Organize the South

Anger grows over police slaying of elderly victimBy SAEED AHMED, ADRIANNE MURCHISONThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 11/29/06
Calling the fatal shooting of Kathryn Johnston one of the worst tragedies the city has experienced, Mayor Shirley Franklin pledged to an angry crowd Tuesday night that the investigation into the death of the 88-year-old woman will be "fair, honest and transparent."
In her first public comments about the Nov. 21 confrontation, Franklin also said she would stand by police Chief Richard Pennington.
"To some folks, that's not good enough, and I have to apologize for that," she said.
Franklin spoke to a crowd gathered for a community meeting at the Lindsay Street Baptist Church, located off Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard not far from the house where Johnston was shot.
Pennington appeared at the meeting earlier, as did various City Council members and state politicians.
"My mother is 85, and I am blessed to still have her," Franklin said. The Johnston family, she said, expected that of their kin as well.
"There is no question that the tragedy you've experienced and we've experienced is one of the worst the city's experienced," she said. "All of us felt it personally."
During the four-hour-long meeting, the crowd — which at times swelled to more than 300 — angrily recounted stories about drug raids into their homes when officers knocked down doors, armed with warrants that were unsigned.
They also demanded to know why the officers involved in Johnston's death were still being paid by their tax dollars while they were on administrative leave. Franklin urged the crowd to be patient as the investigation took its course.
"Some folks have asked me, 'Why weren't you in front of the police chief?' [in the days following the shooting]," she said. She said that when she recruited Pennington she knew he would be fair and honest.
"I am going to stand beside him and ensure the police are held to the highest possible standard," she said.
At the meeting Pennington said he became concerned after community response to the shooting.
When he learned that the information he received conflicted with what a confidential informant told the Internal Affairs Unit, he brought in the FBI to lead the investigation, he said.
"I am not new to police misconduct," he said. "I've worked in Washington and New Orleans. I've made this move based on law enforcement and my gut feeling."
Earlier in the evening, about 70 residents gathered outside Johnston's home, some holding placards condemning police, others venting angrily about the botched narcotics raid.
"I'm enraged," said Walterine Jones, 50. "I mean, my God, if they can do this to an elderly woman like her, what does it mean for the safety of the rest of us." Marchers to the church carried signs that mocked the police, passed around by rally organizers, the New Black Panther for Self-Defense.
"Warning taxpayers & black citizens. Don't dial 911. The police will kill you," said one.
Another was a cartoon of a smiling uniformed officer holding a phone, with the caption: "They gave me administrative leave ... with pay. Kill a black citizen and get paid."
The message was a reference to Pennington's decision to place on paid leave the sergeant and seven detectives who are part of the narcotics unit.
Even without the signs, there was plenty of anger to go around among those who gathered in front of a makeshift memorial outside the now boarded-up house where Johnston died in a gun battle with officers.
Residents said that while crime is rampant in the area, the stretch of Neal Street where Johnson lived alone for almost two decades was home to other elderly residents.
"There's crime that needs to be tackled here, that's true. But this road right here, there's never been any drug dealing here," said Michael Jaye, 46, who has lived in the area since he was 4.
"But the police don't come here to fight crime. They come to knock heads," he added.
Johnny Colbert, 27, echoed many of the suspicion that police made up the description of "Sam," who they said was the man who sold drugs to an undercover informant.
"There are a lot of 'Sams' around here. They are all make-believe by the police," he said.
As some of the people in attendance pumped fists into the air and shouted "Black Power" at the exhortation of the organizers, a few stoic GBI and FBI agents stood by watching.
On a nearby porch, an elderly woman leaned on the railing, straining to catch what was happening.
She too would have walked down and shown her support, she said. But she was too feeble, she said.
The meeting at Lindsay Street Baptist Church was organized by State Sen. Vincent Fort and Rep. "Able" Mabel Thomas, both Democrats from Atlanta.
"I just don't understand how you bust in someone's house and don't know who lives there," said Mary Thomas, an usher at the church. "My daughter and I said this could be any of us."
Joe Cobb, who works in the neighborhood, said he never believed Johnston or anyone else sold drugs at the house.
"What's unfolding just reinforces what I first thought: the police lied," he said.
Civil rights activist the Rev. Markel Hutchins, the family's designated spokesman, has established a confidential hotline for tips from people with information.
The number is: 404-838-9645. The e-mail address is: justiceforkathrynjohnston