ATLANTA — Protesters opposed to the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center disrupted a construction site early Wednesday morning by locking themselves to a 250-foot crane, activists said, in at least the third such protest action in recent months.
The group "Drop Cop City" issued a release saying the protest targeted a site at 11th Street and Bellingrath Avenue, which is situated between Northside Drive and Howell Mill Road. Some road access was blocked in the area due to the police response around 6 a.m.
Similar protest actions, also involving activists locking themselves to construction equipment, occurred at other Midtown construction sites earlier this month and in January.
Wednesday morning's protest, like the prior two instances, targeted the contracting company Brasfield & Gorrie, which is involved in the building of the police and fire training center that opponents call "Cop City."
The release issued by activists said the two activists scaled the crane and draped a "large vertical banner that read 'Drop Cop City'" and then "used reinforced pipes to attach themselves to the ladder system within the frame of the crane, blocking access to the crane's control tower and effectively shutting down the machine."
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and Fire Chief Roderick Smith held a joint news conference later in the day.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum has described the reinforced pipe mechanism activists use to lock themselves to equipment as a "sleeping dragon."
Bodycam video APD released shows the moment crews worked to get the two protesters down. They were charged with criminal trespass, false imprisonment, obstruction, and reckless conduct, police said. They were taken to the Fulton County Jail for processing.
Brasfield & Gorrie said in a statement following the January protest that "we’ve taken steps to increase security as well as planning and response protocol" and "we continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies to monitor and respond to potential activity on an ongoing basis."
The release added both activists on the crane are trans women using the protest "to highlight recent violence that trans people have faced in Atlanta, and anti-trans legislation moving through the Georgia legislature."
The "Drop Cop City" group said these protests would continue "until Brasfield & Gorrie ends their contract to build Cop City."
The release also referenced the stalled referendum movement to put the training center's funding, approved last year by the Atlanta City Council, on the ballot. The Cop City Vote referendum drive in particular has been a flashpoint with the city generally trying to quash it through bureaucratic maneuvers.
Those opposed to the training center have protested and organized against it for roughly two years. A RICO indictment brought by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has charged over 60 people for their involvement with the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” movement, though what level of organization — if any — that might exist between various factions of activists under this umbrella is not clear.
The protests at construction sites follow on other, more extreme actions that some have taken to oppose the training center project.
APD responded to a site in January where construction equipment had been set on fire. Police in that instance said they believed the arson was connected to the public safety training center opposition movement, though several social media accounts and websites connected to the movement that have claimed responsibility for past actions did not do so in this instance.
Fires were set at a concrete company in Gwinnett County last November, and Atlanta Police motorcycles were destroyed in an arson incident in July 2023. Police also previously highlighted three arsons earlier last year on McDonough Boulevard involving construction equipment, in what was believed to be the targeting of a company for ties to the building of the training center when it in fact was not involved.
The protest movement mushroomed following the Jan. 2023 law enforcement shooting death of Manuel Teran, known as Tortuguita, during a clearing operation of the forest encampments where protesters first started opposing the training center's construction.
The elements of the opposition movement against the center have included the referendum, lawsuits to halt its construction, marches, and the more radical elements of the movement that allegedly have vandalized or set fires at construction sites.
City officials have said the opposition movement has ballooned the cost of the project from an initial estimate of $90 million to nearly $110 million. Schierbaum said APD has been in touch weekly with training center contractors as the project continues.
The City of Atlanta said in January that site prep work at the construction site for the training center was 75% complete, with officials now targeting December of this year for completion of the project.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said at his State of the City address this week that "despite the many distractions" the facility "has made significant progress and is on schedule to open before the end of the year."
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