Push to stop 'Cop Cities' across the US after shooting of activist

A rally is held at the Old Fourth Ward Skate Park on Saturday, Jan. 18, to mark two years since an environmental activist protesting the construction of Atlanta's public safety training center was fatally shot by Georgia State Troopers. (Chamian Cruz/WABE)

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Opponents of Atlanta’s new public safety training center are focusing their efforts elsewhere two years after Georgia State Troopers fatally shot an environmental activist.

At a rally at the Old Fourth Ward Skate Park on Jan. 18, a crowd of about 100 people gathered to remember Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, who many know as “Tortuguita.”

Atlanta poet Adan Bean was among them.



“The officer said this was routine,” Bean said, reciting a piece on over-policing. “I believed him. This was not a new thing. Plenty of Black faces have found their home on the pavement. And well, this is my turn. So, I pray that the concrete does not become my urn. Burned to ash by the bias of a badge.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said troopers fired at Paez Teran in self-defense during a clearing operation at the site of the soon-to-be Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in 2023.

Paez Teran’s family has since filed a lawsuit over alleged civil rights violations.

And other activists, who dubbed the center “Cop City,” say the incident shows how the effort is militarizing police and endangering communities.

Some also say they oppose the increased police presence that the 85-acre, $115 million center brings because they fear it will disproportionately impact the Black and immigrant communities who live in the area, especially during President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

One of the president’s priorities is to increase deportation operations targeting people who are in the U.S. without legal status, including those with minor infractions, which police departments across the country will have to decide whether or not to take part in.

Geovani Serrano, a community organizer with the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, says Trump’s plans, combined with the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, have further contributed to fears of racial profiling and discrimination by police.

“We’re going to continue fighting as a community,” Serrano said. “It is us who will defend each other. It is us who will fight against any anti-immigrant sentiment. … We are never going to compromise our people. It’s all of us or none of us.”

At a ribbon cutting for the center last month, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens reiterated that it would improve policing.

“We are enhancing and improving public safety and training in the city of Atlanta as a model to help keep people safe,” he said.

Activists are planning different efforts to try to prevent similar facilities from being built across the country, including Chicago and Baltimore. They claim 70 are in various development stages nationwide.

Meanwhile, a podcast called “We Came to the Forest,” which explores the complicated story of the “Stop Cop City” movement and how the death of Paez Teran marked an inflection point in activists’ efforts, is set to launch on Jan. 27.

According to Axios Atlanta, the series shares details from newly unearthed audio, photos and videos from sources and public records requests, including audio of a GBI informant and photos of the camp environmental protesters built near the construction site.