Metro Atlanta law enforcement officials say they’re prepared for — but not expecting — any public protests when a verdict comes down in the George Zimmerman case.
Carlos Campos, spokesman for the Atlanta Police Department, said Thursday that department commanders have met to discuss a contingency plan.
But, Campos said, officials “will not discuss specific preparations.”
“The Atlanta Police Department is prepared to respond to any crises that may arise as a result of such demonstrations,” he said.
Zimmerman is on trial in Sanford, Fla., on a second degree murder charge in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
Prosecutors made closing arguments to the jury on Thursday afternoon, arguing that Zimmerman profiled Martin, a young African-American, as a criminal and followed the teen through the townhouse complex where Zimmerman lived and Martin was visiting.
Zimmerman has claimed self-defense and pleaded not guilty to the charges in the polarizing case. His lawyers make their closing arguments Friday morning.
Gwinnett County Police spokesman Edwin Ritter said Thursday that officials with his department “will tell officers at roll call to be vigilant.” But he said, right now, they don’t see any reason for concern.
“We haven’t received any intel that anything is going to be happening out here,” Ritter said.
A private company that provides guest management and security for the World Congress Center made robo calls Thursday to part-time workers, looking for people willing to report should the congress center and Georgia Dome require additional security after the verdict.
The robo call said “timid” people aren’t needed.
Jennifer LeMaster, Congress Center spokeswoman, said the calls were made “out of an abundance of caution.”
“We don’t anticipate or expect anything. But since this case has caught the attention of the media and has great sensitivity, we felt it was in the best interest of everyone that we do, as we regularly do, and review our security and make sure we have the right people in place,” she said. “If you are in our position, you don’t want to be unprepared.”
In 1992, riots broke out in several cities — including Atlanta — after three Los Angeles police officers were acquitted of beating Rodney King, an African-American construction worker, following a high-speed car chase. A portion of a video tape of officers repeatedly striking King had been shown around the world, inflaming public outrage and racial tension.
Although the officers' trial was 2,000 miles away, angry residents took to the streets of Atlanta, smashing windows, looting stores and attacking whites. Then-Gov. Zell Miller called in the National Guard, and at least 41 people, many of them police officers, were injured and more than 300 people were arrested.
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