For Immediate Release
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Town hall to Demand the End of Cop City Project
Atlanta citizens and Community groups demand an end to the attempted construction of Cop City, the militarized police training facility, and an end to the repression of community organizers
Atlanta citizens and community groups are gathering for a town hall meeting to demand the end of Cop City and the repression of organizers by the City of Atlanta and other police agencies on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at 7:00pm at the Little 5 Points Community Center located at 1083 Austin Ave NE (food and child care provided).
Come join us as residents of Atlanta and organizers speak out against the building of a militarized “training” facility that will not bring safety to our community but only increase the harm of over-policing and police violence against Black and working-class communities in Atlanta. Jasmine Burnett, the organizing director for Community Movement Builders states, “We must continue to organize against this militarized police playground, which will only bring more state violence and brutality to our communities.”
“This project is being built in a forest that was supposed to serve our community but instead will result in the cutting down of nearly 100 acres of pristine forest during a time of climate disaster,” says Alyzei Caraballo, a resident who lives about 10 minutes from the proposed training center and South River Forest in unincorporated DeKalb. “We were never asked if we wanted our forest destroyed for an unnecessary training center. There is so much need in this city for housing, jobs, food access, etc. – why does our money always go to policing?”
The community will also speak out against the targeting of Defend the Forest activists and the larger Stop Cop City activist community by city, state and federal police agencies, that are attempting to demonize activists and label them as “terrorists” in order to justify both illegal and immoral police behavior. The Atlanta Police Foundation, elected officials, corporations, and many in the media have joined forces to target Atlanta area activists for investigations, possible indictments and arrest. The community demands that this stop.
Cop City has been a gift to the Atlanta police during a time when the public was calling for police to be defunded and to have public safety looked at through a lens of support instead of punishment of the poor. The Atlanta City Council with the support of the current Mayor Andre Dickens (and prior Mayor) approved a lease to the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) for only $10 a year to build the $80.6 million police training facility, which will be one of the largest in the country. The APF’s proposed training facility will be supported by the Atlanta Committee for Progress, a committee of over 40 corporate elite figures, including AT&T, Home Depot, the Atlanta Hawks and Cox Communications (owners of the Atlanta Journal Constitution).
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