Cop City protest: Demonstrators hold rally in Little Five Points

ATLANTA - Roughly 100 'Cop City' protesters marched on Euclid Avenue in Little Five Points after a short rally Friday. Their message is they do not want an Atlanta Police Training facility built in DeKalb County.

"We think the building of ‘Cop City' is something that doesn't need to happen, tearing down the forest is something that doesn't need to happen," said Kamau Franklin.

Franklin is one of the organizers of the rally. He was one of several speakers who spoke passionately to the group. This protest is part of a drawn-out battle over a planned training facility for Atlanta police and first responders. The protesters call the proposed facility 'Cop City.'

"We have to keep being out here in the streets period," Franklin said. "I think if we don't do that then we lose, and this gets built."

The people who showed up hope rallies like this send a message.

"I hope it shows the people that we don't want this, and more people join our movement," one man said.

"It is time for a just transition to a better world, both socially and in terms of climate," another protester said.

Tensions escalated at the proposed site of "Cop City" several times over the summer, from torched construction equipment to the destruction of surveillance cameras in a neighborhood near where the facility is set to be built.

Franklin does not believe the movement is criminal. Organizers say Atlanta Police do not need the facility and would like to see police reform.

"I think the killing of black people is something that needs to be stopped and if a car gets burnt to stop that then I'm for it," he said.

Organizers say rallies and protests will continue in their attempt to get the plans scrapped for the new training facility, but as of now the Atlanta Police Foundation still plans to build it.