Tent-slashing raises questions about Old Wheat Street encampment sweep

At that meeting, she did not refer to Barnett by name. But she did identify him by his alias, Davinci Barcelo, afterward.

The Department of Public Works said it was clearing the encampment in preparation for Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend celebrations, when a construction vehicle struck Taylor while he was in his tent. However, Partners for HOME was under pressure to clear the camp quickly because of Barnett’s threats, Vassell told City Council members at the Feb. 11 Community Development and Human Services Committee meeting.

“I think the city had wanted to prioritize the encampment closure as well, and given the threat that was made by this individual, we were lending whatever support we could provide to close the encampment,” Vassell told them.

Barnett heads the Sweet Auburn Frontline Enforcement, or SAFE, which describes itself as a volunteer organization which offers private security services, and patrols and cleans up public streets. His group’s website states he is on a mission to “decommission unlawful encampments that foster crime and disorder.”

Barnett, 42, is now back on the city’s radar.

He was arrested Tuesday by the Atlanta Police Department and faces seven counts of criminal trespass/damage to property and one count of reckless conduct after video emerged of a man, closely resembling Barnett, slashing tents with a box cutter at the Old Wheat Street homeless encampment on Thursday night.

Credit: From video

Credit: From video

The SAFE website appears to include a testimonial from Mayor Andre Dickens.

Dickens’ spokeswoman Allison J. Fouché said neither the city nor the mayor had any affiliation with SAFE. She said the city’s law department has sent a cease-and-desist notice to the SAFE website owner, the testimonial was fake and the mayor’s image was used without permission.

She added that the mayor’s office was “unaware of the actions of Daniel ‘Davinci’ Barnett.”

In a statement, the mayor’s press secretary, Michael Smith, said Dickens “does not know this man. Period.” He called “absurd” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s questions about whether the city or the mayor’s office knew Barnett was pressuring Partners for HOME to shut the camp down.

Barnett was at the encampment when the mayor visited it the Saturday after Taylor died, but Dickens “did not know who Barnett was nor what he did,” Smith said.

Civil rights attorney Mawuli Mel Davis was critical of Partners for HOME for not responding more forcefully. He said in a phone interview Tuesday that the city should protect homeless residents against illegal attempts to forcibly remove or intimidate them.

“When private citizens attempt to take the role of police, of city officials, and attempt to unlawfully control Atlanta streets, bad things happen,” Davis said.

In a Feb. 28 interview, Vassell said Barnett’s alleged threats were one of many pressures bearing down on the camp before the clearing, including complaints from community stakeholders and other public health concerns. But she acknowledged that it was fair to question why officials bowed to the pressure when Barnett did not appear to have legal authority to police a public street or remove people.

It’s not clear whether SAFE is a one-man operation run by Barnett, but his website lists three other individuals with roles in the organization. Police said Sunday they believe Barnett acted alone, though witnesses at the camp said he was with an individual dressed in all-black security garb.

Vassell said Partners for HOME workers did not know Barnett was associated with SAFE when he engaged with them. She said workers were more interested in keeping Barnett at arm’s length and helping people at the camp get resources.

“We get complaints all the time from neighbors and community members. A threat is unusual. But this is one more reason why we [wanted] to get it done as quickly as possible,” she said.

Partners for HOME did not respond to questions Tuesday about whether the organization had reported Barnett to the city or the mayor’s office. But she said last month that the nonprofit had told the Atlanta Police Department team assisting at the site about the threats.

“It was after the fact. We weren’t calling 911 in the moment,” she said.

In a statement on Tuesday, she added that no formal complaint was filed.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

“Despite receiving millions in funding over three years, Partners for HOME allocated no resources to mitigate hazards at this site. SAFE will decommission every encampment in Sweet Auburn, restore our streets, and revitalize our community,” Barnett wrote in a March 3 email to the AJC.

Barnett’s ties to the encampment and local developers have drawn scrutiny. Until recently, he was a financial consultant for the Historic District Development Corporation, a nonprofit that had also complained about the camp, according to Vassell.

The nonprofit’s mission is to preserve the identity of the Sweet Auburn neighborhood “through equitable and inclusive development.” The group was founded in 1980 by Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife, Coretta Scott King.

An Historic District Development Corporation email, shared with the AJC, stated that Barnett had taken a fire extinguisher from the corporation’s offices before heading to the encampment on Thursday night. Taylor’s girlfriend, Lolita Griffeth, still lives at the camp and told the AJC that last week a man marched up and used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire she was using to stay warm.

However, the corporation’s president, Cheneé Joseph, wrote in the email that her organization is not affiliated with SAFE even though Barnett was a financial services consultant for it. Joseph refers to Barnett as Barcelo, and appears to have provided a testimonial on SAFE’s website.

“Following Mr. Barcelo’s actions on Thursday, HDDC is ending its engagement of his services,” Joseph wrote in the March 11 email.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com