The main street in front of Fulton County courthouse to shut down next week

ATLANTA — The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office announced it will close Pryor Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Mitchell Street for 12 days starting on Monday, August 7.

This is part of its security plan should indictments be handed up.

Channel 2′s Richard Elliot reports Pryor Street is one of the busiest streets in downtown Atlanta, right in front of the main entrance to the Fulton County Courthouse where a grand jury could soon begin hearing evidence in a potential election interference case against Donald Trump and his allies.

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“Just the security concerns, that is Sheriff Labat’s top priority is to make sure that everyone that still comes to conduct business at the courthouse and the government center or anywhere near this footprint stays safe,” said Natalie Ammons, spokeswoman for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

Earlier this week, Channel 2 Action News spoke with Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat about his security plans should indictments come.

“If an indictment came today, we would be ready,” Labat said.

He sent his deputies to both New York and Miami to watch how law enforcement there handled those indictments and arraignments.

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The thing he said he learned is to be proactive with security. That’s why he’s already ordered the orange security barricades up around the courthouse.

“So, to that extent, it is a part of a proactive plan to make sure, again, what we’ve learned from Miami is that we need to have a secure perimeter. That’s just the beginning of the program,” Labat said.

That program now includes the closure of Pryor Street in front of the courthouse.

Labat and other county officials have no indication as to when any possible indictments may be handed up, but he said his office is ready.

“We meet daily and so we will have as much lead time as possibly available to us and ultimately, we will respond accordingly,” Labat said.

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The courthouse and Fulton County Government Center will still be open to the public, so people will be able to walk on Pryor Street.

No public parking will be allowed anywhere on the perimeter of the courthouse on either side of the street. Vehicle traffic will be allowed on Central, MLK, and Mitchell.

Eliot reached out to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for comment on this story, but so far, hasn’t gotten one.

This does play out inside the existing timeline which the DA said any potential indictments could come down between Monday and the middle of August.

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