The site of the proposed Atlanta training center has been partially closed after deadly traps were found

Defend the Atlanta Forest: Police and Fire Training Center for a Future Training Facility on a High-Velocity Weelaunee Forest

Nearly two dozen people are in jail after violent protests at a forest near Atlanta that’s become a national focal point as authorities gear up to begin construction of a massive police and fire training facility.

The facility – dubbed “Cop City” by its opponents – has received fierce pushback since its conception by residents who feel there was little public input, conservationists who worry it will carve out a chunk of much-needed forest land and activists who say it will militarize police forces and contribute to further instances of police brutality.

Sean Wolters is an employee within the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” movement. Atlanta residents have been protesting for more than two years in numerous ways, including physically at the site, appealing construction permits and voicing their dissent at city council meetings, including one this week, Wolters said. And the movement has attracted others in its struggle, from across the country and worldwide, he added.

The recent arrests are the most recent example of authorities clashing with those opposed to the project.

The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is about to be built on land that used to be a prison farm. Because the plot of land is owned by the city, residents around the site don’t have voting power for leaders who approved it.

The foundation is privately funding most of the costs, according to the city. There will be about $30 million in taxpayer money, the city has said.

The foundation website says that the center will include a shooting range, a burn building, and a mock city.

Those backing the facility say it’s needed to help boost police morale and recruitment efforts. Previous facilities used by Atlanta law enforcement are substandard while fire officials train in “borrowed facilities,” the police foundation has said.

In January, he mentioned de-escalating training, mental health, community-oriented policing, crisis intervention training, as well as civil rights history education. “This training needs space, and that’s exactly what this training center is going to offer.”

The “Creek” have maintained the land in the Weelaunee Forest, which is expected to house the training center, is sacred Native American land. Their fight has been joined by a robust coalition of decentralized activists, including climate activists who believe paving the 85 acres would – among other things – lead to an increase in flooding in an already flood-prone area.

More than a dozen environmental organizations previously urged city leaders to reject the training center’s development, saying in a 2021 letter the project would be “devastating for the ecological community” and surrounding “historically marginalized” neighborhoods.

The letter stated that the South River Forest was fragmenting and that it would cause flooding in the surrounding areas, which is Atlanta’s top natural disaster.

Domestic Terrorism in Atlanta and its Implications for Human Rights and Conservation Laws: Lawsuits against Defend the Atlanta Forest

The organization said “dozens of people” at the site have been charged with domestic terrorism in recent months. They call the charges an over-criminalization of demonstrators.

Activists say that the police started arresting people at a music festival in the park outside the construction site, instead of targeting people at the construction site. Atlanta police are not in agreement with that claim.

Local authorities have accused protesters of the training facility of using violent tactics and have charged at least a dozen other people with domestic terrorism in recent months.

Ronald Carlson, an old law professor at the University of Georgia said domestic terrorism is a felony in Georgia that can be punished by up to 35 years in prison.

“What is the likely intent of the authorities in levying such a serious and severe charge? Carlson said that it appeared that they were attempting to deter additional destruction of property and injury to persons.

More than two dozen organizations, including the Human Rights Watch, have called for the domestic terrorism charges against “Defend the Atlanta Forest” activists to be dropped, saying they are a “clear attempt to silence dissent.”

In a January 18 clearing operation of the site, officers shot and killed Terán, the protester also known as Tortuguita – a nod to the activist’s love for turtle conservation.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/us/cop-city-explainer/index.html

The case of Manuel Paez Tern in DeKalb County, Georgia, during a clearing operation: the “Cop City” incident and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation

The project is supported by Georgia Gov.Brian Kemp and he wants those who are arrested to be kept behind bars. Kemp and Dickens both agree that most of the people arrested in relation to the project so far are out of state.

The proposed site of a police and fire training facility in Atlanta, dubbed “Cop City” by critics, was temporarily closed by an executive order after county officials said there were “life threatening” traps in the park.

“They confiscated booby traps, boards with nails that were hidden by leaves and underbrush. You could kill a small child or pet if you wanted to, Michael Thurmond told CNN by phone.

Unauthorized persons who entered the property will be subject to prosecution, as will unauthorized parked vehicles which will be towed and destroyed according to the news release.

The proposed $90 million training facility in DeKalb County has been attacked with rocks and other objects so that the county’s parks employees can’t get to it.

Tensions between law enforcement and protesters have continued to rise since the January shooting death of a protester, who law enforcement says fired on officers first and seriously wounded a state trooper.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Friday released an incident report in which a trooper with the state’s Department of Public Safety SWAT team described law enforcement officers calling for the protester, Manuel Paez Terán, to come out of his tent during a clearing operation.

The report said that as Paez Tern was walking up the front door, the trooper fired pepper bails into the opening. The report says that Paez Tern started shooting. The trooper fired his gun at the shooter, who he says was using a pepper ball launce.

The officer writes that he saw a small explosion at the front of the tent and a cloud of white powder in the air while shooting.

The family of Paez Tern sent CNN a statement saying they want witness statements and evidence released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. It also criticized the bureau for investigating the shooting, which came during an operation the bureau planned.

“The GBI is investigating its own tragic operation. The family wants to know what steps the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is taking to preserve the integrity of its investigation.

“The officer narratives released today by the Department of Public Safety were drafted weeks or, in some cases, months after the incident,” Jackson said. The officers had the opportunity to look at the video and press releases issued by the GBI after they drafted the statements.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/us/atlanta-cop-city-park-closure/index.html

The Atlanta Mayor’s office says there are no Native Americans on the South River Forest Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force (Greece/United States)

More than 40 “experts and community stakeholders” will join the South River Forest Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force, according to the mayor’s office. Members of the task force will join the advisory committee.

Included in the task force are representatives from the Georgia NAACP, ACLU, and Georgia State University, as well as other community and clergy members.

The City of Atlanta has joined the task force with the demonstrators’ First Amendment rights at the forefront, officials from the organization said in a statement.

Noticeably absent from the task force is anyone from the Muscogee Nation, or “Creek” Native American tribe. When CNN asked the mayor’s office reasons for not having a Native American on the task force, they didn’t reply.