Tyler Perry steps up to ‘bridge unity’ between Atlanta cops and residents
ATLANTA – Atlanta media mogul Tyler Perry is doing what he can to bring his fractured city together.
The creator of the “Madea” film franchise bought 1,000 Kroger’s supermarket gift cards — and turned them over to Atlanta police to hand out to the community, his office said Thursday.
“This is about the community that I love, that I live and work in,” Perry said in a statement to The Post. “This about good people who are in need of a hand up, not a hand out.”
“This is about the good police officers who do their job well every day, some of which are my personal friends,” the statement said. “This is about trying to bridge unity in a city that adopted me and held me up high enough to reach my own branch on the tree of success.”
Photos supplied by Perry and posted on Twitter by Atlanta cops show officers fanning out throughout the Atlanta’s Zone 1 and Zone 3 police districts distributing the $50 gift cards and donating groceries at a local community center.
“500 food boxes were distributed to families in need this morning during the grocery giveaway event at the Dunbar Red Center,” the department said in another tweet. “@tylerperry donated 1,000 Kroger gift cards to give out to the community. Thanks to all of those stopped by & to our partner agencies.”
The Georgia city erupted in anti-police protests following the May 25 death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police — and grew increasingly violent after the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks.
Brooks, 27, was shot twice in the back by Atlanta cops outside a local Wendy’s fast-food restaurant.
Perry said the gift card giveaway was a way to try to heal the community and is just the latest act of philanthropy by the media mogul.
Within days of Brooks’ shooting death, Perry announced that he would not only pay for his funeral but would supply college tuition for all four of the slain man’s children when they come of age.
