2 arrested in 'Cop City' protest at Midtown Atlanta construction site

ATLANTA - Two people have been arrested after chaining themselves to a crane at a construction site in Midtown during a protest of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. 

The demonstration occurred at a Brasfield & Gorrie construction site on 11th Street and Bellingrath Avenue.

"Stop Cop City" activists told FOX 5 in a statement that two people climbed a 250-foot construction crane to place a banner that reads "Drop City City."

The pair then attached themselves to the crane's ladder system with reinforced pipes, often referred to as a "sleeping dragon." 

READ ALL STORIES ON THE PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING CENTER PROTESTS

Several other protesters gathered with signs along 11th Street.

FOX 5 was there as the two activists were taken away in handcuffs. Police have identified them as 23-year-old Parker Demos and 22-year-old Frederick Hetzel. Demos was issued a Georgia's driver's license on March 22 and is previously from North Carolina. Hetzel is a resident of Decatur.

"We are just getting started. We will keep taking action until Brasfield & Gorrie ends their contract to build Cop City. Mayor Dickens and the City of Atlanta - by blocking the referendum on Cop City - have given residents no other choice but to engage in direct action," the Drop Cop City group said in a statement.

The group also said that the activists who climbed the crane are trans women and want to highlight recent violence that trans people have faced in Atlanta, and anti-trans legislation moving through the Georgia legislature. 

Brasfield & Gorrie is the lead contractor on the controversial training center project and has faced waves of protests and worksite disruptions in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, a protester with the group was arrested after locking themselves to construction equipment at a work site at the intersection of Peachtree and 17th streets. 

In January, two activists locked themselves to equipment at a different site in Midtown Atlanta and were taken into custody after a few hours.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum identified the two people who were arrested at that protest as 28-year-old Shiloh Wetstone of Atlanta and Temperance Blick of Lilburn. They are facing criminal trespassing charges. 

Vandals also targeted their offices in Birmingham, Alabama, in May 2022. 

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.

Atlanta Mayor Andre 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 of 26-year-old protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known as Tortuguita. A prosecutor last month 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."

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

Meantime, construction should be done in December.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.