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Young en of t he l ower area of Pryor Street along with Representa tive John Hood came to t he Extension Manager ' s Offi ce with a c ommunity pr ob l em . This pr obl em wa s centered around a plac e of busine s s known as "Hurray's Liquor Store, Wine and Beer Super-rett 11 and " Carrol's Dr i ve~ in_Tavern, all located on the co rner of Pryor and Rid ge . There have been numerous counts of di s order over the years ·a t t his l ocation. Very li tt l e was done to correct t he situa tion unt il a s ixt een year old young t11an ki ll ed by Securi ty Guards of scurr ilous na tur e. ,.1as The Ext ens ion Hcrlage r ca lled a meet i ng of t he communi t y t o ge t more infonno .. tion as to the r eason of the young man' s death and t he vi ce of t he busine ss corner . The meet ing at t he Chur ch of God brought f orth more in f orma tion. Young men, young l ad i e s 2nd adul ts expressed t he f oll owing i nforma tion wh i ch proved to be f acts. The ma nageme nt o f t he liquor store , beer and ,-7ine s t ore and Taver n wa s s elling a lcoholic bever ages to minors . The Security Guard beat u p nu,i1erous a nd s eptuagena.r i an ci tize ns ,;-1ho we r e not on Murray 's br Carrol' s pr qper ty, and the ones who were, were bea t en int o submis si on . There was talk of rape but no f ac ts provided , Act ivitie s of all ki nd s aze done in cars on t he lot and behind t he t a vern . The Ex t ens:i.on Manager ,rns told of a plo t to ourn down t he cori.1er by ma ny yo ung nen and ·woraen 0 £ t he neighborhood. The group was fou nd, - a n appea l was made by t he ,::::x t ens i oc1 i:-.[anager, Representative Hood and llr . Pet ers , Cr1A C: Chai rman t o le t us t ry t o use the avenue s of t he l aw and re traj_ n f r om v i olence. After hours of t al king , t he young people agreed to use t he cour t s of l aw to c lose the corner but assured- us i f the cour t did . no t close t he t hre e busines s es , t he neighborh ood wou ld without regard to l i fe or pr operty . The f oll owiug action ~-,as pu t i n t o operation : The i;westigation of t he young rr.a·,1 1 s death ; pr oof was e s t a blished fro r,1 the coroner I s repor t t ha t t he bul l e t came f roffi a . 22 ca libre gu n ca rried s ecre tly on one of the Se curity Guards . The Guar d cl a i med o~e of the yo ung men in the group shot the young ,,ian. The Guard has bee u bound over to the Sta te fol" mur de r . W-i t h what infor ma ti on t he c itizens had , a cocmnitt ee wa s sent t o the Pol ice Con~ni t tee ~t City Ha ll . �Extension 1'iana3er August, 1966 Page 2 After hearing the complaint, the Police Committee booked the case for August 31, at which time the m-mers uould be present to show cause as to why their license should not b~ revoked. The Extension Manager ot ta 5.-::ed information that the , oi:mer, Mr. Murray has unusual power in the citJ 3t~ucture. His long arm re ~ches very deeply -into the ranks of the police ~orce and so,,,.e of the city ofiicials. Reports · show that many charge s ha 1e been brought against his ausiness but · never seem to 3et to couTt. The coc1,·,1unity citizens ·were oreanized into eroups to produce ,evidence that co uld not be thrown out of court. The Citizens corn:nittee feels su:;:e Ur. i:·il rra7 cannot control every alderr:ian of the Police Corru.:1 ittee chaired by AldeT.,, ':in Richard Free!·nan. 0 1 1 The Extension Manager wc1.s ~~isited by Captain Mullens of the Atlanta Police Department. Captain i'iullens assured c.,e this uo'uld be a very hard case to ~in due to lack of evidence. The Extension Manager called on City officials who,n he had ,1or!~ed with befor e and obtained the following evidence from police reports: Over 87 serious accounts of disor de r this year, an aver~ge of 3~ pe ople are arrested each week- end. Sots of a ll kinds are forever present in and around the area. The Guar d ·who shot the young raan had a police record in Florida and Ge orgia . With th is evidence ci ty official s 1;,1ho .. attended the next meeting said this was e nough to de clare the. corner a "Pub lic Nuisanc e. " Hou t h e citi zens d eep ly ho pe that t he Police Ccmmittee Hill vote to clo se th i s corner fo r the improve·,:ient o f the commun ity, and preven t th e viole nce of the young people, who are tired of waiting fo r the result s o f -the co urt August ·31, 1S66 . No t on ly are the young people o f t he area a pr oble~ a lone, the Vine Ci ty agitato r s plus the Blacl~ Poi1er Organization are s tand ing by to :nove in on the action. �