Fresh Loaf

'Go forth to Facebook, fellow foot soldiers, and type your thoughts'

Community activist and former Atlanta mayoral candidate Kyle Keyser’s been tapped by Mayor Kasim Reed to help search for a new chief of the Atlanta Police Department.

And Keyser wants to know what qualities you’d like to see in the force’s new leader. He’s accepting suggestions and comments on the Atlantans Together Against Crime website and Facebook.

Former Deputy Chief Lou Arcangeli is also on the search committee, Keyser says. Additional members are scheduled to be announced at a City Hall press conference today at 2 p.m.

Interim Chief George Turner serves at the pleasure of the mayor, although he’s said he’d like to have the job.

(File photo by Joeff Davis)

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CUT SHORT Trina McKibben, mother of slain liquor store clerk Kavader McKibben, urges the community to end violence at Monday night's vigil

Alvin “A.J.” Jones remembers Kavader McKibben as a star basketball player, skilled at every position on the court, and one of the warmest and most giving persons he’s ever known. The 21-year-old liquor store clerk who was shot and killed during a Friday night armed robbery could always make Jones laugh.

Le’Bryan Wilkerson, another longtime pal of McKibben’s, smiles between tears.

“He was goofy, he was playful,” Wilkerson says. “It’s just sad.”

More than 200 Atlantans, including Mayor-elect Kasim Reed, gathered on Monday night outside the Moreland Package liquor store where McKibben was killed to remember his life — and urge each other to unite as a community to help end violent crime.

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On Friday night, Kavader McKibben was shot and killed during a robbery at the Moreland Avenue liquor store where he worked. Tonight, Atlantans Together Against Crime, along with South Atlantans for Neighborhood Development, will hold a vigil at 7 p.m to remember the 21-year-old who’s been described as someone who “had a good heart and a warm smile.”

From an email sent out to SAND members:

We will be gathering in the parking lot of the package store tomorrow night at 7 to show our support of his family and friends. The Moreland Package store is located near the intersection of Moreland Ave and Wylie St – beside the old Texaco gas station and across from the new Goodfella’s Pizza. Please join us, bring some friends and your candles, and let’s show our support for this sweet young man’s family and friends. We will also be collecting money for his family to use to pay for funeral expenses. If you’d like to donate, please bring a check with you to the vigil and we’ll let you know who to make it out to once we’re there.

You can also visit the Facebook page for the vigil here.

The AJC reports that 19-year-old Terrone Anthony, the suspect in McKibben’s killing, was shot by the liquor store owner during the incident. Police apprehended Anthony after he fled the scene. He’s been charged with murder and is recovering at Grady Hospital. He’ll be transferred to Fulton County Jail. An alleged accomplice remains at large.

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After leaving Mary Norwood’s campaign party at the Varsity, CL dropped by Noni’s on Edgewood Avenue around 12:15 a.m. to speak with mayoral candidate Kyle Keyser.

The filmmaker and community activist, whose grassroots campaign tapped social media to reach voters and raise funds, received less than one percent of the votes in yesterday’s election. (For a second yesterday Fox 5 said he had it wrapped up, which Keyser thought was amusing.)

We asked him how he felt now that the election’s over.

A large part of a runoff is actually convincing voters to return to the polls. And Keyser’s proven he can rally people around a cause. No word yet if he plans to endorse Mary Norwood or Kasim Reed. His nod of approval wouldn’t be a deciding factor, but it surely wouldn’t hurt.

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Last Wednesday, anti-crime advocate Kyle Keyser made the Atlanta mayoral race — which has seen its fair share of drama the last few weeks — much more interesting when he announced his candidacy.

One problem: Keyser didn’t have the $4,425 to get his name on the ballot. Another problem: the Little Five Points resident had only 48 hours to raise the cash. Either that or gather 2,300 signatures in the same amount of time.

So Keyser, the co-founder of the 10,000-member strong Atlantans Together Against Crime and who’s well-known among the city’s more social, younger crowd, asked for help from friends and strangers via Twitter, Facebook and DailyKos. It paid off. Here are the numbers.

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Anti-crime advocate Kyle Keyser, who announced his Atlanta mayoral bid on Sept. 2, sends word that he’s met his $4,425 fundraising goal.

Since announcing his candidacy on Sept. 2, the 36-year-old video producer and Little Five Points resident asked friends and supporters via Facebook, Twitter and DailyKos to help raise money so he could pay the mandatory qualifying fee to run for office.

Keyser, who acknowledges he’s outmatched when it comes to money and experience, will file his official papers at City Hall this afternoon.

“The change the next mayor will have to bring in the next four years is crucial,” he told CL this morning. “I’m running to remind [my opponents] of that change. I believe Atlanta can change with the right leadership.”

His opponents in the race, thus far, are Lisa Borders, Peter Brownlowe, Mary Norwood, Kasim Reed and Jesse Spikes. Qualifying ends today at 4:30 p.m.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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At 6 p.m., hundreds of Atlanta residents, politicians and community activists are expected to begin an anti-crime rally in Bessie Branham Park off Delano Avenue in Kirkwood. The ralliers are responding to last week’s shooting of Kemmeth Hagen, 5, who was gunned down outside of his home on nearby Ridgedale Road. Hagen was shoot three times in the torso while mowing his lawn, reportedly by a man attempting to steal his weed-wacker.

If you miss this event, Atlantans Together Against Crime is holding another rally Monday evening in the Kirkwood Village.

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CL staffers Scott Henry and Alejandro Leal covered the Atlanta Police Department’s John Henderson press conference on our Twitter feed.

Atlantans Together Against Crime’s Kyle Keyser also Twittered the press conference.

Atlanta Police say ballistics and DNA evidence led them to charge 17-year-old Jonathan Redding with Henderson’s murder.

CL’s servers are acting wonky, so check here AND our Twitter feed for updates as they become available.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Grayson Daughters spoke with Atlanta Police Union President Scott Kreher at the most recent Atlantans Together Against Crime rally in Midtown. Topics included how the organization will endorse a candidate in the Atlanta mayor’s race, what role the community plays in fighting crime, and what’s needed to end police furloughs. 

In March, the Atlanta City Council unanimously passed a resolution urging Mayor Shirley Franklin to introduce a budget that ended police and firefighter furloughs. Last week, the mayor granted its request. Council is expected to vote on the budget in June.

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Last week, ABC reported on Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC) and other local citizens using the Internet to fight crime.

If you haven’t noticed ATAC’s emergence since February, or don’t remember the Grant Park burglary suspects caught last year after they showed up on YouTube, the ABC piece is a good-n-quick primer showing how neighborhood watch-style activities are migrating online.

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The killing of John Henderson sparked Atlanta resident awareness about crime.

Kyle Keyser is a founder of Atlantans Together Against Crime, a grassroots citizen group that raises awareness about the city’s growing crime problem. In an open letter to Mayor Shirley Franklin and City Council that Keyser asked CL to publish, he says the community is fully engaged, but residents’ trust in their elected officials is slipping. On Feb. 23 from 5 to 7 p.m., ATAC will hold its second monthly rally at the corner of Martin Luther King and Joseph E. Lowery Boulevards.

An Open Letter to the Mayor and Council of Atlanta:

Lately, it seems, when you can’t fight crime with police officers you fight it with numbers.

“Things are better today,” you insist, and you reach back over the years to compare crime rates. Never mind the property crime increase here or another senseless murder there. You act as if this is all in our heads, perhaps being exacerbated by neighbors – and neighborhoods – too quick to react.

Madam Mayor & Council members – with all due respect – stop patronizing us. We are not children who are scared of the dark for no other reason than its darkness. Criminals are lurking in our streets and perpetrating horrible crimes on all sides of Atlanta. Maybe they are not killing or assaulting us as much as they did in your comparison years but they are breaking into our homes and our cars, they are robbing us of hard-earned possessions, and they are stealing our privacy, our peace, and our sense of safety with alarming frequency.

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Earlier this month, John Henderson was killed during an early-morning robbery at The Standard Food and Spirits on Memorial Drive. Today and tonight, more than 60 Atlanta restaurants are participating in a “dine-out” benefit to raise funds for the reward that would lead to the arrest of individuals involved in his slaying.

For a full list of participating restuarants — and a map their locations — check out Atlantans Together Against Crime’s website.

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Nearly 175 people gathered in Little Five Points last night to rally and raise awareness about the city’s  crime problem. Atlantans Together Against Crime, a grassroots citizen group, organized the event. The group plans to stage rallies in different Atlanta neighborhoods on the last Monday of every month.

Grayson of Mostly Media has video of last night’s event.

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