This story was published in partnership with Counterstream Media for The AI issue of Peace & Riot. ATLANTA — When he drives through his neighborhood now, Brian Page passes rows of police cars and AI‑powered cameras that track nearly every movement. For most of his life, Page, who goes by “Scapegoat Jones,” felt safest in […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice, Public Safety
After Teen Shootings, Atlanta Faces New Pressure to Expand Prevention Efforts
Before his life was tragically cut short last Saturday, 12-year-old Cameron Coney was a kid with a big personality who loved to play football, according to his family members who spoke to reporters at a vigil earlier this week. The Long Middle School student was shot and killed inside his bedroom at his family’s home […]
Posted inHigher Education, Policing
Emory Students Protest AI Surveillance on Campus
Emory University students, faculty, and workers gathered on campus Friday waving signs, beating drums, and chanting to pressure the institution’s administration to end AI-powered surveillance on its campus. Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based surveillance tech company with tens of thousands of its cameras located in cities across the country, is at the heart of the Emory […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
Georgia Bill That Could Have Restricted Police Body Cam Footage Fails
It took 15 weeks and an open dispute with city officials for the children of Johnny Hollman to secure the public release of their father’s last moments that were captured on the body camera of the police officer who took the deacon’s life in 2023. Hollman’s family wanted the public to see the footage to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Juvenile Justice, Public Safety
After Deadly Shooting, Atlanta Parents Say Curfew Is Just a Step in Fixing Teen Violence
When North Clayton High Schoolers return from spring break next week, the halls will be missing one of their friends, 10th grader Tianah Robinson. The 16-year-old’s life was taken during a shooting at Piedmont Park over Easter weekend that also wounded 15-year-old Italia Wilson. She is now recovering at home with her family in Norcross. […]
Posted inCourts, Maternal Health, Politics & Policy
Black Midwife Sues Georgia Over Birth Laws That Harm Black Mothers
When Jamarah Amani was in labor at a Georgia hospital, she fought with medical staff over her delivery preferences — a harrowing experience during which she recalled a nurse saying her birthing choices would “kill the baby.” After delivering her second child and after enduring that conflict with the medical team, the mother of four […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Criminal Justice
Rapper Offset Shot After a Fight in Florida Four Years After Takeoff’s Death
Atlanta rapper Offset was shot Monday night in Florida. His shooting comes nearly four years after Takeoff, his partner in the Grammy-nominated group Migos, was shot and killed. Offset, whose real name is Kiari Kendrell Cephus, was reportedly shot near the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. A representative told TMZ that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, HBCUs, Sports
After Viral Arrest, Tuskegee Coach Announces Lawsuit Against Morehouse
The viral arrest of Tuskegee University’s basketball coach after a Jan. 31 game at Morehouse College has now resulted in a lawsuit against the all-male HBCU. Morehouse had just beaten Tuskegee 77-69 and were preparing for the end-of-game handshake line. Reports indicate that Morehouse College football players attempted to disrupt that process, and Tuskegee coach […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, History
Palmetto Massacre: Black Men Arrested at Sundown, Lynched by Midnight
Palmetto, Georgia, was, by all accounts, a quiet and growing town in the final years of the 19th century. Located 25 miles southwest of Atlanta, it had a cotton mill, two warehouses, a hotel, churches, and slow, steady commerce. Its Black residents were part of the working and worshipping community that white newspapers would later […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Voting
She Spent 26 Years in Prison, Now She’s Registering to Vote in Georgia
Kareemah Hanifa just registered to vote for the first time in her life. As a juvenile, Hanifa, now 48, was sentenced to life in prison and spent 26 years incarcerated before she was released on parole in 2019. “I’m feeling nervous, I’m also feeling anxious and a little bit scared,” Hanifa said just before she […]
