Stop Cop City, anti-police violence proponents note legal victories and continue fighting

The breadth of anti-police violence protests in Atlanta has diminished since the December 2024 soft opening of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center—dubbed Cop City by activists. But the resulting legal battles involving protesters from the years-long Stop Cop City movement have heated up.

“The First Amendment rights of protesters have been suppressed,” said Drago Cepar, an attorney who has represented many Stop Cop City defendants and other protestors over the years. “And we’re having success in court fighting that.”

Three cases from 2021-22 that Cepar has worked on have yielded positive results, which he said free speech proponents must continue to fight for, lest they lose freedom of speech. 

“Police have done things they’re not supposed to do.”

On Jan. 6, 2021—the day of the right-wing insurrection at the U.S. Capitol—a candlelight vigil of up to 30 people protested a refusal to prosecute officers involved in the shooting of Black man Jacob Blake. As they marched with signs along Andrew Young International Boulevard toward Ted Turner Drive, police kettled and arrested a large group on charges of pedestrian in roadway, despite body camera footage showing most marchers on the sidewalk and no cars approaching those on the street, Cepar said.

“There were allegations by the police that somebody threw a rock and that’s why they were arrested,” he said. “We went through discovery, and the only remote evidence of anything being thrown, if you want to call it that, was a clicking sound that is heard on Lt. Gary Harper’s body camera while he’s inside a car.”

Nineteen plaintiffs filed suit against Harper and his team for First and Fourth Amendment violations and malicious prosecution. The case reached Judge Michael Brown of the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia, who last year had dismissed as textbook self-defense the murder case against former APD Officer Sung Kim for Kim’s 2019 fatal shooting of Jimmy Atchison. 

On Feb. 17, 2026, Brown denied Harper’s claim to qualified immunity for the alleged federal Constitutional violations, writing, “No reasonable officer could have thought he or she had arguable probable cause to arrest people under § 150-266 for peacefully walking on the sidewalk without entering the roadway.” Brown upheld Harper’s claim to qualified immunity state law malicious prosecution allegation.

Harper was promoted to captain eight months after the Jan. 6 arrests, major in late 2022 and deputy chief in early 2024. He retired about a year later.

Targeting Stop Cop City protesters

Bruce is a defendant in another Cop City-related protest that occurred in July 2022. 

Brasfield & Gorrie, the general contractor for Cop City, was also constructing the Georgia State University Convocation Center. Some of the company’s workers were present when about 50 protesters briefly walked through the center, chanted and exited. 

“An officer appeared by the door and told them to go away—and they did—he exited; they left,” Cepar said. “Nevertheless, police decided to pursue them. People detained were charged with felony criminal damage to property and some other charges.”

Police pressed two workers to identify detained protesters, records show. A Fulton County judge later determined the identification was invalid, after which prosecutors dropped the charges against those who challenged the identification.

“Before this happened, the rest of the people charged accepted a pretrial diversion, which meant they had to do certain things and their cases were dismissed,” Cepar said. “Then a video surfaced of Bruce asking what kind of charges the GSU officers have against the protesters.”

A GSU officer can be heard on body camera video saying they observed nothing that rose to a felony. Bruce replied, “Anything we can get would help us out tremendously with this group.”  

“I know it’s a reach,” Bruce added.

The GSU officer filming then turned off the body camera that was recording the interaction.

Five plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Atlanta, Bruce and seven GSU officers, claiming First and Fourth Amendment violations, malicious prosecution and conspiracy to violate constitutional rights.

U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson denied Bruce’s motion to dismiss the malicious prosecution, permitting that claim against Bruce and GSU officers to proceed.

Bruce was appointed a major seven months after the incident and ultimately to deputy chief in 2024. She currently leads the Professional Development Division.

More targeting and possible police perjury

In May 2022, Atlanta Police Major Jeff Cantin oversaw police response to a Stop Cop City protest in the Inman Park area. Cepar said that as the protest ended and some people dispersed without a police order to do so, law enforcement decided to arrest everyone in the park—declaring everyone there inherently involved in the protest.

“I believe that is wrong,” Cepar said. “So your First Amendment-protected speech is enough to associate you with criminal activity of other people? I think that’s very problematic that anyone who stands there and says ‘Stop Cop City’ is deemed as probable cause purposes, to be suspected of criminal activity.”

Similar to the GSU case, malicious retaliation based on the group’s cause made it through the judge’s check, resulting in a settlement for Cepar’s clients.

“The judge pointed out that there were other protests that Jeff Cantin commanded the police responses to—Ukraine protest, Roe v. Wade protest,” Cepar said. “And the Roe protest specifically, instead of arresting people, the officers were actually helping protesters and blocking traffic for them. The judge pointed that out, and for essentially the exact same conduct with a different message, they arrested them instead.”

Cepar’s clients were the first people with a related sign Cantin found at the park upon arriving late, Cepar said.

“As he’s doing that, there are other people filming there, bystanders—and he actually grabs this other lady that’s trying to film,” Cepar said of Cantin. “One of the bystanders says, ‘What did she do?’ He decides to let her go, saying she’s lucky he’s out of handcuffs.” 

Cantin said in the trial’s discovery phase that the pair had crossed the street in front of him, forcing him to use his brakes, to justify a pedestrian in roadway charge. But police helicopter footage showed the two had not entered the roadway.

The Atlanta City Council authorized a $45,000 settlement to the pair on May 4, 2026. 

Cantin now oversees the APD’s community engagement and outreach programs. 

Cepar is representing another individual in a separate federal civil suit for similar alleged constitutional violations. That case is ongoing.