Outcry after Atlanta tosses unhoused people’s belongings near World Cup spot

City official says staffers were performing ‘routine park maintenance’ where 15 people have gathered for months

City employees in Atlanta, Georgia, recently threw away tents, medication, identification and other belongings of unhoused people at a public park without warning. This led activists and a local official to point to an apparent violation of procedures created after a city employee ran over a tent with a front loader last year, killing a man.

The sweep through the park occurred less than a mile from a popular spot for World Cup watch parties, drawing into focus ongoing tension over the issue of what happens to the city’s several thousand unhoused people during the month-long event.