With the Trump administration threatening to send National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, and the announcement Monday that 100 troops would be deployed to Chicago, Atlanta leaders are reportedly working behind the scenes to send a clear message to Washington.
Mayor Andre Dickens said he’s been in communication with administration officials letting them know Atlanta is safe.
“I make phone calls to the state, I make phone calls to the feds and I let them know that Atlanta is safe,” Dickens said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during the Congressional Black Caucus’ Annual Legislative Conference. “Homicides are down 44% in Atlanta — and not only are the stats showing that they’re down, people now feel safe.”
While Atlanta has made major gains in reducing homicides and shootings, some incidents continue to raise alarm.
Last month, a mass shooting on Edgewood Avenue left 11 people injured, one man dead, and Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood reeling during an especially challenging weekend.
But Dickens, who said he’s also in communication with Gov. Brian Kemp, wants to assure residents that Atlanta isn’t under consideration for federal intervention.
“Nobody at the federal level is saying we are going into Atlanta to bring down their crime,” he said. “We’re doing the work on our own — together in our local ecosystem — that we don’t need federal agents or troops to come into our city.”
Since the rollout of National Guard Troops in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, critics alleged President Donald Trump is targeting cities with Black Democratic leadership for an unprecedented show of force.
After federal agents, some from ICE, were seen marching in downtown Chicago last month, Mayor Brandon Johnson said at a press conference the goal of Trump’s rollout of federal troops was to “strike fear in our communities.”
Read More: The History of National Guard Deployments in Black Cities, and Why D.C. Is Different
