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COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION 1203 CITY HALL ATLANTA, GEORGIA Staff Report on Vine City, October 22 - 23, 1967 [Reginald Carter] It was reported by Atlanta's news media and by "Word of mouth" that on Sunday, October 22, 1967, several residents of the Vine City community had been arrested. One was "beaten prior to his arrest. I met and talked with r~sidents of the community and interested persons, and learned from Mrs. Betty Holland [a resident of 675 M~gnbliaStreet, SW., JaS-2383] that the incident came as a result of some men gambling in the area of Magnolia and Sunset, were asked to move on by the police. The men responded to the police order, but they did not move out of the area when asked to "move on". Officer Phillips began to beat Mr. Patridge, and subse~uently knocked him out. Later other officers [who were whiteJ joined Officer Phillips in the beating. Mrs. _Holland felt as though the beatings were unnecessary since Mr. Partridge was hand-cuffed. Several other men were arrested on this day, giving rise to tensions. There were no further incidences on this evening. On October 23, I received word that a meeting was going to be held at the corner of Magnolia and Sunset that evening at 8:00 P.M. I visited the area th a t evening to find no formal me et ing i n process, but t hat what seemed l i ke hundreds of people gathered in the street, not to riot but to pr otest for t he blight and malt r e a tment by the pol i ce i n their community. People burned trash i n the street, br oke in and looted seve ra l ne i ghbo r hood gr oce r y stores. They sneered a t policemen and t ried their patience. Ho wever t he police, despite the acts of p r o t est, basically had the s i tuat i ons unde r con t rol. Ater the second sto r e had been br o ken i nto and looted, Sen a to r Leroy Johnson , Alde rman Q. V. ~hlliamson , a t tempted to " re s to r e order" . The c r owd ha d assembl e d on the corne r of Ma gnoli a a nd Ma ple a t t he re quest o f th e a bove ment i oned persons . Orde r was being restored a nd an appeal was be ing ma de to dispe r se . I t was at this t ime that Ca ptai n Little of t he At l a nta Po l ice Depa rtme nt came i n t o t he area with arme d policemen carryi ng ri ot gun s, etc., and orde r ed the peo ple pff tje s treet. He threate ned to arrest t hem if t hey did not obey. The people ran i n all direc tions s c reaming f rom fear of wha t ma y have developed into a shootin g melee. One ma n who was on crutches was moving t oo slowly for t he polic e me n a nd was nearly arrested. Tempers were heightened , and screams and s houts were heard such as : "They are always coming in making people get off the street" • •••• " We can't even ho l d a geaceful meeting" •• •• and "Look , they always give the wh ite pol i c emen the shot guns to kill us" . �l Page 2 V. C. Report 10-22-23-1967 The policemen forced people off the streets, out of . their yards, off of their porches and into the~r homes by threatening to arrest them. They stayed and patroled the area until early the next morning without further incidence. I talked with Mr. Agus tu s McWhort er, . [Butter ball] amd Mr. Elvester McGruder. Both these men were arrested on t he first Sunrjay. Mr. McWhorter said .he was washing clothes at the Laundermat shortly before he and the others were arrested on October 22nd. After hearing that trouble was nearby. He went to assess the situation and arrived in time to see police Officer Phillips beat Mr . Partridge whi le handcuffed. He said he went to the police departme nt to swear out a complaint. He returned to the Vine City area to complete his washing. As · he , was about to leave the Laundromat to take his clothes home, he was ordered . by a policeman to move on. Attempting to explain that . he was on his way home, Mr. Mc Whorter said he was placed under arr est for 11 f ailu ~e to move on• ~r. McG r uder also said he as on his ~ay home when he wa s stopped by s ome policemen who questione d his destina tion. Afte r he expl a ined he was on his way home the policemen sent him in an oppo~~te direction. He was subsequently arrested by other policemen for "drunkeness" and "failure to move on". Mr. McG r uder said he had not had anything at all t o drink. On 11- 7-67 the trial fo r Messers Agustus Mc Who rter [But t erbai1], an d Elvester Mc Gruder, Ma nn Jo r da n, Henry Tuck e r, Milton Harold, a nd Mr. Partridge was held i n Police Cou r t, The arresting officers were: Ruc ke r, Flagg, Phillips , Carlton and Weber. They char ged t hat Mr . Part r idge resisted a r r e st , used vile l a nguage, f ailed t o move on , a s sualte d an d o fficer a nd vi ol ated th e nois e o r di na nce~ Ag ustus McWhorter a nd Elves~er Mc Gr uder have had t heir cases held over until November 21st. The ot her men were fo und guilty ~n all counts and are now in the process of appealing thei ~ cases • . ' �