Police officers in riot gear confront demonstrators carrying a banner and protesting at the construction site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, known as “Cop City,” in the South River Forest area near Atlanta, Georgia on Monday. The group is opposed to the construction of the combined training facility for the Atlanta Police Department and Atlanta Fire Rescue Department. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE/
Protesters in a march Monday to “Block Cop City” clashed with police, who used tear gas after the group blocked two lanes of traffic near the construction site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
“This is the very reason we say ‘No Cop City’ because we know the militarization of the police will continue and today was a perfect example of that,” said organizer Kamau Franklin. Advertisement
The group Defund the Atlanta Forest shared photos and footage of Monday’s confrontation with police in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Reverse uno card pic.twitter.com/ylwEES5vUG— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) November 13, 2023
“This is a group today that left prepared to breach the site, prepared to do harm, prepared to do destruction,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum countered during a press briefing Monday afternoon.
Protesters began marching toward the site after a weekend of preparations to “bring construction to a halt.”
DeKalb County police said protesters ignored commands to stop “obstructing the roadway” before forcing their way “through a line of 30 DeKalb police officers, and that’s when the tear gas was used,” Schierbaum explained. Advertisement
As of Monday afternoon, police said there were no injuries and no arrests. About 100 protesters returned to the site but remained peaceful.
The construction site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center has been the scene of ongoing protests and one death.
Last month, a Georgia court ruled that state troopers who shot and killed “Cop City” protester Manuel Teran earlier this year will not face charges.
In September, 61 activists were indicted on RICO charges over ongoing actions to stop construction on the 85-acre, $90 million facility.
The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, which will include a “mock city for burn building training and urban police training” and a K-9 training facility, is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.
