ATLANTA — Five people were taken into custody at the construction site for the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center on Thursday morning, the latest flashpoint this week for the hotly contested facility.
According to police and activists, the five people had chained themselves to construction equipment at the site around 9:30 a.m.
The protest follows a RICO indictment brought this week by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr that charges more than 60 people for alleged crimes tied to their involvement in the protest movement against the facility, which they call "Cop City."
RELATED: 60+ people indicted on RICO over ties to protesting of Atlanta Public Safety Training Center
Activists with the movement said in a release the five people were comprised of two ministers and other people of faith. They were delivering what they called the "People's Stop Work Order," according to the release.
In a statement, protesters cited the ongoing effort to petition for a referendum that, if passed, would revoke city funding for the facility.
"As Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens fights against our right to stop cop city via the ballot, we must continue our struggle to stop the project with direct actions like sit-ins, boycotts, and blockades," a statement attributed to a protester, Ayeola, said. "This movement cannot be won with a ballot alone; we must organize together for mass direct actions if we want to have a chance at protecting our community and saving our planet."
Atlanta Police said the five people had trespassed onto the site and were taken into custody. Around that same time, APD said 25 people gathered outside of the site to protest. They also posted a request for additional people to come and show their support, according to APD. Protesters began leaving the area around 11 a.m. and no additional incidents were reported, authorities added.
The police department said it was working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation regarding the charges of the five protesters who were arrested. In an update, the police department said officers arrested a 28-year-old for trespassing, obstruction and reckless conduct charges, and two 25-year-olds, a 61-year-old, and a 65-year-old for trespassing and obstruction charges.
Several people in the past arrested during disruptions at the site, and charged in the RICO indictment, have been accused of arson and domestic terrorism for allegedly lighting equipment on fire and other acts of vandalism or damage. There was no indication anyone on Thursday, however, caused any damage.
"We are aware protesters are actively requesting others to come to the site to show their support. Additional resources have been moved to the site and our local, state and federal law enforcement partners are engaged and assisting us to ensure the 1st Amendment rights and the safety of protesters is protected, as well as to ensure the work site remains secure and work continues on the training center," APD said.
More on the yearslong protest movement against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center:
Called "Cop City" by opponents, the 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.
The training center has been met with a roughly two-year-long 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. It is also slated to offer training capacity to the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department and the city's 911 center.
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 South River 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.
The protesters have opposed the facility on environmental and historical grounds, saying it 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.
They also oppose it on the grounds that the land was once the site of the Old Prison Farm, a jail complex that was billed during its operation in the mid-20th Century as an "Honor Farm" where prisoners farmed the land as a "dignified means of imprisonment," a practice which has since been scrutinized for its profit generation and exploitation of unpaid labor.
Dozens of people have been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism in the last year after various protest actions at the construction site, some instances in which equipment was lit on fire, or other acts of vandalism and damage occurred. The RICO indictment includes additional charges of domestic terrorism and arson for some individuals. Many of the individuals included in the case file are among those previously arrested and charged by local authorities with domestic terrorism.
"The purpose of Defend the Atlanta Forest is to occupy of parts or all of 381 forested acres in DeKalb County, Georgia that is owned by Atlanta Police Foundation and leased by the City of Atlanta for the purpose of preventing the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center," the indictment this week alleges. "Each individual charged in this indictment knowing joined the conspiracy in an attempt to prevent the training center from being built. "
In a statement, the Cop City Vote Coalition, which is attempting to organize a referendum that if passed would revoke funding for the facility, said the prosecution sends a "chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished with the full power and violence of the government."
The coalition said it "strongly condemns these anti-democratic charges" and "will not be intimidated," calling Carr's prosecution "part of a retaliatory pattern of prosecutions against organizers nationwide that attack the right to protest and freedom of speech."