Khalid Kamau, a BLM activist and Bernie Sanders supporter, thrilled the Left when he took over as mayor in South Fulton, Georgia. Quickly, he began implementing his vision.
South Fulton’s identity as a Black city is something kamau wants to embrace fully. “Black On Purpose” is a phrase coined by him referring to the types of policies he wants the city to push — ones that intentionally improve Black people’s lives.
Being “Black On Purpose” is key in his vision for the city: a highly educated citizenry and the best place to do Black business. But, getting past the growing pains of being a new city — and the Blackest city — won’t happen without having courageous conversations about identity, insecurity and purpose, he says.
Earlier that year, kamau helped found the Atlanta chapter of Black Lives Matter. By this point, he says the organization had a comprehensive platform that touched on housing, income inequality, restorative justice and more. At the time, members of the Movement for Black Lives were reluctant to get involved in electoral politics, but not kamau.
“…But this new city in the SWATS,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘This city is going to be super Black.’ And if there were ever a place, if there were ever a laboratory to test out all of these policies, the City of South Fulton is that place.”
There’s a problem in the lab.
A Georgia mayor was charged with burglary and criminal trespassing Saturday, leading the way for him to be temporarily replaced by one of five City Council members who sued him this year.
Khalid Kamau, the mayor of the city of South Fulton in metropolitan Atlanta, was charged with criminal trespassing and first-degree burglary. He was released the same day on $11,000 in surety bonds.
He was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation, NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta reported.
Williams-Brown and four other council members sued Kamau in March to remove him from office. Only two members of the council were not party to the suit, court records show.
The suit alleges that Kamau knowingly disclosed confidential information for his benefit since his election and recorded confidential executive sessions, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported at the time.
Kamau has been in a contentious relationship with the council for over a year. The council asked the district attorney’s office in June 2022 for an investigation of transactions Kamau’s charged on a city-issued credit card that were discovered in an audit.
He asked Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate the City Council for possible corruption the next month, WXIA reported
But maybe he was just redistributing some property?
The police report states that the homeowner received a notification on his phone from a surveillance camera at 6:52 a.m. that a person, identified as Kamau, was walking onto his property. The homeowner said he put on his clothes and and watched Kamau walk up the driveway toward his home and lake house, which is located a bit further away from his home on the property.
The homeowner said by the time he got into his truck, Kamau was already inside the lake house. He told police he approached Kamau in a “cautious manner” and proceeded to call 911. While he was on the phone with 911, he told Kamau to “stay put,” adding he did not want Kamau to come near him.
The homeowner said Kamau began walking away from the lake house in the yard, prompting the homeowner to shout “stay put” once again while the homeowner held a gun. Kamau responded by saying “you can’t give me orders,” the police report stated.
After the homeowner put his gun down, Kamau allegedly told the homeowner “Do you know who the f— I am? I’m the mayor and I’ll wait for my police force to get here and see what happens then.”
From BLM to… just wait till my cops get here. But turned out it was an honest cop instead.