Atlanta police arrested five activists, including two clergy members, on Thursday after the activists chained themselves to a bulldozer at the construction site for “Cop City”, a huge police and fire department training center being built in a forest south-east of Atlanta.
The activists entered an open gate around 9am local time where trees are being cleared and land is being graded for the training center, which would occupy a footprint of 170 acres if completed according to plans. Two Unitarian Universalist church clergy members hung a sign on the bulldozer saying: “Stop work.”
The action, which was supported by a rally outside the gate, took place only two days after the state attorney general, Chris Carr, indicted 61 people under Georgia’s Rico racketeering law who had previously been arrested in connection with opposition to the training center in the last year-plus.
The indictment is believed to be the largest group of protesters or activists ever charged under a law meant to prosecute conspiracies to commit crimes and often used against organized crime gangs like the mafia.
Mary Hooks, an organizer with an effort to put the question of whether Cop City should be built on a referendum for Atlanta voters to decide, was at the rally outside the construction site.
“We’re here to assert the people’s will,” she said. “We will not be deterred.” The referendum effort has already collected more than 100,000 signatures – nearly twice the required amount to get the question on the ballot in an upcoming election – but the city of Atlanta is currently holding up the process in court.
In an echo of those court proceedings, protesters posted a sign on the construction site fence titled: “Stop Work Order Notice – for the following violations: destruction of a forest, destruction of the public trust, polluting Intrenchment Creek, violating the will of the community, undermining the democratic referendum process.”
Intrenchment Creek runs alongside the construction site; it is the subject of several lawsuits under way alleging that the project violates the Clean Water Act by contaminating the creek with sediment. The “will of the community” reference includes three occasions on which history was made for civic participation in Atlanta city council meetings on the issue, with the most recent one drawing about 1,000 residents opposed to the project.
Hooks and another witness said that police from Atlanta, DeKalb county and the Georgia state patrol all arrived to the scene within 45 minutes after the five activists entered the site.
A state patrol helicopter circled overhead. Officers had assault rifles and riot control weapons. One officer shot down and confiscated a drone that was filming the event for a documentary being made on the movement, witnesses said.
It is unclear what charges the arrested activists will face. “We will see if the state continues with its repression,” Hooks said. “We hope this action inspires people to choose courage over fear, and to stay engaged.”
