The city was clearing the area around the Ebenezer Baptist church before the MLK Day celebration on Monday
City workers in Atlanta have killed a man living in a tent while clearing a homeless encampment with construction equipment near Martin Luther King’s famous Georgia church.
The death of Cornelius Taylor on Thursday afternoon resulted from an effort to reduce the visibility of people without shelter near the city’s historic Ebenezer Baptist church as an accommodation for crowds expected in the area to celebrate King this weekend and on Monday, the federal holiday dedicated to the civil rights leader’s life and legacy. Taylor’s death has infuriated homelessness advocates and prompted a round of soul searching among city leaders.
