Protests at a proposed police training center in Atlanta became fiery Sunday night as nearly 150 rioters set construction vehicles aflame and threw rocks, sticks and even Molotov cocktails at police.
The site of Atlanta’s future Public Safety Training Facility — dubbed Cop City by those who protest its development — is now under lockdown as crews work to put out smoke and flames.
Officials say at least one construction vehicle was set on fire during the protests Sunday night, and video posted online shows a police surveillance tower on fire.
Police say the protest has since been contained, though many of the protesters scattered back into the woods, where gunshots were heard, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
It remains unclear how many arrests were made, and whether anyone was injured in the blazes.
Protesters set fire to a police surveillance tower at the site of a proposed police training facility in Atlanta
Cops seen at the ‘Cop City’ site in Atlanta pinning a person down and arresting them on Sunday night
The rioters on Sunday wore black and camouflage, and masked their faces, as they made their way from their campsite at the Weelaunee Forest to the construction site, the New York Times reports.
There, they burned down police and construction vehicles and set off fireworks as police were stationed nearby.
Initial estimates suggest at least 30 people were detained, as activist groups beg online for money for the protesters’ bails.
The dramatic confrontation between police and protesters comes as individuals and activist organizations descend on the proposed site for a ‘week of action’ to protest its development.
‘This is the first week of action since the state killed someone,’ Marlon Kautz, an organizer with Atlanta Solidarity Fund told The Guardian, referring to the police-involved killing of Manuel Paez Teran in January.
A private autopsy showed he was shot 13 times.
Authorities have asserted Teran — who identified as nonbinary — opened fire at a Georgia State Patrol trooper during a ‘clearing operation’ of the so-called autonomous zone at the site of the $90million project.
‘The entire character, mood and status of the struggle has transformed dramatically… [and] feels much more real — to us and to the state,’ Kautz said.
The week of action was set to include a Jewish Shabbat service on Friday night, herbal workshops and a ‘know your rights’ workshop.
As the fiery riot broke out Sunday night, a Weelaunee Music Festival was scheduled for the protesters who have descended into the woods in recent months.
Police are pictured arriving at the site of the music festival Sunday night
Violent protests erupted in Atlanta, Georgia, following the shooting of 26-year-old Manuel Esteban Paez Teran
A mock city will be included in the new site, which has been the cause of months of unrest and controversy
The large-scale construction will be used to train officials from the Atlanta Police Department and the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department
Demonstrators, who have set up a group called ‘Stop Cop City’, say the 381 acres of Weelaunee Forest is ‘stolen Muscogee land’ and that the creation would mean the destruction of wildlife and forestry.
They have become increasingly violent since they first descended on the woods last spring, with 19 people arrested on domestic terrorism charges since December.
Six of those arrests emanated from a violent riot in downtown Atlanta on January 21, sparked by Teran’s death.
Rioters were seen at the time setting a police car on fire and vandalizing property. Explosives were also found at the scene.
The militant environmentalists say they are trying to protect the forest, as well as the South River, which is endangered.
Members of the South River Watershed Alliance have worked for years to preserve the area, and say the training center can be created without destroying the surroundings.
Jacqueline Echols, the board president of the South River Watershed Alliance, said in a statement: ‘I remain steadfast in my belief that the desired training can be accomplished without destroying the acreage at the prison farm.
‘Balanced and equitable consideration must be given to the protection of the local ecosystem, the cultural and historical significance of the property, and health and wellbeing of the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods.’
Stop Cop City activists also say that the City of Atlanta has ‘leased’ the land – something the Mayor’s office has denied, saying that the City in unincorporated DeKalb County owns it.
It stretches 85 acres into DeKalb County woods and is known as the Old Atlanta Prison Farm, where prisoners would work in poor conditions in the 20th century.
Prisoners helped to make the facility self-sustaining in 1935, with the penitentiary being officially shuttered in 1995. It has been abandoned ever since.
Devastating fires also hit the property in 2009 and 2017 – illegal trash had been dumped and caused a huge blaze, which meant the site was sealed off until the plans for the training site were approved.
Authorities say protesters, dressed all in black, threw rocks at a building that houses the Atlanta Police Foundation in a protest
Atlanta Police’s huge construction project was announced in November 2021 and is expected to open at the end of 2023 after a difficult two-year process.
It will have extensive facilities and a mock city and fire station so emergency services can better train their staff.
It will also include:
- An Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) for fire and police driving training;
- A training and education center with modular design enabling classroom, auditorium, seminar education and training;
- Academy housing for police, fire/rescue recruits;
- The Atlanta Police Leadership Institute;
- Indoor and outdoor shooting ranges;
- A fitness center for sworn officers;
- Stables and pastureland to house for mounted patrol;
- A kennel and indoor/outdoor training center for canine unit;
- Greenspace open to the public, featuring trails, ballfields, picnic areas;
- Facilities available for rent to law enforcement agencies and the public; and
- A community watch training program for our communities.
