Probably the most common slogan used by the extremists opposing the Atlanta Police Training Center is this one: “Cop city will never be built.”
“COP CITY WILL NEVER BE BUILT!”
Mood inside Atlanta City Hall today to #StopCopCity. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/TqF9WsxJHY
— #StopCopCity (@ChuckModi1) June 5, 2023
Opponents have been saying and chanting that slogan for years at this point.
Local protesters in front of Fulton County courthouse taking advantage of the media scrum. “Cop City will never be built!” #gapol pic.twitter.com/1pCt4GtmA3
— Patricia Murphy (@MurphyAJC) August 14, 2023
This week, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens gave a press conference about about the vandalism and arson the extremist opponents of the training center have directed at police and construction companies working on the project. He also gave an update saying the facility would be completed this year regardless of the disruptions.
Mayor Andre Dickens sent a message on Wednesday to “Stop Cop City” protesters and “anarchists” who continue to commit arson, damage property, and trespass: “Newsflash: The training center is well on its way. We will continue and complete it this year. Construction is happening on the site every day.”
But the other point of the press conference was to highlight more than two dozen acts of violence connected to the training center. The most recent arson happened this week.
Fayetteville Police and Fire officials, along with multiple other agencies, are investigating fires that took place overnight on a construction site adjacent to the Piedmont Fayette Hospital campus.
The fire was reportedly spotted by a passerby just after 4 a.m. on April 16. Officials say that several pieces of construction equipment were burned, and arson is suspected.
The equipment was owned by Brasfield & Gorrie one of the companies that has been repeatedly targeted by arsonists. Mayor Dickens said the total losses associated with the anarchists was now around $10 million.
According to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, the various attacks on construction companies associated with the building of the training center and local law enforcement has resulted in at least $10 million worth of damage.
“These are not MLK versions of peaceful, nonviolent protest,” Mayor Andre Dickens said. “To the contrary, these are arsons, vandals, they are destructive.”
Last month, someone broke into a stable and led a police horse outside.
[Atlanta Police Chief Darin] Schierbaum said Stop Cop City protesters claimed responsibility for breaking into APD’s mounted patrol facility, cutting a fence, and luring one horse into the roadway where it could have been hit by a vehicle.
“Those horses patrol our parks, protect the Atlanta Pride Parade and the Peachtree Road Race, and keep the city safe daily,” Schierbaum said.
And if February a police SUV was torched. The same group of anarchists apparently took credit.
Here’s the press conference featuring the mayor and the chief of police. They closed this by noting there is still a $200,000 reward out for help identifying the arsonists who are behind all of these attacks. Also, so far no one involved in the project has backed out because of the anarchists. Mayor Dickens said there would be a ribbon cutting at the site later this year. He didn’t use this language but I will: Cop city will be built.