Georgia Official Seeks Criminal Investigation of R. Kelly
Georgia’s Fulton County Chairman John Eaves called for the district attorney’s office to open a criminal investigation on R. Kelly. In July, Buzzfeed reported that the singer allegedly preys upon young women in what was likened to a “sex cult.”
Eaves, who is running for Atlanta mayor, said in a statement that a “detailed local investigation by the John Creek Police Department has provided key information that we believe is enough evidence that gives the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office all it needs to advance a criminal investigation of the well-known allegations,” per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Eaves encouraged the local police to “follow every lead—no matter where it leads, or who it implicates, and bring those persons to swift justice.”
Trevian Kutti, a representative for R. Kelly, responded to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment with an official statement that there is no police investigation. “Mr. Kelly is outraged by the ongoing efforts of the Fulton County Board of
Commissions and its chairman to interfere with his business interests and now,
absent any authority, attempt to have him targeted for investigation.”
R. Kelly’s statement continues: “The Board
made it clear last week that they wish to prevent Mr. Kelly’s Atlanta-area concert,
though they do not have the authority to do so and are contractually obligated to
honor their own agreements. Now, today, the Board’s chairman tries again to
interfere with the concert and assist others in that effort by calling for an
investigation based on a supposed file – the contents of which he has not even
seen, and after proper authorities already stated just last week that they looked
into the allegations and launched no investigation. The allegations against Mr.
Kelly are false and ill-motived.
He again denies any and all wrongdoing.
It is unlawful for the government to interfere with the right of its citizens to lawfully
do business, and public servants should not target individual citizens for their
own politically motivated purposes. Mr. Kelly’s fans are looking forward to his
August 25th show and he will be there as scheduled.”
As Kelly’s statement suggests, Eaves has been at the forefront of Fulton County’s attempt to cancel the upcoming R. Kelly concert at College Park, Georgia’s Wolf Creek Amphitheatre on August 25th.
The board of commissioners of Fulton County, which owns the venue, unanimously sent a letter to Live Nation asking them to cancel the concert. Live Nation declined to cancel the performance, saying simply in a statement, “The show is proceeding.”
Kelly, his lawyers and one of the women allegedly being held captive by the singer denied any wrongdoing following the initial Buzzfeed report, with the singer calling the accusations “a bunch of crap.”
Happening now: Fulton County Chairman John Eaves is calling for a criminal investigation of Grammy-winning R&B singer R. Kelly. pic.twitter.com/88nqbTC51k
— John H. Eaves (@johneaves) August 11, 2017