Watch: 'Stop Cop City' protesters confront Atlanta mayor at SXSW panel

ATLANTA - Activists protesting Atlanta's planned public safety training center disrupted a SXSW panel involving Mayor Andre Dickens on Monday.

Dickens was in Austin to appear on a panel titled "Policy Collision: Local Officials & Governors At Odds" with St. Louis Mayor Tishara Jones, Harris County, Texas District Attorney Christian Menefee, and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval.

According to the panel's description on the conference's website, it was focused "on how local officials have navigated conflicting views their governors/other state officials on major policy issues," including police funding and election results.

"The panelists will also discuss how these issues get resolved and how the people who are hurt the most are residents," the description reads.

A video shared by TruthOut journalist Candice Bernd on social media platform X showed a woman standing up and asking Dickens how he was at odds with Kemp on the issue of the training center. As Dickens tries to answer her question, multiple people in the crowd begin talking, and another protester stands up to say that the mayor is responsible for the murder of 26-year-old protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known as Tortuguita.

Following additional back-and-forth arguments, more protesters stood up, repeatedly shouting "Stop Cop City." 

Dickens then points out that a number of the people protesting are white, saying, "Look at who's talking right now. Think about the privilege … There's a racial element."

The confrontation continues to escalate until the protesters begin standing in front of the stage with a banner that reads "Andre Dickens G.O.P. Stooge Stop Cop City."

After about three and a half minutes, Dickens left the room while the protesters chanted, "Viva, Viva Tortuguita" and tried to follow him.

Dickens has not commented on the confrontation on his social media.

Debate around the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center  

Protests against the training center have been ongoing for more than two years. Over the weekend, activists held meetings, concerts, dinners, and direct action to rally support to block the project.

Dickens and other supporters say the 85-acre, $90 million facility would replace inadequate training facilities and would help address difficulties in hiring and retaining police officers. Opponents have expressed concern that it could lead to greater police militarization and that its construction in the South River Forest will worsen environmental damage in a poor, majority-Black area.

Protests against the project, which have at times resulted in violence and vandalism, escalated after the fatal shooting in January 2023 of Tortuguita. A special prosecutor in October 2023 said he would not pursue charges against the state troopers who shot Paez Terán, saying he found that their use of deadly force was "objectively reasonable."

In August, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr indicted 61 protesters using the state's anti-racketeering law, characterizing them as "militant anarchists."

Most recently, a protester locked themselves to construction equipment at a Brasfield & Gorrie work site at the intersection of Peachtree and 17th streets. The protester, identified as Michael Czajkowski, was eventually freed and charged with obstruction and trespassing.

The city says the issues caused by protesters have raised the cost of the training center by about $20 million.

Meantime, construction is expected to be done in December.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.