Former Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood was quick to hit the delete button on a Facebook post she shared featuring a list of “active” Atlanta gangs that included early 2000’s rap groups like Three 6 Mafia and Dem Franchise Boys.
Atlanta Police Department officials have confirmed the list is severely “inaccurate and outdated,” according to 11Alive News.
(Facebook screenshot courtesy of 11Alive)
Norwood, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2009 and 2017, appeared to have copy-pasted the so-called “List of Atlanta’s Active Gangs” onto her Facebook page. In addition to the rap groups, the list points to gang activity around Bowen Homes and Grady Homes — public housing complexes that were torn down more than a decade ago.
Among the alleged gangs featured on the list were the Gangster Disciples of Buckhead, D.4.L (Down for Life), the Rollin’ 60’s Crips and Young Money, among several others.
According to 11Alive, the list has been seen floating around the Internet and “can most easily be found at the “Hip-Hop Database” page at Fandom, a site that hosts “various pop culture Wikipedia-style pages.” The outlet reports the list appears to have originated on an Angelfire site that has Internet Archive screenshots dating back to 2005.
So far, it’s unclear where Norwood found the list.
It wasn’t long before her Facebook page was flooded with comments from users pointing to the list’s inaccuracies, to which Norwood responded with a post reading: “I appreciate everyone’s comments and concerns, and I look forward to working with you all to keep Atlanta safe.”
She eventually deleted the post entirely, but the damage was already done.
“@marynorwood’s dog whistle tactics seek to harm Atlanta and traumatize black and brown people in this city,” one Twitter user wrote. “She is relying on Willie Horton-esque media strategy and ignoring data to stoke fear. It is shameful and uncivil and I’m personally done pretending this can be ignored.”
“Other ‘gangs’ listed were Dem Franchize Boys and D4L. Never thought I would say this, but thanks Mary Norwood for reminding me of some old bops” another chimed in.
The list “is not an official APD document,” Campos added. “I believe it’s something that can be had by a simple Google search for Atlanta gangs y zone. But can’t speak to where Ms. Norwood got it from — that’s a question she would need to answer.”
Norwood’s office didn’t respond to Atlanta Black Star’s requests for comment .
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