(ATLANTA, GA) — Almost two years after the death of 44-year-old Linton Blackwell, residents are still calling for action from the city in response to his death, with several voicing their frustrations at the May 4 full council meeting.
“Linton Blackwell was a cherished Atlantan, and his life was cut short on October 11, 2025,” Alton Moman said during public comment. “He leaves behind two daughters who just celebrated their first birthday without him yesterday.”
Blackwell was shot 17 times outside of a Buckhead Bar on October 11, 2025, by off-duty APD officer Gerald Walker. The community has rallied for justice since his death.
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“Linton was not only my brother, he was my friend,” Laith Alshayeb said during public comment. “I will keep standing for him. Gerald Walker is still on the force and has faced no accountability. He should be in prison for this cold-blooded murder.”
Other residents called for the city to help decrease violence taking place among youth and across the city as a whole. Gangsters to Growers, a community-based organization that works to reduce violence and provide opportunities to at-risk and formerly incarcerated youth, discussed their proposal of a ten-point plan to decrease violence in the city.
“If you can just look into this ten-point peace plan, we can stop a lot of the b.s. that’s going on around the city,” Zaire Clinton, a member of the organization, said to the council. “Really, people are just looking for opportunities, and that’s really it. If we’re in poverty, we can’t do too much. If we get this plan going, we’ll be good for the next ten years and after.”
Photo Credit: YouTube
Kannette King, movement policy associate at the Southern Center for Human Rights, spoke in response to the city, creating a special event technical advisory group for 404 Day. She said the city needs to make sure it is addressing violence without expanding arrests or increasing imprisonment, especially during events like 404 Day.
“Community-generated cultural events that are particularly those rooted in youth, Black, and grassroots traditions often rely on decentralized models that require facilitation, not enforcement,” she said. “Neither process should result in heightened scrutiny on demographics, and event services safety planning should be equitable and rooted in risk factors, not assumptions about culture, age, race or neighborhood.”
During the executive session, the council addressed a motion to revise the compensation plan for the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department.
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“The entity that has come before us for 5 to 6 months now asking us to do this very same thing – they get the ball halfway down the field and back out,” Byron Amos, who represents District 3, said. “That is the issue for me. I’m speaking directly to my men and women in the fire department, rethink your leadership on your union period. They don’t have the guts to run the play across the goal, don’t come down here with this nonsense.”
The motion to revise the compensation plan was approved.
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Kelsea Bond, representative of Atlanta City Council District 2, was the only council member who voted no for this resolution.
“I don’t love the precedents that this sets,” Bond said. “The beltline should be for everybody, and I think there’s this idea that the Belt Line should be reserved for certain types of activity, certain types of people, but it is meant to be a public resource.”
The council also reviewed plans to create a new Downtown Enterprise Zone aimed at encouraging economic investment, and move forward with Zoning 2.0 — the city’s effort to rewrite Atlanta’s zoning code for the first time in 40 years— and approve funding for the Peachtree Safe Street Midtown safety project.
Please email mia.s@lead4earth.com for questions, concerns or comments.
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