This is the point at which Occupy Atlanta lost its very last inkling of my respect...They haven't the slightest clue about what they stand for, and it's too bad that the organizers are too naive to understand what a detrimental presence the "shelter" has on Atlanta, and let Anita Beaty & Co. pervert what the movement should be aiming for. I would say it's high turn a riot squad loose on them with water cannons and whatever else needed... enough is enough already...

Bob,

RTFA: "It was an intense scene as people armed with protest signs, bull horns and banners marched to the hospital doors, trying to push their way through."

Peaceful my ass. If you "storm" a hospital, somewhere a lot of people from that 99% they are talking about receive service, you deserve a little more than a hose.

I'd say storming a hospital leans toward militant...

It is important to understand that Anita Beaty does not want the homeless to in any way rise above their situation - she needs them to stay like they are to make a certain political statement. No other homeless service in this city has anywhere near the detrimental impact on the surrounding community as the Peachtree Pine "shleter." I have done many drive-by's at the shelter immediately followed by a drive-by at places like Union Mission, Salvation Army, and others - every single time I always find abundant drug activity and public disorder around Peachtree-Pine, and every time I find the other places to be near ghost-towns... And it is also noteworthy that many people live around Union Mission and never, ever voice any complaints about it. And now it looks like she's found a way to manipulate some naive protesters to advance her perfect example of greed in action...

@Bob - I would say the quality of life in the community in which I live is at stake when a badly mismanaged "shelter" is allowed to wreak havoc for years on end by maintaining a steady stream of vagrants into the area. Do I have something financially at stake? No - I am not here to flip a condo, another phenomenon that can wreck urban living if not kept under control (there's more to greed than what we see coming from Wall Street). A great many people like myself want to see intown and Midtown living flourish, and find it a total insult when a crooked woman like Anita Beaty proactively works to undermine the stability, safety, and good public order in the community we call home... And now she seems to be getting Occupy Atlanta into her pocket - that's the one atrocious aspect about this situation...

Ok, Occupy Atlanta people I'm a bit confused. How does distrubting a hospital caring for sick innocent people help the cause of a crack house - Peachtree-Pine? Pick a cause and stick with it. I'm CERTAIN none of you understand the midhandling and enabling the warehouse has impacted on the men that stay there and the community that surrounds it. 99% of what? Uninformed and confused?

Steve Gower is correct when claiming that the Task Force for the Homeless is a sham. Some of you may not be acquainted with the management of the organization and its facility at Peachtree & Pine. Anita Beatty and her husband are not only paid hundreds of thousands per year to head that thing, but they have also amassed "retirement" funds of millions of dollars. I'm not kidding about these figures, they are available should you do enough research into the organization.

If "Emory student" is correct- and I have no reason to believe that they aren't- then the author of this article didn't choose their words well. However, the picture that accompanies this article shows a confrontation between a protester and Emory cop that looks quite a bit more than "peaceful protest."

I applaud the Occupy Wall Street and other protesters that are legally and peacefully showing their disgust against an economic and political system that is thoroughly rigged. I think it is a complete shame, however, that they have been co-opted by scam artists like the Beattys.

As someone who has lived a few blocks away from this so-called shelter for a few years, I can tell you that the Metro Task Force for the Homeless does a poor job of actually helping the homeless out of their situation and a poor job of preventing drug activity right outside their doorstep. There are plenty of well-run homeless shelters in Downtown such as the Union Mission next to Centennial Park.

Whether the homeless shelter is well run or effective is irrelevant to these people. One of their "demands" is to forgive all debts. If people manage their affairs poorly its always someone else's fault. Its no different in this case. This while bizzare story reminds me of kids who just learned to drive. They will drive anywhere just to be driving. These kids seem to like protesting no matter how silly just to be protesting. The while thing is just silly.

I may be wrong with this, but having been in that building before for several occasions, I think there is a misconception that this building is really a hospital. I believe it is for doctor office visits and day treatments. The image of hospital is not the image I get from this annex.

Emory Hospital Midtown represents a key player in the effort to shut down the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter. Emory views the shelter as an interference to the "business" of its Midtown hospital. Furthermore, Emory would like to see the lucrative property on which the homeless shelter resides to be developed. Emory has blocked millions in funding to the shelter since 1997. Protestors recognized the role that Emory has played with the homeless shelter and the rest of the Atlanta community and wanted the larger public to be aware as well. Emory upper administration is the 1%.
Protestors were very careful to ensure that they were not interfering with the medical service operations of the hospital.

I was there and it was very peaceful. Seriously this hospital promotes healing. Enough said.

I was in the march. AS SOON AS the officer told us to back up, we did. "Storming" is a ridiculous exaggeration. The main problem we have is that Emory university is hiking fees and being dishonest about their corporate associations. It is especially offensive that they are doing so using a homeless shelter.

I write as a member of the Board of Directors of the Task Force for the Homeless. I was also present at the demonstration in front of Emory Hospital entrance. The demonstration was loud but peaceful. After several minutes chanting in front of the entryway, we marched back to Peachtree-Pine. It is important to stand back and consider the larger significance of this action. The Task Force has recently filed suit against Emory University and its health-care affiliates. We charge Emory with participating in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the Task Force and close down the homeless service center at Peachtree-Pine. Other co-conspirators named in our several lawsuits include the City of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, businessman Manny Fialkow, and several dummy corporations created by Fialkow to conceal his role in the conspiracy. Documents that our lawyers have obtained in the discovery process show that Emory University was an active and willing partner in the conspiracy to attack the Task Force's public and private funding, and to enable Fialkow to illegally claim title to the property at Peachtree-Pine. We are confident that when a jury and the larger public have an opportunity to see this damning evidence, they will condemn Emory's shameful record. They will also want to know why the local media and blogsters consistently failed to get to the bottom of the story.

The definition of "storm" is "a violent military assault on a fortified place, strong position, or the like". The use of this sort of inflammatory language to describe a non-violent protest by non-military citizens is incorrect and biased. The readers of your newspaper deserve honesty, not sensationalism.

The building you WERE TRYING to disturb is not simply administrative. It houses surgical and cardiac procedural areas as well as labor and delivery and mother/baby units. The statements referring to it as an administrative building simply underscore how uninformed your group is!

Swing and a big miss by the The Flea Party. Keep it up. Your myriad of uniformed causes and misguided actions are the Achilles heel of this entire "movement". Funny that its called a movement as you guys do a lot of just sitting around drumming and making tambourines.

This is criminal civil disobedience, disturbing the peace, unlawful assembly, loitering . . . and probably involved obstruction, and more. It's so laughable that the Occupy derelicts compare their mobs to Tea Party assemblies. The Occupy people need to check themselves beforeTHEY cause serious problems, civil unrest, and violence. Law abiding people will not tolerate Euro/Middle East style riots.

When does giving an officer the finger and threatning that officer make the term peaceful a part of your vocabulary

these "Occupy" protesters are a collection of social misfits and far left Communist types. Its time the police started cracking some skulls when they pull this crap. They want to stand around with signs and protest fine, when they start trespassing , start cracking skulls.

Holy crap, these people are lunatics. Will someone cut them a check or pay for their student loans or whatever the hell they're looking for so we don't need to fear for our safety?

A bunch of "KIDS" attempting to display worldly wisdom. In reality they're a collection of spoiled brats that ought to have their heads cracked.

Wow.

I am now relinquishing all responsiblity with this group of ragtags, I should've learned when I left your all the first time, in my now classic youtube video appearance in the John Lewis fiasco, screaming at all of you. I came back, because I helped Launch this thing, Occupyatl was my baby, but now, I am once again forced to call all of you out, and pull my dumbass card.

And to they guy flicking off a cop, you are the problem, not the officer.

I am ashamed, and apologize to the city for initially spearheading this movement.

donate - www.buildtheborderfence.com

I agree with the "we are the 99 percent" message of Occupy Wall Street (and supposedly Occupy Atlanta) far more than I do with anything ever done by the Tea Party, which simply is a tool cooked up by demagogues and the super-wealthy to screw the middle class. But turning attention away from that unifying 99 percent message and toward the divisive cause of Peachtree-Pine sapped the movement's energy and alienated allies -- particularly because the protesters were so stupid as to block the main entrance to a hospital.

Whether you think the Peachtree-Pine is wonderful or not, Occupy Atlanta strayed from the salience of the Occupy Wall Street message by opting to be used by a marginal cause. Why not focus on the Koch brothers' Georgia-Pacific building instead of a hospital?