Atlanta Mostly Quiet Again As Huge Street Party Ends

After a second night of looting and traffic jams, the huge Freaknik street party slowly drew to a close Sunday as revelers made one last cruise around the rainy city before heading home.

Freaknik had been expected to draw more than 200,000 black college students and other youths to downtown Atlanta, but students who attended said about half that number came this year. City officials refused to estimate the crowd size.

Corey Griffin, 25, of Dalton, Ga., said Freaknik ‘95 didn’t measure up to last year’s festivities.

“They tried to stop it before it got started,” he said. “I think it’s nice to come down here and spend some money, but I felt I was unwanted.”

The large crowds, traffic jams and unruly behavior in past years led officials to close off 200 blocks and crack down on lawbreakers. But police efforts didn’t prevent trouble over the weekend.

Friday night, revelers ransacked 11 stores near Underground Atlanta, a downtown shopping and entertainment complex.

Rain chased the street party indoors Saturday, and the Underground and two north Atlanta shopping malls closed early to head off problems. After the party had shifted to southwest Atlanta, about 100 looters smashed their way into a mall department store as hundreds of onlookers cheered.