Day Forty-Three was delivery day. The Post received an encrypted package. Sixty-seven documents as promised. Body cam footage. Internal emails. FOIA denials. Financial records.
Plus more. Someone inside the department had added to the pile—a whistleblower who’d had enough.
Atlanta Police Chief Buried Body Cam Footage in Viral Airport Case. Documents Reveal Systematic Cover-Up Network.
The emails were devastating, published in full with no redactions.
Chief Morrison to Captain Hendricks: «Make the Griffin complaint disappear. Lawson is connected. You know what to do.»
Hendricks to Morrison: «Done. Marked unsubstantiated per usual protocol.»
Morrison to Councilman Bradley: «Our friend Lawson needs protection. The video is everywhere. Can you run interference on the committee?»
Bradley to Morrison: «Handled. Committee won’t touch it. Same arrangement as before.»
A network. Documented. In their own words. In writing. The money trail followed.
Campaign finance records attached to the leak revealed Councilman Victor Bradley received $42,000 in donations from the Atlanta Police Protective League PAC over three election cycles. The same PAC that paid for Lawson’s union representation. The same PAC that lobbied against oversight. The same PAC that Bradley’s committee was supposed to regulate.
But the biggest revelation was buried deep in the document dump. Page 53. Lawson’s military personnel file.
Derek M. Lawson. United States Army Military Police Corps.
Enlisted: 1998.
Stationed: Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Discharged: 2009. Under other than honorable conditions.
Reason: Excessive force against a detainee during a training exercise. Sustained complaint. Pattern of behavior noted.
Commanding Officer who signed the discharge papers: Colonel Raymond T. Caldwell.
Caldwell’s face was stone. «2009. I barely remember him. One of dozens of discipline cases during my command there.»
«He remembers you, sir. For fifteen years he’s remembered.» She looked at him directly. «He saw Aaron’s unit patch at that airport. Your unit patch. Third Brigade. And he knew exactly whose soldier he was looking at. He knew exactly what he was doing.»
The truth settled like cold water. This wasn’t random. This wasn’t bad luck. He targeted Aaron deliberately because he was Caldwell’s soldier.
Caldwell closed his eyes. «Aaron was a message. A message to me.»
«Fifteen years, sir. He waited fifteen years for revenge.»
The collapse began on Day Forty-Six. Chief Daniel Morrison was placed on administrative leave pending investigation.
On Day Forty-Eight, Councilman Victor Bradley announced medical leave. He disappeared from public view completely. His office stopped returning calls.
Day Forty-Nine saw the fall of the gatekeeper. Captain Ronald Hendricks requested legal counsel and started making deals. On Day Fifty, Officers Walsh and Tanner reached out to Sullivan through back channels. They wanted to cooperate. They wanted immunity.
Day Fifty-One set the stage. The City Council called an emergency hearing. Public Safety Committee. Open to cameras.
The network was crumbling, one domino knocking down the next. Lawson gave one final interview to local radio. He was defiant to the end.
«I’m being railroaded by a general with a personal vendetta. This is political persecution. This has nothing to do with what happened at that airport.»
He was not entirely wrong about the vendetta part. But he started it, fifteen years ago.
Day Fifty-Two was judgment day. Atlanta City Council Chambers. Public Safety Committee hearing. Standing room only. The press filled one entire side of the room. Cameras from every major network.
Chief Morrison sat in the gallery, not at the witness table. Not anymore. His attorney whispered constantly in his ear. Councilman Bradley’s seat was empty, marked by a small placard: Medical Leave.
The «pattern witnesses» testified first.
Sandra Mitchell, teacher. 2022. Same officer. Same carousel. Same treatment. «I filed a complaint. Captain Hendricks called it unfounded. He didn’t even interview me. But it happened exactly like those videos show. Exactly.»
James Holbrook, business consultant. 2019. Same story. Same officer. Same dismissal. Maria Delgado, tourist from Puerto Rico. 2021. Detained for two hours, released without explanation or apology. Continue reading…
