The socialist mayor of South Fulton, Ga., returned to work this week, days after police arrested him for entering a resident's lake house.
Khalid Kamau, a vocal Democratic Socialist and cofounder of the Atlanta chapter of Black Lives Matter, is charged with first-degree trespass and burglary after a homeowner caught him entering his home on Saturday.
"We have never backed down from courageous conversations, but now is not the time for those discussions," Kamau said upon his return Tuesday during a city council session. "We have city business to get to."
He noted that "a lot has happened in the past few days" and he will "announce a time and place for those conversations to happen."
Homeowner Jack Lecroy confronted Kamau on July 8 with his gun after he saw a security alert that someone was on his property. Kamau began to walk away from the house and Lecroy shouted for him to stop and wait for police.
"I don’t have to listen to you, and you can’t give me orders," the socialist mayor yelled in response, according to police reports. He then screamed profanities at the homeowner. He later said that he wanted to see the home because he'd like to live there and was aware that he was criminally trespassing.
Fellow Democrat Roger Bruce, a state representative, said, "If he's sincere about that, he would resign."
"He would resign and allow the city to do the work that needs to be done," Bruce said.
Kamau has served as the leader of the Atlanta chapter of Democratic Socialists of America and advocates for socialism.
"Democratic Socialists believe our country should be run by real, working people—not big corporations & billionaires," Kamau says on his website. He further calls for defunding police and cutting military spending.