piedmont

The noose from which Michael George Smith Jr was hung and the first officers on scene after the body was found.

 

On the morning of July 7, 2016, piedmont park security guard, Charles Butler, was making his usual rounds around piedmont when he discovered an unimaginable sight , an African American man hanging from the a tree with white rope tied around his neck. Upon seeing this, the startled butler called the 911 operator who then dispatched a single officer and an investigation team. The incident came on the heels of an already racially charged summer of police brutality among African Americans and a KKK rally less than thirty minutes away in Conyers, Georgia. With further investigation, the hanging was ruled a suicide and not a hate crime by both local and federal investigators. Although it seems as though the location and design of Piedmont Park in Atlanta encourages diversity and the peaceful mingling of different communities, a closer examination reveals that design features, such as location and amenities, actually reinforce stereotypes and help maintain divisions between groups.

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Historical Accounts

Design & Purpose

Park Design

Public Opinion

Bibliography