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Che Charlotte Observer
JAMES L. KNIGHT, President and Publisher
C. A. McKnicHT, Editor
BRODIE 8. GRIFFITH, General Manager
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1966
Atlanta’s Mayor And Police
Handled Bad Situation Well
Stokely Carmichael of the now-mis-
named Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee apparently got what he wanted
in Atlanta Tuesday — a riot by Negroes
protesting the shooting of a man pursued
by police.
Carmichael has gone to great lengths to
explain his idea of “black power” in terms
of political strength, insisting that it is not
a call to violence. But the real fruits of
his call for “black power” fell in Atlanta.
Mayor Iyan Allen Jr., displaying su-
preme personal courage and great concern
for his city, went into the midst of the
mob to plead for law and order. It was
only after he had been knocked from the
top of a car, where he was urging the
crowd to disperse, that Mayor Allen gave
orders to police to return force with force.
That was the only course left to the
mayor and the police in the absence of
cooperation from Carmichael and other
Negro leaders who had worked the crowd.
to an emotional pitch. The airing of griev-
ances must be tolerated, but the imposition
pf a state of anarchy in a city is out of the
question.
Atlanta police showed considerable re-
straint in handling the crowd as they were
being pelted by rocks, bottles and bricks.
This restraint kept the number of injured
to a minimum. The police also reflected
the department’s effective riot-control
training when the mayor gave the orders to
move against the mob.
It is regrettable that such an incident
took place in progressive Atlanta. It again
demonstrates that some elements of the
Negro community in most cities are easily
aroused against the police by the incitement
of extremists. It serves to remind us, too,
that police must always act with extreme
care in the use of firearms during arrests
in racially-tense areas.
All who heard and saw reports of the
Atlanta riot at the height of the action
were shaken by its savageness. Except for
the courage and decisiveness of Mayor
Allen and the professional conduct of the
police in the face of the mob, the blood-
shed and destruction would have been far
worse.