Family of man killed after his tent was crushed by a bulldozer sues Atlanta

The Guardian

2 days ago

The family of a man who was killed after city workers crushed his tent with a bulldozer during a sweep of a homeless encampment in Atlanta, Georgia, filed a lawsuit against the city on Friday over his death, calling it 'tragic and preventable'.
The lawsuit filed by Cornelius Taylor's sister and son alleges that city employees failed to look to see if there was anyone inside the tents in the encampment before using a bulldozer to clear it in the 16 January sweep. Taylor, 46, was inside one of the tents and was crushed by the truck when his tent was flattened, the lawsuit says.
City officials had called for the clearing of the encampment in preparation for the Martin Luther King Jr holiday. The encampment was blocks away from Ebenezer Baptist church, where King had preached. An autopsy report later revealed Taylor's pelvic bone had been broken and that he suffered damage to organs and internal bleeding.
'A tent that was occupied by a human being was crushed by this heavy equipment. That's obviously wrong,' Harold Spence, an attorney, said. 'Nobody looked inside the tent, and if someone who looked inside had taken 10 seconds to do so, this tragedy could have been averted. And if you don't know what's inside, you don't crush it.'
The lawsuit filed in Fulton county state court asks for a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages, as well as repayment for medical expenses, funeral costs and legal fees. It was filed against the city and seven unnamed city employees, including the driver of the bulldozer.
A spokesperson for Andre Dickens, the mayor of Atlanta, said in a statement 'the incident involving Mr Taylor was a tragedy' but that he could not comment on pending litigation.
The US supreme court ruled last year that cities across the country can enforce bans on homeless camping. But clearings are controversial.
Taylor's death sparked outrage among local advocates and neighbors at the encampment, who called the city's policies on clearing encampments deeply inhumane. They said the city faces a dire affordable housing shortage that makes it inevitable that people will end up living on the streets.
'The sweep, prior to which the city failed completely to check the tents, is a stopgap measure to try to project a false, sanitized vision of Atlanta,' activists from the Housing Justice League advocate group said in a statement. 'Taylor and everyone else living on the streets deserved much more than to be bulldozed out of the way for MLK weekend festivities. Everyone deserves to live in dignity.'
The family's lawyers described the lawsuit as a call for city leaders to treat homeless people as deserving of 'respect and dignity' instead of rushing to clear their communities 'as if they were invisible'.
Typically, the city sends social workers and outreach teams to encampments over a period of months before issuing a final order to evacuate. Those teams work to place people in shelters and, ultimately, permanent housing.
The city had been working with people at the encampment since April 2024 and had placed many into shelters, said Cathryn Vassell, CEO of the city's homelessness organization, Partners for Home.
City officials have said they are taking care to prioritize the safety and dignity of unhoused individuals. Right after Taylor's death, the city put a temporary moratorium on encampment sweeps. However, with the Fifa World Cup coming to Atlanta next year, the city has since resumed clearing encampments with the controversial goal of eliminating all homelessness in the downtown area before then.
Last week, the city closed the camp where Taylor lived and said officials coordinated with the local non-profit to offer people living there housing with supportive services.
Lawyers said they were grateful for the city's efforts, but more work is needed. Members of the Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition said they are still paying for hotel rooms for eight former encampment residents. Taylor's lawyers and family called on Dickens' administration to cut through red tape such as issues with documents and help the others get housing.
Taylor's sister Darlene Chaney teared up during a news conference on Friday where lawyers announced the lawsuit as she re-listened to descriptions of the gruesome injuries her brother suffered.
She said Taylor loved to read everything from science fiction to the Bible. He was eager to leave the encampment to rebuild his life, and stayed positive about his future even as barriers such as getting him an ID slowed that process down, she said. She misses his 'annoying' weekly calls – and said now she only has one brother to annoy her. She misses having two.
'We're here, just because someone, in my own personal opinion, was lazy,' Chaney said.
George Chidi contributed reporting