Intimidation Sign Removal, and Police Involvement in East Point, GA Mayoral Race.
I’m a Black resident and community advocate in East Point, Georgia. I help feed people in
underserved neighborhoods. I never imagined that trying to inform my neighbors about a local
mayor’s race would turn into one of the most intimidating and hostile experiences I’ve ever had
around voting.
I’m sharing this because I need advice and help. We believe what happened in East Point’s
December 2, 2025 mayoral runoff wasn’t just “messy politics” – it felt like a pattern: sign
suppression, intimidation at multiple precincts, and law enforcement presence that scared Black
volunteers into silence.
I’m not a lawyer. I’m just going to tell you what we experienced and show you some of the receipts.
Background: Majority-Black City, Very Little Notice
East Point is a majority-Black city in metro Atlanta. Many of our residents are low-income, elderly, or
working multiple jobs. They rely on clear information from the city about elections.
In this mayoral runoff:
• Many people in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods did not know there was an
election,
• Didn’t know who was running, and
• Didn’t know where to vote on Election Day.
The city did not send broad mailers about the race, the candidates, or the polling
locations. The main “notice” was a post on the city’s Instagram account the day before
the election, with precinct info. I didn’t see that post until someone texted me a
screenshot the night before Election Day.There is also no Election Day precinct located in some of our most underserved Black
neighborhoods. People from those areas had to travel into more affluent/white areas,
like Jefferson Park, to vote.
The Issue: A Trump/MAGA-Aligned Candidate and Efforts to Hide It
The winning candidate, Keisha Chapman, is (according to multiple sources and her own voting
record) a Trump/MAGA supporter who voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024.
Civil-rights leader Richard Rose wrote a flyer explaining this and urging voters to reject her. That
flyer reached a small circle of people – but most residents in the Black and Hispanic neighborhoods
I serve never saw it.
Those of us who did know tried to tell people the truth: that she’s a diehard Trump/MAGA supporter,
in a majority-Black city where most people would consider that highly relevant to their vote.
We put up signs and posters saying things like:
“VOTE NO TO MAGA KEISHA CHAPMAN – SHE IS NOT FOR EAST POINT. VOTE NO.”
These signs did not contain threats, profanity, or incitement. They were standard
negative political messaging, focused on her alignment with Trump and MAGA.
What happened next is what I need you to see.
Incident 1 – Being Followed and Filmed for Putting Up Signs (Delowe Drive, Ward D)
The night before the election, I was driving my colleague’s truck with my niece on Delowe Drive
(Ward D), placing signs that informed voters about Ms. Chapman’s Trump/MAGA support.
A black four-door sedan started following us:
• Every time we pulled into a lot to put up a sign, the sedan pulled in behind us
and filmed us.
• They then sped off, looped back around, and did it again.• At one point they pulled in so aggressively I was afraid they might hit the truck.
This happened multiple times over about 20–30 minutes. At one stop, they sat there
recording us as we put a sign on a pole. I remember telling them clearly: “We have a
First Amendment right to free speech, we’re not doing anything wrong.”
Later, video from this encounter was posted inside a private Jefferson Park
neighborhood Facebook group, which you have to be approved to join. It was shared
in a thread where residents were mocking us and talking about taking down our signs.
To us, this felt like being surveilled, targeted, and put on display for a hostile
audience.
Incident 2 – Candidate Removing Signs and Recording Me at the Polling Place
On Election Day, I parked my Mercedes Sprinter RV in a lot near the St. Stephen’s polling precinct
off Stone Road (Ward D). My vehicle had multiple signs on it about Ms. Chapman’s Trump/MAGA
alignment – on the sides, back, and even in the windshield.
Ms. Chapman herself came up to my RV, put her phone in my face, and started recording me and
the signs.
I told her, in substance:
• You ran on “transparency.”
• The citizens have a right to know that you are a diehard Trump/MAGA supporter.
• Taking down signs and not being honest about who you are is not right.
She laughed and walked away. A few minutes later she came back and casually asked if
I wanted snacks or water. I declined – the situation already felt like mockery and
intimidation.
We also have photos of Ms. Chapman physically removing anti-MAGA signs from a
pole near this precinct, walking away with the removed sign in her hand. In one photo,
you can see a volunteer still holding another sign while she walks off with the one she
just tore down.Incident 3 – Police & Code Enforcement Called on Black Volunteers (Stone Road)
Two Black male volunteers, I’ll call them Ronald and Raymond, were in the Stone Road/St.
Stephen’s area on Election Day. They documented Ms. Chapman taking down a sign and took
photos/video.
Shortly afterward, police and code-enforcement officers approached them and said they had
received “reports that someone was in the area putting up signs on the poles” and asked if it was
them. They said no, they were just walking.
Both men told us they were terrified by this encounter. When the volunteer driver came back to
pick them up, they refused to put out any more signs that day.
That’s the chilling effect in real time: call the police on Black volunteers and they back off political
activity, even when they’re doing nothing illegal.
Incident 4 – Harassment and Doxxing Online
Inside that private Jefferson Park Facebook group and other local spaces:
• Residents called us “goons” and our anti-Keisha signs “garbage.”
• One post bragged: “I’m taking them down” (referring to our signs) and ended
with “VOTE KEISHA!”
• Another celebrated “garbage removed from EP govt!!!!” and urged people to
remove “desperate” and “lack of moral fiber” signs from their neighborhoods.
In the same hostile environment, someone posted a close-up photo of our vehicle’s
license plate – a clear Georgia tag number – effectively doxxing us.
So, on top of being followed and filmed in person, we were now being publicly
identified online in a group that was mocking and attacking us.
As Black residents in the South, this felt like a threat: “We know who you are. We know
your vehicle. Only God knows what someone might do with that.”Incident 5 – Harassment at Other Locations & Pattern Across Wards
These weren’t isolated to one street:
• Ward B (Jefferson Park) – anti-Keisha signs were torn down; residents openly
boasted about removing them and calling us trash.
• Ward D (Delowe Drive & Stone Road) – we were followed and filmed; Ms.
Chapman removed signs and recorded me; police & code enforcement were called on
our volunteers.
We are also hearing about verbal harassment at the Jefferson Park precinct, where
white voters got in the face of a Black candidate/volunteer (Mr. Brewster), “talking
trash” and trying to intimidate him as he engaged with voters.
To us, this looks like a pattern across the city, not random incidents. Same target
(anyone spreading the truth about her MAGA support), same tools (following, filming,
sign removal, police presence, online harassment), different locations.
Why I’m Posting This Here
Local lawyers have told some of our folks that trying to get a court to overturn the election would
be:
• legally very tough,
• extremely expensive, and
• likely dragged out for years.
That may be true. But that doesn’t mean what happened was acceptable or that we
should just “move on.”
We are exploring:
• Election contest options in Fulton County Superior Court (if/when certification
happens),
• A possible recall once the 180-day waiting period in Georgia’s recall law is over,
• Civil-rights complaints to the NAACP, Fair Fight, NAACP LDF, etc.,
• Demanding structural changes:• a real precinct in Black neighborhoods,
• mailed notices for local elections,
• clear, fair rules on sign enforcement,
• training so police/code enforcement don’t become tools of intimidation.
I’m posting here because:
• Maybe someone has gone through something similar and can share strategy.
• Maybe a voting-rights group, legal clinic, or journalist will see this and want to
dig in.
• At minimum, I don’t want this story buried. Our people were harassed, watched,
and scared off for trying to tell the truth about who was asking to lead a majority-Black
city.
If you have advice, resources, or are connected to organizations that deal with voter
intimidation, abuse of code enforcement, or suppression in local races, I’d be
grateful for any guidance.
I’ll answer questions as best I can, and I can provide more redacted screenshots/
photos if needed.
2. Democratic Underground Post – Draft
You can post this in General Discussion and link to your diary (once it’s live):
Subject line:
Intimidation & sign removal in East Point, GA mayor’s race – advice needed
Body:
I’m an East Point, GA resident (majority-Black city in metro Atlanta). In our Dec. 2, 2025
mayoral runoff, many of us who tried to inform neighbors that one candidate is a
Trump/MAGA supporter experienced:
– Being followed & filmed in a car while putting up signs
– The candidate herself removing our “Vote No to MAGA Keisha Chapman” signs andrecording us at the precinct
– Police & code enforcement called on Black volunteers, who were so scared they
stopped putting out signs
– Hostile posts in a private neighborhood FB group calling us “goons” and “garbage,”
bragging about taking our signs down, and even posting our vehicle tag (doxxing)
Local lawyers say a court case to overturn the election result would be very expensive
and a long shot, but we’re exploring other routes (civil-rights complaints, recall,
structural changes to precincts & communication).
I’ve written up the full story with some screenshots/photos here:
LINK TO YOUR DAILY KOS DIARY
I’d really appreciate:
– Advice from anyone who has dealt with local voter intimidation / sign suppression
– Pointers to GA-based or national groups that might be able to help
– Any thoughts on how best to protect volunteers and still push for accountability and reforms
Thanks for reading. This shook a lot of us, and we’re trying to figure out how not to just “move on”
