ATLANTA -- Atlanta police arrested a man Thursday after he was spotted in surveillance video swiping signs from City Hall. The man was identified by Anne Torres, Mayor Kasim Reed's communications director, as Terry U. Morris. Morris is a volunteer with the campaign of Ceasar Mitchell, who is running for mayor, according to Mitchell's spokeswoman L.A. Campbell.
Reed and Mitchell have been embroiled in bitter standoff after Mitchell demanded that Reed discontinue making long-term appointments to city positions. Reed responded by publicly outlining ethics complaints against Mitchell, then posted them publicly on a large graphics package in the City Hall atrium.
Late Wednesday, Torres said surveillance video captured images of a man swiping the graphics. Torres said Atlanta police identified him Thursday as Morris.
Atlanta Police said that Morris was located at Mitchell's campaign headquarters on Joseph E. Lowery Blvd. Thursday afternoon. Police said Morris departed in an automobile, and was pulled over by an APD patrol officer. He was taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor theft by taking. He was booked into the Fulton County Jail Thursday night, and remained there late Friday morning.
"The signs placed outside of the Mayor's Office were stolen by an individual trying to prevent the facts on the signs from becoming known," Torres said in a statement.
Atlanta police initially indicated the arrest took place at Mitchell's headquarters. Friday, they clarified that the arrest took place after an officer watched the suspect leave the headquarters building.
Mitchell issued a statement Thursday evening saying, "I was just informed that an occasional citizen volunteer was arrested today for allegedly taking signs from the atrium at City Hall. He was not instructed by the campaign to remove the signs nor was he authorized to do so. There have been a number of negative distractions as of late. And I believe it’s time to get back to the real issues that are important to the people of Atlanta. Let’s all stay focused on what really matters."
Here is the full statement on the theft from Mitchell's Mayoral campaign... pic.twitter.com/s3oRFa5yrR
— Joe Henke (@JoeHenke) September 21, 2017
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