro Atlanta embraced the idea of such a meeting, saying “We want to protect our young men and young women. We don’t need another Ferguson, or another Trayvon and I’m going to do everything in my power to prevent it.”
Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was shot and killed, February 26, 2012, by a Sanford, Florida, neighborhood watchman named George Zimmerman. On July 13, 2013, Zimmerman was found not guilty of killing the 17 year old. The verdict sparked protests nationwide, including Atlanta.
Thurmond told me that what really impressed him about this week’s meeting was that there was “a commitment to protecting the right to protest, recognizing that there are concerns, there are issues, but at-the-same-time, saying that it must be done in a lawful way that respects life and property.” Thurmond added, “We are here together proactive, not just waiting, not reacting, but trying to actually solve the problem, trying to improve the relationship between law enforcement and our communities.”
Meeting organizer and moderator Dr. Alexander thought the meeting was “very important.” He said that he didn’t think that “historically anything of this magnitude has ever occurred in this community so I think that makes it very unique.” Alexander added “more importantly it wasn’t just a meeting to meet, there is effective communication going back and forth, sharing of communication, having access and contact with each other from our respective jurisdictions.
When I asked Dr. Alexander about his message to the public, he said, “Wait and see. Regardless of what you hear, do not attend to rumors and innuendo, wait for the grand jury’s ruling to come out of Ferguson, and whatever it is, we should conduct ourselves accordingly and in a professional manner.”
Whenever the grand jury decision is announced, local organizers say there will be rallies held at Underground Atlanta and at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta.
I guess you could equally say there are thousands of Reginald Denny’s in the atl and other metro areas. Be armed and ready for anything. Do your best to avoid urban areas and large concentrations.
Wonder if any of those DoJ instigators are in Atlanta.
“unarmed black teenager” *drink*
GA FReeper ping.
>>Thurmond said that he has 45,000 potential Trayvon Martins and Michael Browns in his district each day.
Uh, that’s nothing to be bragging about. I hope that isn’t the case, seeing as how it appears both brought on their fates.
Not much to loot in most of them.
This whole Ferguson kerfuffle is one big crock of shiite.
Ash holes rioting for the sake of being the fun of agitating. Morons of the lowest disorder.
Their still in slavery alright but to one of a dimwit sort.
I spent a year in military language school (1967 - 68).
After graduation, I returned to my home in Chicago for leave; the hot news was that MLK had been assassinated that very day - April 4, 1968.
There was a joke going around that was half in jest, half serious. JFK had an eternal flame and now, MLK was going to have an eternal flame, except MLK’s eternal flame would go from house to house to house. In Detroit, it probably did.
Bring it on! It’s time to thin the herd.
On any given day in America there are probably half a dozen black men murdered by other blacks. But THIS is what they get exercised about.
It’s like having a horrible cancer and being obsessed with a pimple on your a##.....
“JFK had an eternal flame and now, MLK was going to have an eternal flame, except MLK’s eternal flame would go from house to house to house.”
That’s actually really, really funny.
Atlanta has a rich history of race roots. Some want it to continue.
Places to avoid after the announcement:
http://fergusonresponse.tumblr.com/?&_suid=1416662439126039868952706456184
A number have stepped up Herman Caine for example, but the lazy gimmes aren't interested. They have a bone deep sense of entitlement, a chip on their shoulder the size of Alaska, and a total aversion to the concept of an honest day's pay for an honest day's labor. All they want to hear is how their self inflicted and in some cases imagined woes are someone else's fault.
If you're lazy, stupid, and irresponsible, who are you going to listen to someone who tells you you're lazy stupid and irresponsible or someone like 0 or Sharpton that tells you its whitey's fault?
The problem isn't the leaders, it's the attitude of the masses. The "leaders" are just who the masses like the best.
More than 15 a day, looking at FBI data, is my estimate. That’s extrapolating the numbers when the race of the offender is unknown, using the percentages when the race of the offender is known. When it is known, about 90% of the murders of blacks are by other blacks.
And that, my friends, is why I no longer live in Atlanta and never again will.
...
I suppose the areas dominated by illegals weren’t an option either.
I really do want to go with my sign stating that I stand with officer Wilson and the rule of law.
Yeah, had to get pretty far out of the perimeter for that...like, Arkansas. Lol.
Actually (and I know this is a dangerous omission to make here) I don’t mind the Messicans much. We have a particularly industrious and integration minded bunch out here, and compared to the alternative to which I’m accustomed, they are downright delightful people. At the very least they don’t want to stomp me to death at the first chance...
Damn, that's rich.
‘“JFK had an eternal flame and now, MLK was going to have an eternal flame, except MLK’s eternal flame would go from house to house to house.”
That’s actually really, really funny.’
It wasn’t as funny on that evening in April 1968.
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