Warnock Dodges Question About ‘Mold And Corpses’ At Church-Owned Columbia Tower Apartment Complex

Warnock Dodges Question About ‘Mold And Corpses’ At Church-Owned Columbia Tower Apartment Complex

By Nicole Silverio

Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock appeared to dodge a reporter’s question about alleged mold and insect infestations found at an apartment building owned by his church in Atlanta, Georgia.

The low-income apartment complex, Tower Columbia at MLK village, is owned by Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Warnock serves as CEO and senior pastor, according to the Washington Free Beacon. The City of Atlanta has cited the building for multiple housing code violations, including rodent and bug infestations, hoarded trash and hazardous mold.

Footage from Tuesday showed Warnock remaining silent on a question about the conditions on the apartment complex.

“Senator Warnock, what are you doing to address the situation with the mold and corpses at Columbia Tower?” an unknown person asked. The footage showed Warnock walking off and entering a vehicle with people who appeared to be members of his staff.

The incident led to an attack by his campaign opponent, Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker.

“.@ReverendWarnock has failed the people of the Columbia Towers and the people of Georgia. #SlumLordMillionaire,” Walker tweeted late Tuesday.

In August 2016, tenants filed complaints to the city about “mice, roaches and bugs infestation” in the building, according to 70 pages of inspection records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Inspectors found that the dwelling unit was “infested” by bugs.

In 2018, the city received complaints overflowing trash, leakage and flooding that attracted rodents and possums, the outlet reported. A year later, a tenant said he suffered from health problems caused by eight month-long bug infestation and overflowing trash.

The city cited the building’s “highly hazardous” water leakage problem as the cause of electrical problems, the outlet reported. It was also cited in September 2019 after black mold was found growing in a closet along with water damage and dead bugs.

The building also came under fire for the evictions of poor tenants over past-due rent amounts as low as $28.55, even though Warnock has railed against evictions during his initial Senate campaign and during his time in office.

Walker and Warnock are facing an election runoff on December 6 since neither candidate reached above 50% of the vote in the Senate race. Warnock slightly led Walker 49.2%-48.7%.

Warnock’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.

Comments

For your convenience, you may leave commments below using Disqus. If Disqus is not appearing for you, please disable AdBlock to leave a comment.