Vocal police protester busted repeatedly on fake cop charges
ATLANTA, Ga -
One of the most vocal leaders of an Atlanta group protesting police brutality has himself been arrested multiple times for impersonating a police officer.
Tyree "Sir Maejor" Page is currently on probation after pleading guilty to lesser crimes of obstruction of a police officer and carrying a weapon in an unauthorized location.
In the days following the often chaotic marches through Atlanta protesting fatal police shootings, Tyree Page became one of the faces of the movement. He was part of the group that met with Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed to demand changes in police training and tactics. Page even spoke at a joint news conference.
"We stand on the shoulders of those that have paved the way for us to be able to protest in the streets and to be able to have our voices heard," Page said in July with Mayor Reed and chief George Turner standing behind him.
What the mayor's office says it didn't know at the time is this police protester had already been arrested multiple times for impersonating a police officer.
Page would not answer our questions when we tried talking to him outside his west Atlanta home. His public social media sites boast pictures of him decked out with weapons and tactical gear.
In December, 2014, Atlanta police charged him with impersonating a police officer when they found him at a Shell Station on Joseph P. Lowery Boulevard "wearing a replica of the Atlanta police officer uniform," Glock 45 automatic pistol and other gear. According to the police report he had a black female handcuffed in front of the gas station. Page said he was working security there.
In October, 2015, police reports say Page was again armed, wearing a bulletproof vest outside a MARTA station. He even demanded to see ID from a man who turned out to be an APD sergeant.
The police impersonation charges even stretch into this year. According to court records, Page was arrested in January after he "blustered" his way past security guards at the Sloppy Floyd state office building by claiming he was an FBI agent. The court records say he was carrying a gun. He managed to get into the Secretary of State's corporate records office.
In fact, a witness at the Sloppy Floyd building stated Page "had more weapons than I ever seen an officer wear." He ultimately was allowed to clear up all three counts by pleading guilty to lesser charges of obstruction and carrying a weapon in an unauthorized location. Page is currently on two years probation.
Page and the Black Lives Matter of Atlanta movement parted ways several months ago. Recently, he started his own group: Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta.
Tiffany Roberts is legal advisor to the first group. She said they had no idea Page had been arrested so many times on police impersonation charges.
"I'd say it's peculiar at the very least and some aspects of it are alarming considering getting firearms past security checkpoints and so forth," Roberts admitted.
"Are you happy he's not part of your group anymore?" I asked.
"I'm happy that anyone who doesn't chose to abide by our principals chooses to do something else. A person who would impersonate a police officer for any particular purpose... it's interesting that they would be involved in this movement because we focus on supporting one another and holding police accountable."
In some of the police reports Page explained he was wearing tactical gear and carrying a weapon because he was also a bounty hunter. However, those "recovery agents" are supposed to be registered with the local sheriff's department. Both Fulton and DeKalb told us they have no record of Page having such registration.
Both the mayor's office and APD said Page's criminal past was "not relevant" to their meeting with him in July because it was a meeting open to any member of the public.