The Atlanta City Council convened at 1 pm yesterday to vote to approve (or disapprove) $30 million to be spent on the construction of the police training center activists call “cop city.” Literally hundreds of progressives showed up to make two-minutes speeches in opposition to the plan and as a result the meeting lasted approximately 16 hours. It was full of pleading and screaming and the occasional threat.
At one point around 10 pm last night, the council called for a 15 minutes recess to allow people to calm down. At that point the protesters were told that threats had been made and if the situation continued the room would be cleared. But public comment resumed and lasted for another six hours. In the end, the activists seem to have made no difference at all because the vote, which was finally taken at 5:30 am Tuesday morning, wasn’t even close.
After an over 16-hour-long session, Atlanta City Council approved funding for the new public safety training center Tuesday morning.
The session went on all night since 1 p.m. Monday, eventually passing in an 11-4 vote…
At the moment funding passed, protesters in the audience could be heard chanting “Cop City will never be built.”
I saw some people online suggesting late last night that, thanks to the show of opposition, the council was evenly split and on the verge of blocking the funds. I don’t know where they got that information but it was clearly wrong. Or maybe it was close at some point but forcing the members of the council through the 16-hour long struggle session backfired.
I was trying to make the point last night that all of this was just a big checking of boxes for the activists. They can now say they tried their utmost to block this the legal way. But they have made it very clear that even if their opposition failed, their movement would triumph in some other way. What other way you ask? It’s really not much of a secret at this point.
Yesterday afternoon they were outside chanting, “If you build it, we will burn it.” Of course left-wing activists have a long history of empty threats but in this case Atlanta police should absolutely believe them. If you’ve somehow missed this story, it really kicked off last year with activists throwing Molotov cocktails toward police.
Then there was an incident where a man in a pickup truck entered the forest and attempted to take some items he claimed he thought had been abandoned. Activists burned his truck.
The same day that happened a couple of new homes which were under construction were also burned down nearby. There was the protest in Atlanta after the police shot a protester.
And there was the protest in the forest which ended with construction equipment being set on fire.
From earlier today pic.twitter.com/0tNHvZBj56
— Sean Keenan (@ThatSeanKeenan) March 6, 2023
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More from the same day.
From earlier today pic.twitter.com/bnfXvVOMYa
— Sean Keenan (@ThatSeanKeenan) March 6, 2023
The protesters claim they are peace-loving people just trying to protect the trees but if you look at their history over the past year you can see they are quite fond of arson. Arson is not a civil right that people have, it’s the behavior of extremists. When they say that “cop city will never be built” and “if you build it, we will burn it” the authorities in Atlanta should take them literally. Somewhere in Atlanta they are already planning their next anti-police attack. Again, this isn’t a secret. Supporters of this movement have said this repeatedly including earlier this morning.
This vote drives home: there is no democracy in Atlanta. This project most directly impacts those who have no representation on council, and the hundreds/thousands who do have Council representatives were all ignored today.
— #StopCopCity (@micahinATL) June 6, 2023
And while there’s no democracy in Atlanta, there is a MOVEMENT in Atlanta. One that has never been dependent on council for its legitimacy or action. One that will keep fighting just as it has for years.
— #StopCopCity (@micahinATL) June 6, 2023
Here’s the key tweet (2nd below). They’ve tried it the “right” way and that didn’t work. So, “Council only has itself to blame when people decide to use channels that are not condoned by the powerful.” In other words, they’ll now continue working outside the law.
One important point: this was us using the “right” channels that the powerful always tell us to use. And doing so in a historic way. And still being ignored. So Council only has itself to blame when people decide to use channels that are not condoned by the powerful.
— #StopCopCity (@micahinATL) June 6, 2023
We even have a good idea when it will happen. The next “week of action” is scheduled for the end of this month. I don’t think construction will be very far along by that point but I’m sure they’ll find something to burn.
Reminder: whatever happens w/ the city council vote, nearly 1000 ppl gathered today in opposition to Cop City. We are more powerful together. pic.twitter.com/sdx4dtWjin
— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) June 5, 2023
Finally, here’s the last six hours of public comment. There are some live ones here and lots of people who clearly just want to abolish the police (and capitalism too). You can scroll back to see all that. I’ve cued this up to the very end when the vote to approve funding takes place. Enjoy the howls of defeat. “Cop city” will be built.
