Family of a man crushed at an Atlanta homeless encampment sues the city

ATLANTA AP The family of a homeless man who died after a bulldozer crushed his tent during an encampment sweep sued the city of Atlanta 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 Taylor was inside one of the tents and was crushed by the truck when his tent was flattened the lawsuit says City agents 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 overview 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 attorney Harold Spence mentioned Nobody looked inside the tent and if someone who looked inside had taken 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 clinical 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 Mayor Andre Dickens reported in a announcement the circumstance involving Mr Taylor was a tragedy but that he could not comment on pending litigation The U S 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 commented the city faces a dire affordable housing shortage that makes it inevitable that people will end up living on the streets 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 City executives have reported they are doing that Right after Taylor s death the city put a temporary moratorium on encampment sweeps 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 announced functionaries coordinated with the local nonprofit who leads the city s homelessness services to offer people living there housing with supportive services Lawyers reported they were grateful for the city s efforts but more work is needed Members of the Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition mentioned they are still paying for hotel rooms for eight former encampment residents Taylor s lawyers and family called on Dickens administration cut through red tape such as issues with documents and help the others get housing Taylor s sister Darlene Chaney teared up during a Friday news conference where lawyers reported the lawsuit as she re-listened to descriptions of the gruesome injuries her brother suffered She commented 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 obstacles such as getting him an ID slowed that process down she noted She misses his annoying weekly calls and declared 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 announced - Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press Document for America Statehouse News Initiative Assessment for America is a nonprofit national arrangement undertaking that places journalists in local newsrooms to assessment on undercovered issues Source