Ping pong protest: 'Stop Cop City' demonstrators throw balls at Atlanta City Council

ATLANTA - Residents opposing the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center flooded the Atlanta City Council meeting on Monday afternoon. 

Stop Cop City organizers say they are marking one year since a petition was submitted to the city. It happened well after the Atlanta City Council approved the complex and funding. 

A federal lawsuit in the matter is still pending. 

Chaos erupts, ping pongs hurled during Atlanta City Council meeting

It was just minutes after the conclusion of a speech given by Devin Barrington-Ward, who is running for the Atlanta City Council’s post 3 at-large seat, when the crowd erupted in chaos. 

"The future of public safety and the future of communities and the future of this city is at stake and the power belongs to us," said Barrington-Ward. 

The dozens in attendance during Monday's meeting continued clapping and shouting. Then the ping pong balls started to fly.

"You dropped the ball," the crowd chanted, as a giant banner was unfurled by two people in front of the chamber. It read, "Andre Dickens, you dropped the ball on democracy" and the number "116,000," the number of alleged Atlanta residents who signed a petition calling for a referendum be placed on the ballot for the public to decide on the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. It is that petition which is still part of federal litigation.

"The meeting will come back to order," the chair called, asking that order be restored in the chamber. The protest continued for six minutes before the live feed provided by the Atlanta City Council was cut.  

Inside, the chanting continued, being caught by FOX 5 reporters in the chamber at the time.

No word on who paid for the ping pong balls or how they made it past security.

Atlanta City Council responds to ping pong protest

After about 20 minutes, the protesters left the chamber, allowing the meeting to resume, but not before making it clear their demands for the council to call for a referendum.  

"They did something no one has ever done before," said Barrington-Ward.

"We have suppressed those people’s rights to be able to engage on whether this is something that taxpayer money supports…$90 million is being used to build this facility after we were told that it was only going to cost $30 million," he added. 

"We do have the power to do that," said city council member Michael Julian Bond.

Bond says it’s unlikely they’ll exercise that power with many in support of the facility that’s been praised by Mayor Andre dickens and criticized by environmental and civil rights groups. 

"We’re building a building, and they are saying that we’re militarizing and that there is a philosophy of militarization, but that can be addressed via policy," Bond said. 

He tells FOX 5 while he was glad to see the people engaged, he maintains the public training facility is a necessity. 

"Our existing facility is 70 years old, it’s full of OSHA violations. It needs to be replaced…period," Bond said. "We have to provide decent facilities for the people that we employ." 

Both sides doubled down on their beliefs as the future of the project expected to be complete by December looms in federal court.  

FOX 5 reached out to the federal court clerk for an update on when a ruling may come down, but did not hear back by late Monday evening. For now, the issue will not appear on the November ballot.  

Also qualifying for the at-large council member post were Nicole Evans Jones, Duvwon Robinson, Amber Connor, and Eshe Collins. 

Atlanta Mayor responds to ping pong protest

A spokesperson for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed released the following statement:

"On September 11, 2023, boxes containing signatures for a petition were submitted to the City of Atlanta Clerk’s office requesting a referendum on the Atlanta City Council’s 2021 ordinance authorizing former Mayor Bottoms to enter into a lease agreement with the Atlanta Police Foundation for construction of a Police and Fire Training facility- which is now known as the Public Safety Training Center. 

"After the original petition was issued by the City Clerk at petitioners’ request, some of the petitioners sued the City in federal court challenging the State's petition requirements. Also, the petition effort itself raised serious legal questions whether such a referendum could be used to reverse an action previously approved by the City Council. 

"The lower court ruled in favor of the petitioners. The City appealed that decision, believing we needed a clear process for referendums, and wanting to resolve any and all legal questions once and for all. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals paused the lower court’s ruling pending the appeal. We are awaiting a final decision. 

"Adding to the need for clear guidance from the 11th Circuit, State law mandates that petitioners only have 60 days to collect signatures. Any petition turned in after 60 days is invalid, per state law. This petition, however, was circulated for over 80 days. 

"Despite the ongoing legal issues, the Clerk received the petition and has made the petition available for review by the press and public until the legal questions can be resolved. 

"Importantly, at the time the petition was submitted, the training center had been approved twice by the Atlanta City Council, with one of those approvals passing with a supermajority vote and after a citywide election in which EVERY major candidate for Mayor expressed support for the training center with the eventual winner receiving over 60% of the vote. 

"Since this matter is still pending in litigation, we have no further comment at this time."

Opposition to the Atlanta Public Safety Center? 

Protests against the training center have been ongoing for more than two years. 

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 2023, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr indicted 61 protesters using the state's anti-racketeering law, characterizing them as "militant anarchists." 

This year, protesters have vandalized construction vehicles and disrupted traffic near sites for companies connected with the project. 

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