Box 19, Folder 7, Document 5

Box 19, Folder 7, Document 5

STATEMENT BY IVAN ALLEN, JR.
MAYOR OF ATLANTA

On Civil Disorder in Atlanta, Tuesday, September 6, 1966

The disorders in the Summerhill neighborhood in Southeast
Atlanta last evening were the result of a deliberate attempt by certain
members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Snick) to

¢reate an incident of this very nature.

We can be thankful there were no serious injuries. Some 10

police officers received minor injuries, mostly as a result of tear gas,

Assessment of property damage has not been completed, but

it does not appear to be too severe,

Five City police cars were damaged as a result of bricks or

bottles thrown through windows.

Seventy-two arrests were made by the Police Department,

Conditions at this time indicate that the violence has ended and

calm exists throughout the area,

The Atlanta Police Department is now working two twelve-hour

shifts until further notification by Chief Jenkins.
All off-duty firemen have been placed on alert.

The firemen on duty during the night responded promptly and

efficiently to several calls in the area,

The spark of violence ignited by a few reckless and irresponsible
individuals touched off an explosion of civil disorder that shattered Atlanta's

long record of racial amity.


Se Sane ee : re ars eT



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I must again commend the members of the Atlanta Police
Department for their prompt response and handling of this situation.
The citizens of Atlanta, and especially the good citizens of Summerhill-

Mechanicsville, can be justly proud of their police officers this morning.

Iam not talking from hearsay when I say that every citizen of
Atlanta owes a debt of wholehearted gratitude to our dedicated police
officers, for I was personally in the thick of the disturbance throughout

those frightful hours of mob hysteria.

No one need make charges to me about police brutality during
this disorder, I saw plenty of brutality, but it was being used against the

police officers, not by them.

From what I heard with my own ears and saw with my own eyes
in the center of this melee, I feel certain that hundreds of normally good
citizens were inflamed ‘out of their normal senses. They were victimized

by those who sought to incite violence.

We sincerely appreciate the action of Governor Carl Sanders
and the Georgia Department of Public Safety for the backup men and

equipment provided to us.

It is a tragedy that a few irresponsible and misdirected youths
have such utter disregard and contempt for their fellow man that they

place the lives and property of innocent citizens in serious jeopardy.