Closer Look: Federal Grand Jury Subpoena for Mayor Reed Records; OneRace Stone Mountain; And More

Monday on “Closer Look with Rose Scott”:

• 0:00: Rose gives a news brief about a new federal grand jury subpoena looking for records of former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed from both terms. According to a copy of the subpoena received by Closer Look, the feds are asking for a lot, including all travel and travel justification records for Mayor Kasim Reed and all employees of the Office of the Mayor from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2017. The subpoena also calls for all records related to or associated with City of Atlanta Purchasing Cards. We hear more later in today’s program.
• In other news, concerns of safety and security are at a heightened level after another mass shooting took place in Jacksonville, Florida during a gaming competition over the weekend. Two men who were fatally shot along with the suspected gunman, a 24-year old Baltimore man, who authorities say took his own life. Police say eleven people were also injured, nine with gunshot wounds. All of those injured are expected to survive. What are the safety and security plans as Atlanta welcomes thousands of visitors for the Labor Day holiday weekend? We learn about preparations from Major Aston Greene, Commander of Marta Police Department’s Emergency Preparedness Unit.
• 10:27: The Randolph County Board of Elections and Registration garnered national attention – and scrutiny – when it was set to vote on a proposal to close seven of its nine polling locations, just months before the November midterm election. The controversy signified a voting rights issue in the small south Georgia town particularly because the rural, agricultural area is considered part of the south’s “Black Belt.” Friday, the county’s Board of Elections and Registration voted to keep all of its polling places open. To hear more about the decision, and reaction to it, we speak with Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, and John Powers, associate counsel for the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
• 28:46: A new federal grand jury subpoena has been issued seeking credit card and travel records for Mayor Kasim Reed and his office, for the entirety of his two terms. We hear more about what this could mean from WABE’s legal analyst Page Pate.
• 38:48: OneRace Stone Mountain is a faith-based event which seeks to embody the nonviolent spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by focusing on justice, unity, and racial reconciliation. The event took place Saturday. We learn more from Bishop Garland Hunt, Senior Pastor of The Father’s House in Norcross and co-executive director of the OneRace Movement, and Hazen Stevens, co-operations director of the OneRace Movement.

Closer Look is produced by Candace Wheeler, Emilia Brock and Trevor Young.