Advocates honor Cornelius Taylor one year after fatal camp clearing
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A man named Willie places a sign honoring Cornelius Taylor, an unsheltered man who was killed during the clearing of an encampment in Old Fourth Ward. Photo: Thomas Wheatley/Axios
Activists are marking one year since the death of Cornelius Taylor, who was killed during a homeless encampment clearing operation near Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Why it matters: Taylor's death, which happened over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, pushed the city of Atlanta to create a Homelessness Task Force that recommended changes to how it carries out the process.
Driving the news: A wreath-laying ceremony in memory of Taylor will be at 6pm Friday along Old Wheat Street near the church site.
- That will be followed by food distribution for unhoused people from noon to 3pm Saturday at Welcome House.
- On Monday, Jan. 19, activists will hold a vigil starting at 1pm at the corner of Jackson Street and Auburn Avenue.
- The following day, they will speak before the Atlanta City Council advocating to change the name of Old Wheat Street to Cornelius Taylor Street.
What they're saying: Tim Franzen, a member of the coalition honoring Taylor, told Axios that renaming Old Wheat Street is a way to make sure Atlanta "never forgets his name, so that something like this may never happen again."
- "We want to use that momentum to then continue to campaign for the city to have a different approach [to] encampment clearings," he said.
Catch up quick: According to Atlanta police, Department of Public Works crews were clearing the encampment the morning of Jan. 16, 2025, when an officer saw a man waving his arms from a tent that had just been moved by an "earth-moving machine."
- The man, who "was in clear distress," told an officer something fell on him, but he slipped into unconsciousness and was later pronounced dead.
- He was identified as Taylor, 46.
Friction point: Taylor's death shocked local advocates, who pressed the city to improve housing options for unsheltered residents and called for a pause on encampment clearings.
- The city appointed a 90-Day Homelessness Task Force, which released recommended changes to the camp clearing process that included posting signs notifying people of plans to clear camps and helping individuals find housing.
- The city in July closed the camp and said it helped about a dozen people find housing.
Zoom in: Franzen said they want to make sure that anyone who's required to abandon an encampment has some form of permanent supportive housing with services.
- Unhoused people often navigate temporary housing facilities where they have to surrender their belongings and are prohibited from being on the property during the day, Franzen told Axios.
State of play: Gov. Brian Kemp this week announced the state will provide $50 million in a one-time Homelessness Response Grant to help get unhoused people off the street in Atlanta and in other areas across the state.
What we're watching: Whether Kemp's funding allocation will be enough to help Atlanta build enough units to help unhoused people before the World Cup.