Tag: Stop Cop City

Last week, five people were arrested for chaining themselves to construction equipment as part of protests against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, dubbed "Cop City" by critics. It’s a long tradition in environmental activism: for many decades, protesters have been lashing themselves to equipment to stop construction projects—including right here in Atlanta. Back in the 1980s, decades before "Stop Cop City," there was "Stop the Road," when thousands of Atlantans came together to block the Presidential Parkway. Leading the fight were the Roadbusters, a ragtag group of activists whose protest stunts, like climbing trees and chaining themselves to construction equipment, made headlines across the city.

Over the centuries, the South River Forest has been many things: Indigenous land, a prison farm, a dumping ground—and the keystone of an ambitious proposal to incorporate nature into Atlanta’s growth. But in 2021, people living nearby were surprised to learn that the city had different plans for it: a massive new police training facility.

For many in attendance, it was a fitting way to spend Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “They arrested Dr. King 29 times—29 times!” Kamau Franklin told a crowd of around 70 protestors assembled in front of the DeKalb County courthouse, many of them part of a loose coalition of activist groups, environmentalists, and concerned citizens united against a planned 85-acre, $90 million Atlanta police and firefighter training facility in the South River Forest.