ATLANTA — 11Alive’s Neima Abdulahi sat down with one of the organizers of the ‘Guns Down Waters Guns Up’ event that attracted a huge crowd in Atlanta this past weekend. Atlanta rapper Trouble said the event’s intention was to promote non-violence in the community.
More than 500 people attended the event at Perkerson Park in southwest Atlanta. Trouble said people drove from different cities and states just to participate in the community event.
“I expected people to pull up, but not as massive as it was. And for it to be nothing but pure fun and energy,” Trouble said. He also went on to say “It’s relative to different cities and different states because people are having problems everywhere…It was a successful event.”
The event made waves across social media after a clip of police officers getting soaked up by water guns was posted online, which drew criticism on whether the crowd attendees took it too far. APD did not make any arrest, although they said the crowd capacity was hard to manage. Trouble, however, doesn't believe that it was hard to manage.
“Water gun war gets out of control? How did it get out of control if there were no injuries, no arrest, no fighting, no shooting. That seems like all the way in control,” he said.
The rapper said he wants to use his troubled past to build a positive future for the community.
“Somebody brought it to my attention yesterday like man you went from making the news for problems as far as what you’re going against right now to being on the news on a positive note,” he said.
Atlanta police made it clear that they support the message behind the event. The department wants to make sure all the steps are taken to ensure safety for any future events.
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