Music Midtown Canceled

Raissa Kengne, 34, has been charged with murder and other charges after shooting and killing two men and wounding a third on Aug. 22. The shooting put Midtown Atlanta in lockdown and prompted a citywide search. Kengne was taken into custody at the airport. The deceased victims are Michael Shinners, 60, and Wesley Freeman, 41. Kengne was described as a “disgruntled resident” of the 1280 West condos and had accused the building’s property management group – where Shinners and Freeman were employed – of fraud and breaking into her unit to steal evidence. Kengne was denied bond and remains in the Fulton County Jail. The special prosecutor overseeing the investigation into the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks by Atlanta police officers in 2020 will not pursue charges. Brooks, 27, was shot and killed after Officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan tried to arrest him for DUI in a Wendy’s parking lot on University Avenue. The shooting set off protests around the city and the fast-food restaurant was burned to the ground. The prosecutor, Pete Skandalakis, said he believed the use of deadly force was “objectively reasonable” and the officers “did not act with criminal intent.” The family is pursuing civil litigation against the officers.

Music Midtown canceled over gun ban challenge

By Dyana Bagby and Collin Kelley

Atlanta will lose $50 million in economic impact due to the cancellation of this year’s Music Midtown festival over Georgia’s gun laws.

Festival organizer Live Nation announced the cancellation in August without explanation, but it soon became clear that it was over not being able to ban guns at Piedmont Park.

Gun proponents had been threatening legal action against Music Midtown for months in the wake of Georgia’s expansion of a 2014 law that allows guns in churches, schools, and publicly owned property – which includes Piedmont Park.

With many artists having weapons bans in their contracts and not being able to properly insure the festival, Live Nation chalked the cancellation up to “circumstances beyond our control.”

My Chemical Romance, Jack White, Fall Out Boy, and Future were set to headline the festival.

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman called the decision “a sad day” and noted that “public policy has real

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impacts and in this case – economic and social implications on a great tradition.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said in a statement that the loss of the festival would cost the local economy a “proven $50 million” in revenue and tied the cancellation to her opponent Gov. Brian Kemp’s “dangerous and extreme gun agenda.”

“It is a great loss for our community that Music Midtown is not taking place this year,” William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a statement. “This festival has been an Atlanta tradition for decades and has provided great memories for visitors and residents alike.” Thomas Smith, a professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, said the loss of events like Music Midtown could negatively affect the attractiveness of Atlanta in the long run. Outside events might not want to jump over the hurdles necessary to put on an event, and people looking to move might not consider the metro area if there’s a lack of different types of entertainment.

“By losing an event like this, it makes the city less attractive in the long run,” he said.

Smith said companies looking at whether to come to the metro area would take things like entertainment opportunities into consideration.

“They look at things like what is the overall attractiveness of the city?” Smith said. “Do you have access to entertainment? Do you have access to other types of things that people find attractive? Those kinds of characteristics play into a company’s overall decision matrix.”

Live Nation did not say when or where Music Midtown might return. “We were looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can all get back to enjoying the festival together again soon,” the statement read.