After Atlanta Police abandoned their posts due to Atlanta’s leadership turning their back on them, crime skyrocketed and shootings became relatively common. They became so common that 8-year-old Secoriea Turner was shot and killed on Saturday when a group of people shot up the car she was riding in as they passed by the same Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms gave a press conference on the atrocity committed for no good reason. During her small speech, she pointed out that all of these riots and crimes were supposed to be in reaction to the way police and society at large treated the black community but in truth, it’s not the police that are shooting up the communities, it’s members of the community.
“Secoriea Turner was shot and killed last night, and it was not by the hands of police officers,” Bottoms said. “It was by the hands of a coward, cowards, who are still out and about in our community. This happened … near the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed a few weeks ago.”
“We’ve talked a lot about what we are demanding from our officers in our communities,” the Mayor continued. “We’ve protested, we’ve demonstrated, we’ve been angry, we’ve cried, we’ve demanded action. Well now we’re demanding action for Secoriea Turner and for all of the other people who were shot in Atlanta last night and over the past few weeks because the reality is this – these aren’t police officers shooting people on the streets of Atlanta, these are members of the community shooting each other, and in this case, it is the worst possible outcome.”
“Enough is enough. Enough is enough,” Bottoms continued. “We have talked about this movement that’s happening across America in this moment in time where we have the ears and the interest of people across this country and across this globe who were saying they want to see change.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms:
“We are shooting eachother up on our streets..” pic.twitter.com/Q6Atkm49ES
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) July 6, 2020
“We’re fighting the enemy within when we are shooting each other up on our streets in the city and you shot and killed a baby,” continued the Mayor. “And it wasn’t one shooter, there were at least two shooters. An 8-year-old baby. If you want people to take us seriously, and you don’t want us to lose this movement, then we can’t lose each other.”
“You can’t blame this on a police officer, you can’t say this is about criminal justice reform. This is about some people carrying some weapons who shot up a car with an eight-year-old baby in the car,” Bottoms concluded. “We got to stop this. We are doing each other more harm than any police officer on this force. We’ve had over 75 shootings in the city over the past several weeks. You can’t blame that on APD. So, I’m just asking you to please honor this baby’s life. Please, if you know who did this, please turn them in. These people are a danger to all of us.”
The father of the girl, Secoriya Williamson, also spoke similarly to the Mayor.
“They say black lives matter. You killed your own. You killed your own this time,” he said.
"They say Black Lives Matter. You killed your own." Secoriya Williamson, father of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, addressed the public during a press conf. today after his daughter was shot and killed last night while riding in a car w/ her mother in Southeast Atlanta. @11AliveNews pic.twitter.com/odowRbSXsq
— Natisha Lance (@NatishaLance) July 5, 2020
(Watch: Group of Black Protesters Shout “All Lives Matter” at Black Lives Matter Protesters)
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