Eternal Flame Vandalized at Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta
Police arrest a man after vandalism at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, damaging the Eternal Flame but leaving the site open and the flame still burning.
Before dawn cracked over Auburn Avenue, the silence at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center broke under something ugly. Police say a 26-year-old man was found urinating in the reflecting pool, stomping on the Eternal Flame that burns for justice and peace.
It was around 4:30 a.m. when officers arrived, catching him mid-act. The Eternal Flame, a beacon near the tombs of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, suffered visible damage. Jones was arrested on the spot — charged with criminal damage, trespass, public indecency, and obstruction.
The King Center called it a “minor” incident, its tone steady, almost defiant. “The Eternal Flame still burns with love,” the statement read. “We continue to welcome everyone with open arms… the dream lives on.”
In a city stitched together by memory and protest, the act struck deep. For Atlanta — cradle of the civil rights movement — the flame is more than a monument. It’s a heartbeat. And even after the stomp, it kept burning.
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