Battle over 'Stop Cop City' referendum heading to federal appeals court

ATLANTA - A court hearing on Thursday could determine whether the public will have a vote on the future of the controversial training center for Atlanta police and first responders. 

The future of the project, which critics have nicknamed "Cop City," may come down to a battle over signatures. 

Organizers launched a petition to put the future of the $90 million training center on the ballot.

"We submitted 116,000 signatures," said Britney Whaley, southeast regional director for the Working Families Party, one of the organizers of the petition. 

"Stop Cop City" organizers say they are not worried after a recent analysis by The Associated Press found half the signatures may not be valid.

However, the Associated Press analyzed some of the signatures on the petition and found that nearly half of the 1,000 signatures examined in a sample group may be ineligible.

The AP reports it had hand counted only a little more than 108,000 signatures. The news outlet also counted 1,000 entries from that petition. It could not match nearly half of those who signed the petition to the eligible voters registered in the city of Atlanta.

Some signers lived outside the city and had what appeared to be made-up addresses, according to the AP article.

"We understood that in any signature-gathering process, a lot of the signatures will not be valid. Because we understood that, we got what we felt like were more than enough with a buffer and a cushion so that we could meet that threshold," Whaley said.

She says petition organizers do not have access to the city’s list of registered voters. 

"We don’t have access to the signatures on the voter file. Understanding more about what they will actually deem valid and invalid is the only way we will know," she said. 

"Stop Cop City" organizers say they are not worried after a recent analysis by The Associated Press found half the signatures may not be valid. (FOX 5)

The city won’t verify the signatures because the petition is being held up in court. Legal and procedural disputes could shrink the total of eligible signers even if the city eventually counts those signatures, possibly weakening the petition. 

"We feel confident that we have it," Whaley said. "We think that there are more than what we need." 

A hearing on this case is set to start on Thursday.

"Stop Cop City" organizers say they are not worried after a recent analysis by The Associated Press found half the signatures may not be valid. (FOX 5)

The mayor’s office would not comment on this story, but Mayor Dickens previously said he supports letting the process run its course in an open and transparent manner. He said he wanted to know what was in the boxes.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum is set to hold a press conference Thursday morning to address what he calls multiple crimes associated with the training center.

Debate around Atlanta Public Safety Training Center  

Protests against the training center — dubbed "Cop City" by opponents — have been going on 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."

Currently, construction work on the project is around 40% complete

The Associated Press contributed to this report.