Worried Atlanta residents rally against crime

The grass-roots effort that grew from the death of Grant Park bar worker John Henderson continues to evolve.

Monday night, about 175 people showed up at a rally in the heart of Little Five Points, held by newly formed advocacy group Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC).

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Jessica McGowan/jmcgowan@ajc.com

Judy Dee, Tameaka Scott and fifth grader Jessica Tedder chant for a safer Atlanta at the intersection of Moreland and Euclid avenues in Little Five Points.

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It is the first in what the group plans to be a series of monthly rallies held in different local communities burdened by crime.

ATAC co-founder Kyle Keyser, armed with a megaphone, led the crowd in chants while standing on two milk cartons in the Little Five Points square.

Between chants, protesters stood along Moreland Avenue, waving signs like “Honk to Stop Crime” at motorists who drove past, many of whom returned the favor by honking their horns.

Even some Atlanta City Council members, Mary Norwood and Kwanza Hall, showed up, too.

“It speaks volumes to the concern” of a rise in crime, Hall said. “The concern, it resonates. It’s a real issue.”

Tyler O’Neill, 43, of Inman Park attended the rally because he believes something needs to be done about crime in Atlanta — a concern that many have echoed since Henderson’s murder on Jan. 7 in a robbery at a Grant Park bar.

And he doesn’t believe the city will do anything to improve police services unless the community presses the issue.

“We need to speak up,” O’Neill said. “It’s not going to happen. You need to get on the streets to make it happen.”