AJC 1a Sept 22, 1969

Piedmont Park Melee

Looked Like WWII

40 Police Are Used to Quell Disturbance After Arrest Attempt

By Hugh Nations and Harmon Perry

"It looked like World War II to me," Mrs. Jon Johnston said ruefully Monday morning as she recalled a hippie-police melee which sent her to the hospital. 'The wife of a Georgia Tech philosophy professor also stands accused of assault and battery on what she described as a 200-pound policeman.

At least 72 persons were charged in the Sunday afternoon disturbance, here at Piedmont Park during a live music concert.

CASES AGAINST three of the 12, scheduled in Municipal Court Monday morning, were continued until Oct 1. Cases against the remaining nine were expected to be continued also.

Those who appeared briefly in court Monday for the continuance were charged with offenses including inciting to riot, profane language and assault and battery.

Mrs. Linda Jenness, Socialist Workers Party write in candidate for mayor, charged police action in the incident was "vicious and unwarranted provocation."

"It becomes more clear each day that police Chief Herbert Jenkins should be fired," she declared, "that the black community should select and control its own police, and that all police "should be removed from the Peachlree-14th Street area."

Virtually the entire evening watch of the Atlanta Police Department was called out to quell the disturbance. About 40 officers, some lobbing tear-gas grenades, were actually used while 60 more waited in a bus to be called into action.

THE MELEE apparently began when a plainclothes officer, C. R. Price, attempted to arrest a youth who was pointing him out to the crowd as a policeman. Price said the youth, George Nikas, 1294 Piedmont Ave. had been arrested previously on a narcotics charge. Price said ' he instructed Nikas to leave the park and when he refused to do so, tried to arrest him for interfering with an officer.

The crowd, however, took the youth away from Price, he said, and the officer called for reinforcements. Other officers eventually succeeded in getting the youth into a patrol car. At one point, Price drew his revolver,

Later, when a tear gas grenade was thrown back from the crowd under the car. Price himself removed Nikas as fumes began seeping into the vehicle.

The arrest incident quickly escalated into a major confrontation. The young people, attending a free rock concert in the Piedmont Park ball field, chanted "Get the pigs out of our park," Police responded with teargas and billy clubs after the crowd began to hurl rocks and bottles at them.

Six police cars were damaged. Several bad tires slashed.

Police sealed off all entrances to the park, but hippies still streamed into the unfenced area.

Hippie pickets marched in front of the downtown police station M o n d a y protesting blacks and whites.

Hippies also were planning a inarch from Piedmont Park to City Hall Monday afternoon to demand that charges be dropped against those arrested, to have police pulled out of the 10th and Peachtree Street area and to sock the removal of Police Chief Herbert Jenkins. Both Jenkins and Mayor Ivan Alien Jr. showed up at the park disturbance after the area was calm. Alien instructed the music to strike up again, and there were no further incidents.

The chief and Mayor Allen arrived after Police Supt. Oscar Jordan had succeeded in quieting the crowd by persuading the youths to listen to members of the crowd who were urging them to exercise some control.

Two policemen were reported slightly injured, apparently by rocks and bottles tossed by the crowd.

Mrs. Johnston, wife of the Tech professor, said she had gone to the park to check on her 14-year-old daughter and 16- year-old old, who were attending the concert.

When she and her husband arrived, she said, the fight was in progress. She said she saw one officer attempting to provoke a group of the youth into violence, and she told him, "I'm an adult. Will yon please calm down?"

The officer walked away, she said, but later she saw him urging other officers to charge a group of youths. "I heard him say something like, 'Come on, lets get them."

SHE SAID the officer then hit her across the head with his billy club, inflicting a scalp cut that required six stitches to close.

The 41-ycar-old professor's wife was hustled into a paddy wagon and about half an hour later was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in a squad car.