A councilman and mayoral candidate in Atlanta who backs the 'Defund the Police' movement and voted to cut the police budget by $73...
A councilman and mayoral candidate in Atlanta who backs the 'Defund the Police' movement and voted to cut the police budget by $73 million, was dragged from his car while it was being stolen Wednesday.
Antonio Brown, who is running on a platform of 'reimagining public safety,' was the victim of a carjacking months after he voted for an ordinance that would've withheld tens of millions of dollars from the police. That 'Defund the Police' ordinance - which would've reallocated $73 million of the police budget - was rejected by the city council.
The incident happened as Atlanta deals with a crime surge, with murders up 59 percent and car thefts up 25 percent from a year ago, as of May 22. There have been 54 murders in Atlanta compared to 34 at this time in 2020, as well as 284 shootings, up 46 percent from a year ago.
Meanwhile, the national 'Defund the Police' movement is facing pushback as the murder rate soared by an average of 30 percent across 34 major cities last year and continues to rise in many cities this year. In response, some cities are looking at restoring and even increasing the police budget in response to the soaring murder rates.
Brown was attending a ribbon-cutting in northwest Atlanta when four people hopped into his car as he was getting out to speak to someone just before noon - and took off.
The councilman told WSBTV that he was on hold with 911 for five minutes after the incident. Brown also claims it took 45 minutes for police to arrive because it was assigned as a low-priority dispatch.
'Several males entered his unlocked car and drove away with it,' police stated. Brown was driving a Mercedes Coupe, which has a push-button ignition.
Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Brown was the victim of a car theft on Wednesday morning
Crime in Atlanta has been soaring since the past year, especially murders and shootings. There have been 54 murders in Atlanta through May 22, compared to 34 the same time last year. This chart covers approximately the first five months of both 2020 and 2021
Brown said he held onto the car and was dragged for around a block before letting go.
He did file a police report, according to FOX 5. His car was located hours after the incident, but no arrests have been announced. Brown said he doesn't intend to press charges against the culprits.
Brown was seen talking to police after the incident, when kids allegedly took off in his car
Antonio Brown is running for mayor on a platform of 'reimagining public safety'
'At this time, officers are gathering information on exactly how this happened and working to identify anyone involved in the incident and locate the stolen vehicle,' police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Brown told the newspaper that the thieves appeared to be children, saying, 'These kids were, in my opinion, somewhere between 7- and 11-years-old.'
He also claimed that one 'acted as though he had a gun.' 'You don’t immediately think, 'Oh, these kids are going to steal my car,'' Brown said.
Ben Norman of the Dixie Hills Neighborhood Association, who Brown was speaking with at the time, tried to intervene, he said.
'Ben attempted to open the door, to get [the driver] out of the car. He fought with Ben. I then engaged and tried to get him out of the car,' Brown stated.
He and Norman both held onto the car, with Norman letting go first. Brown said he was scratched up in the confrontation.
'He started to speed up and I knew if I had not let go, I could have killed myself because he was going so fast,' Brown added.
The mayoral candidate pointed toward poverty as being a reason for the car theft.
'This is a generational poverty issue. These kids, it's 12:30 in the afternoon. Why aren't they in school? Why aren’t we enforcing systems to ensure that if they are not in school, they’re in recreational centers?' Brown said.
Brown added to FOX 5, 'The reality is this: We need programmatic initiatives in place to help support these kids to be able to give them another pathway instead of them of them committing crimes.'
Brown entered the mayoral race on May 14 to replace Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is not running for another term.
Brown claims he was dragged for a block after a group of kids hopped in his car and fled
Brown (seen in front of an 'Abolish ICE' sign) has voted on a 'Defund the Police' measure
He is running on a platform of 'reimagining public safety' and has previously expressed support for the 'Defund the Police' movement.
According to The Intercept, Brown proposed sequestering about a third of the police department's budget in the aftermath of the police killing of Rayshard Brooks.
Brown voted for the ordinance, which would've withheld $73 million from the city's police budget and reallocated it to social services, pending a plan from the mayor to change the policing culture.
That ordinance was ultimately voted down in a tight vote.
Brown is having his own legal problems, as he is facing an indictment on federal fraud charges for allegedly lying about his income to obtain loans and credit cards for personal use.
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