ATLANTA — A judge granted bond Tuesday to six people who face domestic terrorism charges following protests at the planned site of Atlanta police’s new training center.
The defendants, who deny all charges, are part of the “Defend The Atlanta Forest” movement opposing the police center, which detractors call “Cop City.” They were arrested Dec. 13 following a standoff and altercation with GBI agents and Atlanta police officers. The defendants are accused of throwing rocks and glass bottles, resisting arrest and possessing pipe bombs and trip wires.
The incident prompted prosecutors to pursue domestic terrorism charges — a rarely used 2017 statute that resulted from the massacre of nine Black parishioners in Charleston, S.C. — that can carry five- to 35-year-prison sentences.
