ATLANTA — Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta Police Department said Wednesday that fires set at police facilities over July 4 weekend, destroying several motorcycles, were the result of arson by a "small determined group" radically opposing the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
Dickens, Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and Fire Chief Rod Smith all spoke at a noon press conference.
They outlined a primary incident inside the parking deck of the old APD Training Academy, saying that all 40 motorcycle vehicles in the area were targeted, but only eight were set ablaze and destroyed.
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The officials said there had also been a prior incident in which people were seen breaking windows at an APD precinct on Memorial Drive. Schierbaum said it was their belief the intent was for fires to be set to police vehicles there as well, but that a "citizen observed the criminal acts and actually interrupted the crimes."
"We believe a fire attack planned on Memorial Drive was thwarted by an observant citizen," he said, calling the weekend incidents an "attack not only on the men and women of this police department, but an attack on every neighborhood this department protects and every visitor that comes to our city to enjoy Atlanta."
Officials also described vandalism and harassment at the homes of a contractor tied to the training center project and an executive at Brasfield Gorrie, which is doing work for the building of the facility, as well as a fire at an unrelated construction site, meant as retaliation against the contracting company Brent Scarborough.
Police attributed the arson and other incidents to the "Week of Action" protesters had been conducting in opposition to the training facility, which they call "Cop City."
The publicly advertised "Week of Action" events by protesters, which included rallies and a music festival, occurred without incident.
Activists had previously highlighted a police sweep through Brownwood Park as a youth rally was concluding at the park on Saturday, as well as the arrest last week of a 76-year-old activist participating in the "Week of Action."
The weekend's incidents marked a renewed surge in tension between the protest movement and law enforcement.
"The safety of the majority will not be compromised by those who have a dangerous and irresponsible approach to communicating their beliefs or their concerns," said Dickens. "The people who committed this violence, whoever they may be, are not peaceful dissenters - these are the actions of blatantly outrageous, dangerous and violent criminals."
Addressing the sweep at Brownwood Park, Dickens said, "For those who gathered last week to share their opinions at Brownwood Park in East Atlanta, we respect your rights to do so within city park rules and laws."
Gov. Brian Kemp released a statement on social media Saturday afternoon blasting those responsible for the damage, calling the behavior "tactics of organized criminals" rather than protesters, and saying that they would work diligently to find the suspects and bring them to justice.
The movement against the facility, which opponents call "Cop City," has largely transitioned from a small tree-encampment sit-in protest in the South River Forest, where the center is to be built, into a more organized opposition. That now includes an ongoing petition drive to get a referendum on center, with the hopes that it could be defeated in a vote.
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Several activists in the last few months have been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism after property was damaged at the development site. The protest groups have strongly disputed the characterization of their activity as extremist.
Additionally, three people with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which has supported the protest movement, were arrested and charged in May with financial crimes for allegedly misappropriating funds.
Those three people were granted bond by a DeKalb judge this month, saying he did not find the initial case against them very impressive. "There's not a lot of meat on the bones," the judge said during a hearing.
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.
The project's backers - including the law enforcement community, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond - have argued it would improve training and community ties, framing it as an answer to police reform demands to eliminate contentious policing practices and reduce tensions between the police department and the public.
The construction of the facility is tentatively set to start in August, following approval of $33 million for construction of the project by the Atlanta City Council.
In the death of Teran, officials have said the protester shot first at a Georgia State Patrol trooper as a clearing operation of the encampments was ongoing, then was killed in return fire. 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.