ATLANTA — A veteran is distraught after a security guard at a downtown restaurant threatened to “blow her head off,” she said.
aria adams told Ashli Lincoln of Channel 2 She recently took her emotional support animal to a downtown restaurant and said the experience had left her traumatized.
“He said, ‘I’m going to blow your head off,'” Adams said.
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She said the words from an angry security guard who works at the Midtown Metro Diner on Peachtree Street.
Adams said the incident happened on May 7 when she walked in just after midnight to celebrate her birthday.
“I want to go out and be free and enjoy myself,” she said.
According to Adams, things took a turn when the hired security confronted her about bringing in her emotional support cat.
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Adams, a transgender veteran with PTSD, said she carried cats everywhere.
“I’m a goal every day,” Adams said.
An Atlanta police report said the security guard on duty began harassing Adams verbally, sexually discriminating against her and using homophobic slurs.
“He pulled out a gun and said, ‘Show me your hand,'” she said. “I thought he was going to kill me or rob me or whatever. He’d already raised his gun.”
When the police arrived, the police found that the security guard did not have any of the necessary credentials to act as an armed security guard.
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The report goes on to say that the guard was unable to provide the name of the private company he worked for, nor was it registered with the secretary of state’s office.
“His gun was not registered,” the police report said.
A quick search on the internet shows that as violent crime and mass shootings increase, so too does the demand for private security companies across the country.
In Georgia, security guards are under the jurisdiction of the state’s Commission of Private Detectives and Security Agencies.
Armed security personnel must be registered with the state and undergo thorough background checks.
Unarmed guards do not have to register, but must meet state-mandated training requirements.
Channel 2 Talk to a security analyst who said businesses could be held liable for hiring guards that are not properly registered.
“I didn’t feel like he needed to try me like that,” Adams said. “I just want people to know that I’m a real person.”
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