At an Atlanta encampment, people brought candles and flowers Friday to honor an unhoused man who was killed the previous day while crews cleared the site.
Anger, sadness and indignation. Those were the emotions community members felt as they looked upon the former encampment and remembered their friend.
Atlanta police said they are investigating the fatal incident involving an Atlanta Department of Public Works vehicle that occurred around noon Thursday in the 300 block of Old Wheat Street, near the Downtown Connector and the King Center.
Police did not provide further details about the incident, but said a man was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office said he had not been identified as of Friday afternoon and that the manner of his death had not been determined.
Two people who sleep outside in the area told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they were at the Auburn Avenue camp when a Public Works vehicle struck a tent in which their friend was sleeping.
The witnesses, Latisha Morris and Willie Johnson, said those staying at the encampment had been warned days earlier that they had to leave because it was going to be removed. On Thursday, people at the camp were told they had to quickly pack up, Johnson said, and then city crews started clearing the area.
Morris, visibly upset, said their friend “died for all of us out here.”
“We’re family,” she added. “We’re homeless, but we also have a voice to be heard.”
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Organizers with the Housing Justice League and Hosea Helps held a vigil for the victim Friday on Old Wheat Street across from Ebenezer Baptist Church, near the site of the cleared encampment. The HJL named the man in its statement, but it was not immediately clear if the victim’s next-of-kin had been notified of his death.
During the vigil, several organization leaders, friends of the victim and locals who did not know him personally held red heart balloons and tea lights while praying. Nolan English with Traveling Grace Ministries said he knew the man by helping unhoused people through the years. He said the man had been living on the street for about 10 years, at some points with a dog.
”He was an upstanding, outstanding person. Always helpful, always joking, always lively, always poured into people, you know. If you walked around with your head down, he was the one to lift you up,” English said.
Elisabeth Omilami, a human rights activist with Hosea Helps, said she wants to see the city of Atlanta held accountable. She knew the man through service and feeding unhoused people in the city.
“You don’t need a truck to come in here and clear up these little tents. But the people that do that are afraid to come in and touch the people like we did today,” Omilami said.
Kimberly Rankins, a spokesperson for the DPW, told the AJC in an email that the agency is cooperating with police.
“Our department routinely clears encampments that pose health and public safety concerns, always following days of outreach to connect unsheltered individuals with housing and support services,” Rankins said.
Rankins added that she could not confirm what type of vehicle was involved due to the ongoing investigation. She confirmed that the encampment was cleared in preparation for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend.
City officials said it was scheduled to be cleared and closed due to a series of complaints from the community. Police and the city’s housing partners followed the same regular protocols for the process as they have before, they added.
“I am saddened by this terrible incident and extend my thoughts and prayers to the family of the deceased,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement. ”I care deeply about each and every life in this city. We will review each of our processes and procedures and take every precaution to ensure this never happens again while we continue our important work to house our unsheltered population and bring our neighbors inside.”
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
The victim was well-known by housing advocates and within the community of unhoused residents, officials said. The structure of his tent was designed to conceal whether someone was inside, city officials said, and crews did not know he was there at the time.
Street pastor Sylvia Broome said she had known the victim since about 2018 and that he visited her office near the encampment on Wednesday afternoon. They talked and he said he was trying to get a job, find housing and do something to “affirm his place in the world,” she added.
“He was very upbeat and looking forward to some change we had talked about, and he didn’t even live 24 hours,” Broome said Friday.
Sarah Kim owns Our Bar, an establishment near the encampment that sometimes gives out coffee, tea and food to people who live in the camp when it gets cold outside. Kim described the man who was killed as someone who could be counted on to calm other people down when they got upset.
“He’s sweet, he plays a lot of spades, he drinks beer,” Kim said.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Partners for Home coordinates the city’s homeless strategy. In a statement, it said it was “deeply saddened” by what had happened at the site but remained focused on helping people find stable housing and access to resources. Cathryn Vassell, CEO of the organization, said outreach at the camp began the week of April 5, 2024, with people moving to shelter on June 7. Vassell said 21 people from the encampment had been placed in shelter and housing.
“Outreach starts at the beginning of our encampment closures. The outreach teams build personal relationships with the residents in the hopes that even if they refuse help one, three or 10 times, eventually they will accept housing and access to the resources and services to help them,” Vassell wrote in a statement.
Tracy Woodard, who does outreach to homeless encampments for the Atlanta advocacy group InTown Cares, called the incident “incredibly negligent.”
According to Woodard, when advocates learn that authorities are sweeping a camp, they send multiple caseworkers to the location prior to enforcement.
She said officials will typically check all the structures to make sure no one is sleeping. Case managers will assist people at the camps to help them secure their belongings, and if they decline shelter, make sure they have the things they need to survive in frigid weather, like food, a sleeping bag and proper clothing.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
The Housing Justice League‘s executive director, Alison Johnson, said she visited the camp Thursday and spoke with several unhoused people at the site who were deeply shaken. She criticized the city’s approach to clearing encampments.
“The city needs to figure out another approach in terms of how we think about people in the most humane way. We do not have an adequate, substantial amount of real housing that’s going to house folks, and the services that come with them,” she said.
Crowds are expected to flock to the area Monday for the annual MLK Day celebrations. The commemorative service is scheduled from 9-11 a.m. at Ebenezer Baptist. Although U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is the historic church’s pastor, plans to attend Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration that day, the event will still feature high-profile speakers, performers and attendees.
— Staff writer Riley Bunch contributed to this article. Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
