Opponents of proposed public safety training center head to court to stop construction
Opponents of APD training center seek temporary restraining order
A busy day for opponents of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. A group spoke during the DeKalb Board of Commissioners meeting in an effort to stop the project. A few hours later, opponents made an appearance at the Fulton County courthouse and asked a judge to halt work at the site.
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Opponents of a controversial Atlanta planned $90 million public safety training center are heading to court hoping to stop its construction.
Land clearing for the police and firefighter training center that protesters derisively refer to as "Cop City" has already begun, but some opponents to the project want the courts to put a stop to the work.
Thursday, they're asking a Fulton County judge to impose a temporary restraining order on the project while they appeal its construction permits.
The training center was approved by the City Council in 2021 after 17 hours of public comments — the majority of which were in opposition to the project. Some locals cited noise concerns, while others said the planned destruction of nature significantly undermines the city’s efforts to preserve its famed tree canopy and would exacerbate local flooding risks.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FUTURE ATLANTA PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING CENTER
Many activists also oppose spending so much money on a police facility that would be surrounded by poor, majority-Black neighborhoods in a city with one of the nation’s highest degrees of wealth inequality.
In January, while announcing that construction permits had been approved, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the city is taking steps to protect the woodlands.
"This is Atlanta, and we know forests. This facility would not be built over a forest," Dickens said.
Opposition to APD public safety training facility holds town hall meeting
Community members and activists opposed to the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center came together for a town hall on Saturday. With city leaders poised to move forward with construction, opponents want to figure out what is next for them.
Dickens emphasized that the facilities will be built on a site that was cleared decades ago for a former state prison farm. He said the tract is filled with rubble and overgrown with invasive species, not hardwood trees. The mayor also said that while the facility will be built on an 85-acre site, about 300 other acres would be preserved as a public greenspace.
Tuesday morning, the DeKalb County government released a review of the land development permit application for the site, saying that "no mass grading or land disturbance was detected" and that construction work has been limited to "path clearing," "tree removal along the site perimeter" and "flagging of limits of clearings and stream buffers."
ATLANTA RESIDENTS REACT TO REASSIGNING BEAT OFFICERS TO GUARD APD TRAINING FACILITY SITE
In addition to classrooms and administration buildings, the training center would include a shooting range, a driving course to practice chases and a "burn building" for firefighters to work on putting out fires. A "mock village" featuring a fake home, convenience store and nightclub would also be built for authorities to rehearse raids.
Atlanta police bodycam footage captures audio of Manuel Teran's shooting
Atlanta police released bodycam footage that shows officers clearing out part of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. Suddenly, the officers heard rapid fire gunshots. Authorities say this audio captures the shooting between Georgia State Patrol and protestor Manuel Teran. Note: The Georgia State Patrol does not wear body cameras and does not visually show the shooting. This video was captured by the Atlanta Police Department.
Last month, Tortuguita, an activist whose given name was Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, was shot multiple times and killed after officials said the 26-year-old shot a state trooper. Authorities said they fired in self-defense, but protesters have said they do not believe the police narrative, noting the lack of body camera footage from the Jan. 18 shooting.
Over the last two months, at least 19 people have been arrested on charges including domestic terrorism related to protests against the training facility. Six of those arrests came during a Jan. 21 protest in downtown Atlanta after Tortuguita’s death that prompted GOP Gov. Brian Kemp to declare a state of emergency, giving him the option of calling in the Georgia National Guard to help "subdue riot and unlawful assembly."
Since then, local officials have vowed to move forward with the project.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.