From NOTICE News Daily for March 7, 2023
Fires broke out at the construction site of an Atlanta police training center on Sunday after a demonstration at the property led to clashes between police and protesters and 35 people were arrested, police said. The site of the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, derisively called “Cop City” by opponents, has been the scene of escalating confrontation as demonstrators oppose both the increasing militarization of police and the development of the forest that its defenders call the “lungs of Atlanta.” >> Full story
MORE INFO:
- More: 23 protesters charged with domestic terrorism after fiery clashes at Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ training center (ABC News)
- Go deeper: What is ‘Cop City’? How opposition to an Atlanta police center prompted national demonstrations (NBC News)
- The environmental angle: How Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ became the focus for green protests (The Independent)
TRANSCRIPT
Jonathan: This was the scene earlier this month at the site of a massive police training center in the works outside Atlanta. Authorities say a coordinated attack took place in protest of a proposed police training facility being nicknamed “Cop City”.
Sound: This was a very violent attack that occurred this evening…this wasn’t about a public safety training center. This was about anarchy and this was about the attempt to destabilize.
Video shows the attackers hit police with fireworks and other crude explosives, and setting equipment on fire before trying to flee. Police called it a coordinated, criminal attack against the cops.
Sound: Actions such as this will not be tolerated. When you attack law enforcement officers, when you damage equipment – you are breaking the law.
After backup arrived, cops detained at least 35 people. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.
The real name for “Cop City” is the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. First proposed in 2021, officials say the massive, 85-acre facility will train cops and firefighters in a mock city.
But critics worry “Cop City” will be used to train police in urban warfare and further increase the militarization of law enforcement — that is, giving military-style training and equipment to local police.
Environmentalists are also against the facility being built in a forest, though officials say they plan to preserve the forest’s remaining 315 acres of green space.
A fifth straight week of organized demonstrations are planned for the days ahead, but police say they’re still moving forward on the facility.
