A Coordinated Attack on Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Construction Site Leads to 35 Arrests
On Sunday evening, demonstrators reportedly set fire to the construction site of an Atlanta public safety training facility, which anti-police and environment activists have dubbed “Cop City.”
35 Protestors Detained for Setting “Cop City” On Fire in Atlanta
Atlanta Police Department stated that a group of “agitators” left the nearby South River Music Festival around 5:30 p.m. and attacked the construction site of the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
The authorities reported that the group changed into black clothing and began throwing commercial-grade fireworks, Molotov cocktails, large rocks, and bricks at police officers.
Though demonstrations at the 85-acre property in DeKalb County have been ongoing, Atlanta Chief of Police Darin Schierbaum said Sunday’s incident marked a “significant escalation” both in the level of violence and the number of individuals involved in the attack.
Schierbaum stated that “this wasn’t about a public safety training center. This was about anarchy, and this was about an attempt to destabilize. And we are addressing that quickly.” He added that “actions such as this will not be tolerated. You attack law enforcement officers, you damage equipment, you are breaking the law. This was a very violent attack that occurred this evening.”
As of Sunday night, the Atlanta police detained at least 35 people, all but two of whom were from out of state.
Furthermore, 23 individuals were charged with domestic terrorism, and authorities are consulting with both DeKalb County prosecutors and the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
According to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, “some of those arrested yesterday were from Massachusetts and New York and France and Canada. So this is a national network, an international group of people that are organized to come to our state to undermine a public safety training center.” Carr made this statement on Fox News on Monday morning.
The FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation have joined the probe, and Schierbaum noted that “we continue to see a number of individuals not from Atlanta, Georgia, that are present tonight undertaking criminal activities to destabilize the construction of a police fire and training center.”
Atlanta police said that this is not a protest, but criminal activity, and the charges that will be brought forth will show that. Before Sunday, at least 19 people had been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism since December in connection to demonstrations at the “Cop City” site.
Six of the 19 arrests came out of a violent riot in downtown Atlanta on Jan. 21 that was sparked by the deadly shooting of 26-year-old environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Teran by Georgia State Patrol.
In response, state patrol had arrived at the construction site to clear out demonstrators.
Authorities stated that Teran, who reportedly went by the name Tortuguita and identified as non-binary, shot a trooper in the abdomen before law enforcement officials returned fire and killed Teran.
The coordinated attack on the construction site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center by anti-police and environment activists has resulted in 35 arrests, with the majority of those detained being from out of state.
The Georgia Attorney General stated that this is a national and international group of individuals who aim to undermine the public safety training center.
The FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation have joined the probe, and authorities are consulting with both DeKalb County prosecutors and the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
Source: Mckpage.com
