After a fatal shooting and another shooting involving a Georgia state trooper occurred near a planned Atlanta police training facility, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest and domestic terrorism charges against seven individuals.
For months, protesters camped out in the woods to try to stop the construction of the $90 million, the 85-acre facility that had been dubbed “Cop City” by activists. Mike Register, director of the GBI, said that shots were fired as law enforcement officers attempted to evacuate the area early Wednesday morning.
Register claims law enforcement “returned fire in self-defense” after someone “without warning shot a Georgia State Patrol Trooper,” while opponents of the project have offered a different version of events.
Read Also:
Shootout Results In Death Of “The Individual Who Fired Upon Law Enforcement And Shot The Trooper,”
Police “located a man inside a tent in the woods” at around 9 a.m., according to a later news release from the GBI.
A Georgia State Patrol Trooper was shot after the man disobeyed officers’ verbal commands. To which other law enforcement officers responded by firing back and striking the man. According to the most recent press release, the Trooper was safely evacuated by law enforcement.
‘Stop Cop City’ activist Kei Diliza, who lives in neighboring Gresham Park, told CNN on Wednesday that eyewitness accounts from the group’s members who were close to the scene contradicted the police’s version of events regarding a protester opening fire on them.
According to a statement sent to CNN by “Stop Cop City,” the police operation on Wednesday “began with numerous armed police shutting down a public road and pointing guns into the park.”
Members of the community have been calling for months for police to stop using brutal tactics against forest defenders. Over a hundred locals and organizers showed up at the DeKalb County Courthouse on Monday alone to demand an end to police repression of the movement to stop cop city, according to the statement.
Read Also:
The agency claimed in a press release that they cleared the area of around 25 campsites. Fireworks in the “mortar style,” multiple-bladed weapons, pellet rifles, gas masks, and a blow torch were among the weapons found.
Controversy Abounds Regarding Future Plans
Previous violent incidents have taken place at the proposed location. Last year, activists and protestors clashed over the development of the site, leading to the arrests of five people on domestic terrorism charges.
In May, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at police while they were attempting to remove protesters from the area, and as a result, eight protesters were arrested, as reported by CNN affiliate WSB. When police tried to remove barricades last month, five people were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism.
Since the previous facilities used by law enforcement are inadequate, the Atlanta Police Foundation has stated that the center is necessary to help boost morale and recruitment efforts. This complex will feature a shooting range, a fake city, and a structure designed to be burned down.
Many people are opposed to the project because they believe it is a reaction to the protests that will occur in 2020 in response to the deaths of unarmed Black people at the hands of police, because of environmental concerns, or because of claims that the development of the project, which will cost taxpayers around $30 million, has been conducted in secrecy and with little opportunity for community input.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Register said that in the midst of nationwide discussions about reforming police forces, it is a “great thing for the community” to construct a new facility that will “train police officers to be effective in engaging in the community.”
Final Words
The day after seven people were arrested in a sweep of the so-called “Cop City,” the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, about a dozen protesters showed up outside the DeKalb County Jail. It was during this task force operation that a trooper was shot, according to the GBI, and the suspect who investigators believe pulled the trigger was killed.
