ATLANTA — Protest groups against the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center marched on the construction site for the facility Monday morning, with videos and photos posted to social media showing a brief encounter with police along the march.
The tense confrontation appeared to de-escalate as protesters regrouped and marched back the way they'd came, with several rows of law enforcement officers and vehicles blocking any further way down the road.
Videos posted by protest groups showed a large marching column, which had began at Gresham Park at roughly 8:30 a.m. with the intent of reaching the training center construction site to block it, being met by several officers with riot shields.
Some videos showed flashbangs and tear gas being deployed. The 11Alive SkyTracker flew over the scene, observing the evident stalemate between protesters and law enforcement after the initial tussle.
In a statement, DeKalb County called the protest an "unpermitted march" that blocked two of four lanes of traffic along Constitution Road. The county statement said the marchers were "informed via loudspeaker that they were obstructing the roadway and that they would not be permitted to proceed."
"The protestors ignored the commands by DeKalb County Police and began to force their way through a line of 30 DeKalb County Police officers," the county said. "DeKalb County Police officers deployed tear gas canisters to disperse the protestors."
The county noted that the marchers turned around just before noon and that "no injuries have been reported and no arrests have been made as of noon."
In a press conference later in the day, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum pointed to items confiscated from the crowd as evidence of their attempt to sow chaos.
"This is not for planting trees," Schierbaum exclaimed while pointing to shovel-like devices police claim were intended to be used as weapons.
In addition to those makeshift tools, gas masks and bolt cutters were also presented as alleged evidence the crowd had illegal motives.
Schierbaum also emphasized that the protesters who encountered police were a much smaller group than the one which had gathered at Gresham Park for a peaceful protest.
He also stated that like other encounters over the proposed training center, many of those involved in Monday's march were from outside the state, adding "they are from Illinois, they are from California, from Oklahoma, they are from Washington state, they are from Texas."
When asked whether the city could expect more protests, Schierbaum remarked he was unsure but authorities are prepared regardless.
You can watch the full press conference below:
More context
The march was organized for the conclusion to a four-day "call to action" weekend that included several other events tied to the protest movement against the police and fire training center, called "Cop City" by opponents.
The "Block Cop City" event came followed on an initial demonstration to block the construction site last week, in which four demonstrators, ranging in ages from 63-76, were arrested.
A description on the "Block Cop City" site said "masses of people from across the city and country will gather in the Weelaunee Forest and bring construction to a halt" with the Monday morning march.
The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center project is a planned 85-acre complex on the Old Prison Farm site in south DeKalb County under a land lease agreement with the City of Atlanta. Situated in the South River Forest, protesters have argued the facility would decimate one of the largest preserved forest areas in the city and desecrate historically Native American land of the Muscogee Creek people, who once lived in the woods and called it the Weelaunee Forest before being displaced by white settlers in the early 19th century.
In addition to police training facilities, the center is also slated to offer training capacity to the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department and the city's 911 center.
The training center has been the subject of a now-yearslong protest movement as city politicians, including Mayor Andre Dickens, and the Atlanta Police Foundation, which is primarily funding the project, have argued it will have a much-needed modernizing effect on the police force.
The protest movement mushroomed with the law enforcement shooting death of an activist, Manuel Paez Teran, in January. Officials have said the protester shot first at a Georgia State Patrol trooper as a clearing operation of protest encampments in the forest was ongoing, then was killed in return fire. Paez Teran's family and activists have strongly contested the official narrative.
The lack of bodycam videos - which are not worn by state law enforcement officers such as GSP troopers or Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents - has left unresolved what exactly happened. A special prosecutor determined in October there would be no charges against any officers, deeming their actions "objectively reasonable."
More than 60 people tied to the protest movement have been charged in a RICO indictment that was brought by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr earlier this year, accusing them of collectively constituting an "enterprise of militant anarchists, eco-activists and community organizers."
The Cop City Vote Coalition, which is attempting to organize a referendum that if passed would revoke City of Atlanta funding for the facility, has condemned the prosecution and argues it sends a "chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished with the full power and violence of the government."
