The drug squad cops stormed Johnston’s home using a “no knock” search warrant. They burst through her burglar bars and knocked down her security door. Police say Johnston met them at the door with a revolver, which her niece gave to her for self-protection, and wounded three cops, none seriously.

A judge granted the warrant based on an affidavit signed by narcotics officer Jason Smith, who claimed that earlier on November 21 a police informer had purchased cocaine at the house from a man named “Sam,” and that "Sam" had installed surveillance cameras at the house to protect against a raid.

The informer, Alexis White, later came forward in a TV interview to say the police had called him after the shooting and instructed him to lie about his role in order to cover up for them. White said the cops told him, “You need to cover our [rear]…. It’s all on you, man…. You need to tell them about this Sam dude.”

White said he was never at Johnston’s house and that “Sam” is a fabrication of the cops.

Police also made other contradictory claims. First they said an undercover cop made the alleged drug purchase; later they said an informer did it. Originally they claimed to have found narcotics in the raid; later they said they found a small amount of marijuana, not considered a narcotic by police.

At the funeral for Johnston, attended by 100 people, Vera Washington, her sister-in-law, said she suspected the cops “were lying all the time. A woman that age would not be selling drugs.”

Eight police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave. Authorities have yet to report how many shots the cops fired because it’s all “under investigation.”

The November 28 community meeting was called by State Senator Vincent Fort and State Representative Mable Thomas. It was attended by numerous local and state Democratic Party politicians who are Black, including Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin. Police chief Richard Pennington faced four hours of questions at the meeting from community residents angered by the killing. The FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have also said they are investigating the case.

Some local residents questioned Pennington about what they said was the participation of cops in the drug trade in the community. Others expressed doubts that Johnston could have shot three cops, suggesting that they wounded themselves in their own barrage of gunfire. One said he feared the cops more than the drug dealers in his neighborhood.

Neither Mayor Franklin nor any of the other officeholders present at the community called for prosecuting the cops who killed Johnston.

A rally of 100 people took place in front of Johnston’s house before the community meeting. Among the signs at the rally, which was called by the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was one with a picture of a cop on the phone with the caption, “They gave me administrative leave…with pay. Kill a Black citizen and get paid.”

On December 4 nearly 500 people attended a “town hall meeting” at the Mount Ephraim Baptist Church, called by the Atlanta branch of the NAACP, to discuss the killing of Kathryn Johnston. Franklin, Pennington, and other city and state officials were part of the panel, which responded to written questions.

Questioners demanded answers about the shooting of Johnston, no-knock warrants, and the mistreatment of Blacks by the cops. One person attending the meeting, Willie Zellers, said his son Aubrey, 21, was beaten so severely by Atlanta police October 11, when he was stopped for a traffic violation and attempted to run away, that he died that night. Pennington replied that the case was in the hands of the district attorney and he couldn't comment.
 
 
Related articles:
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City officials, police try to defuse outrage
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Record 7 million jailed, on parole or probation  
 
 
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