Though the Atlanta public safety training facility is at the center of the protest in the south river forest, there are actually four closely located properties involved:
1) The public safety training center site: 561 Key Road
- 300 acres of forested land located in southwestern DeKalb County but owned by the city of Atlanta.
- Former site of a prison farm. Currently hosts some police training activities, including a firing range.
- Leased in Sept. 2021 to the Atlanta Police Foundation, which plans to build a $90 million public safety training center across roughly 85 acres.
2) The land swap property: 3251 West Side Place
- 40 forested acres on the northwest corner of Constitution Road and West Side Place.
- Longtime home for Intrenchment Creek Park’s South River Trailhead.
- Obtained by Blackhall Real Estate Phase II LLC and Ryan Millsap, the founder of Blackhall Studios, in a 2021 land swap with DeKalb County. County received three parcels further north that it plans to use to create a more contiguous Michelle Obama Park.
- Millsap sold Blackhall Studios, which has an existing campus south of Constitution Road, to a private equity firm in April 2021.
3) The actual movie studio: 1415 Constitution Road
- Existing campus of Shadowbox Studios, formerly known as Blackhall Studios.
4) The Shadowbox expansion site: 3600 International Park Drive
- 155 undeveloped acres south of the existing Shadowbox campus
- The studio is planning a massive expansion that would make it the largest film production site in Georgia.
March 31, 2021
During her State of the City address, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced plans to build a new public safety training facility.
April 1, 2021
The major provided further details about the new facility stating that it will be built using 150 acres at the old Atlanta Prison Farm. It was also announced that the Atlanta Committee for Progress, a group of 40 top business, university and civic leaders, supported building the new facility.
May 17, 2021
The leftist revolutionary website Abolition Media Worldwide posts an anonymous report regading the vandalism of 7 construction machines left unguarded on the land parcel owned by Blackhall (what I assume to be the expansion site). The website Scenes from the Atlanta Forest posted images of the destruction, depicting excavators, bulldozers and rollers with smashed windows, tires slashed and set on fire, and spray painted messages such as "Defend the Forest ATC" and "More Dead Cops."
June 10, 2021
Protester/domestic terrorist vandalized three more excavators by setting them on fire.
June 16, 2021
Atlanta city leaders chose to delay a vote on a new police training facility Wednesday night after public opposition swelled and protesters gathered outside a councilwoman’s home. Residents, environmental groups and organizations pushing to defund the police called on council members to vote no on the lease, citing its increased investment in the police force and the effects it could have on the surrounding neighborhoods and natural land.Activists groups such as Defend the Atlanta Forest and Defund APD, Refund Communities organized a march and expressed radical leftist ideas. "The City of Atlanta must demilitarize, disarm and abolish the Atlanta Police Department (APD), not provide it with additional opportunities to practice targeting, assaulting and killing city residents," Defund APD, Refund Communities circulated in a call sheet on the ordinance.
New Atlanta police training center: Council delays vote as opposition grows (ajc.com)
New Atlanta police training center: Council delays vote as opposition grows (ajc.com)
Atlanta's proposed police training facility ignites protests, activists go to city council member’s house | Fox News
December 17, 2021
September 8, 2021
October 18, 2021
A group disrupt the surveying and clearing of grounds at Old Atlanta Prison Farm. Several surveillance towers are destroyed.
November 10 - 14, 2021
Protesters form an encampment in the forest around the area of the future public safety training facility.
November 20, 2021
Two bulldozers set on fire that were located on the land swap property.
A dozen protesters march to the entrance gate of Blackhall Studios on Constitution Road and block the main entrance, chanting slogans. Shortly after, a large contingent of police raids the forest, evicting the protest camp established there.
January 18, 2022
In order to begin “boring” the land, a process necessary for determining the construction supplies needed for laying foundation, Reeves Young and a representative of the Atlanta Police Foundation enter the woods near Key Road and use a bulldozer to knock down many trees. Construction is stopped when protesters demand that they leave. The bulldozer remains at the scene; it is subsequently vandalized, losing its windows.
January 28, 2022
60 forest defenders march into South River Forest near the Old Atlanta Prison Farm to stop the boring and soil sample collection. Dekalb County Police arrest four people.
March 1, 2022
According to another communiqué, Five large Long Engineering (contractor) trucks used to do survey work were destroyed in solidarity with eco-defenders currently protecting the forest from being clear-cut to build cop city and more Hollywood infrastructure for Black Hall Studios.
March 19, 2022
Six machines owned by Reeves Young, including two large excavators and a bulldozer, are destroyed in Flowery Branch, Georgia. The online communiqué reads: "Unless your company chooses to pull out of the APF’s Cop City project of its own volition, we will undermine your profits so severely that you’ll have no choice but to drop the contract."
CrimethInc. : The City in the Forest : Reinventing Resistance for an Age of Climate Crisis and Police Militarization
CrimethInc. : The City in the Forest : Reinventing Resistance for an Age of Climate Crisis and Police Militarization
2 DeKalb County park police entered the forest to inspect the path created by bulldozers on Monday in the RC field. As they were exiting, forest defenders ambushed them by throwing rocks and bottles at their cars, smashing windows. At Noon, a van with “LAW ENFORCEMENT – DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE” superimposed in a seal over a silhouette of Georgia printed on the door pulled into the parking lot of Intrenchment Creek Park by the gazebo. Around an hour later, the van was attacked suddenly by a barrage of rocks and multiple tires were slashed. The van attempted to escape but was left stranded in the parking lot until DeKalb Police were able to escort it out.
May 13, 2022
The offices of Brasfield & Gorrie, the contracting company for the proposed fire and police training center in southeast Atlanta, dubbed "Cop City" by the project's opponents, were vandalized to the tune of $80,000 in damage.Police said officers arrested multiple people who allegedly threw rocks and at least two "Molotov cocktails" at law enforcement during demonstrations Tuesday afternoon at the site of a proposed Atlanta Police Department training facility.
May 27, 2022
Two activist/terrorist smashed a window and set fire to the @Promise Center. The center is youth center funded by the Atlanta Police Foundation.
June 2, 2022
A group of 10 forest defenders/terrorist launched rocks and fireworks at workers.
The activist blockade a road with an old broken down truck.
June 7, 2022
Activist/terrorist destroy some equipment by setting it on fire.
July 1, 2022
Another barricade setup.
July 7, 2022
Activist/terrorist cut down a surveillance tower.
July 25, 2022
Activist/terrorist threw rocks at a security van while a worker was attempting to replace a camera. The windows were shattered and the worker drove away to escape the attack.
July 30, 2022
Activist/terrorist threw rocks and other projectiles at an excavator as it was being used to clear some structures. They smashed the windows of the excavator and effectively chased off its operator, two police officers and the owner of the land. Left behind was the truck and a flatbed used to transport the excavator. The activist/terrorist proceeded to strip the truck "damaging each and every component of the Ram 5500." The windows were smashed, tires slashed, doors and hood removed. Graffiti was spray painted on the vehicle. Later the truck was set on fire. Threatening messages directed at the property owner were spraypainted on the pavement.
August 5, 2022
A Georgia Power white work truck "was attacked with various large rocks & windows smashed driving past the OPF side of forest on Key Rd." The attack appears to be in retaliation for Georgia Power clearing some land in the forest. August 18, 2022
At 7 am, Forest Defenders protested outside the home of Keith Johnson, regional president of Brassfield and Gorrie. Brassfield and Gorrie is one of the contractors hired to develop the land.
August 26, 2022
Activist/terrorist vandalized Brassfield & Gorrie equipment that was located at the construction site 760 Ralph McGill Blvd NE. "Four of their large destruction vehicles had been tampered with. Wires cut, locks glued shut, water valves and exhaust pipes clogged with foam, etc. And written in red paint across the glass walls was a clear message: STOP COP CITY"
September 8, 2022
Various construction machines were torched on a property owned by the city Atlanta- Just north of Intrenchment Creek Park, at Key & Bouldercrest. October 10, 2022
Recently Georgia Power work trucks & boom cranes were "descended upon with rocks & fire" at the very edge of forest otherwise known as the old prison farm.
GEORGIA POWER RETREATS FROM OLD PRISON FARM – Scenes from the Atlanta Forest (noblogs.org)
October 18, 2022
An anonymous poster claims credit for a fire at the Shadowbox Studios.
November 5, 2022
Cut down surveillance camera at the Landfill part of prison farm.
November 8, 2022
A tow truck entered the forest with the intention of towing away the truck which was vandalized back on July 30. Activist/terrorist chased the driver away, abandoning the tow truck. They moved the truck to use it as a barricade, then set it on fire.
November 11, 2022
An excavator belonging to Norfolk Southern was set on fire. The given reason for the vandalism was the Norfolk Southern is a supporter of the public safety facility.
November 19, 2022
Activist/terrorist vandalized the police shooting range located in the forest by cutting down trees to block the road. One of the felled trees hit a power line which provides electricity to the shooting range, leading to a power surge which blew a transformer and disabled the cameras, which were then destroyed with fire and hammers. It was reported that a fence was also damaged.
November 30, 2022 (reported dated)
Richard Porter, an auto mechanic in Dallas, Georgia, said he was on Key Road SE looking for a Craigslist purchase. When that failed, he said he spotted what appeared to be some discarded junk that he thought he could refurbish. The item he spotted was in the training academy site. Porter said he was unaware it had become a political flashpoint. Porter said he stopped his truck, "and then these people started coming out of the woods in camouflage stuff and blocked me in." A police report said the people in the woods attacked him, immobilizing his truck and setting it on fire as he ran from the area. "It seemed to me like they were going to burn the truck with me in it."November 30, 2022
Reported that a "few nights back, the last remaining Flock camera near south Atlanta welaunee forest perimeter was destroyed"
December 10, 2022
DeKalb Police Department responded to reports of a dumpster fire on Key Road around 10:32 a.m. on Saturday, assisting Atlanta Police Department. The department said that when they arrived at the scene, DeKalb Fire said they were having issues putting out the fire because protesters were throwing objects at them.A fire burned down two homes in a subdivision still under development. Authorities said it happened along Bouldercrest Road, not far from the future public safety training facility. Some residents beleive the fires could be tied back to the protesters.
2 homes under construction burn down near 'Cop City' last month | 11alive.com
December 13, 2022
A joint law enforcement operation was conducted at the future site of a police training center to clear the "protest" encampment. Five people were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism. One was additionally charged with aggravated assault. Police say rocks and bottles were thrown at police cars and EMTs. "Protestors accused police of using plastic bullets and pepper spray against them. January 18, 2023
A joint law enforcement operation was conducted around the area of the future public safety training facility to clear the "protest" encampment. Investigators say law enforcement officers were attempted to get a man out of a tent located on the property. He did not respond to commands given to him to exit and at some point a protestor fired a shot, hitting the trooper. Officers returned fire, killing the suspect. The injured state trooper was taken to a local hospital where he underwent surgery. The man who died was identified as Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26. Seven people were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism and criminal trespass, with additional charges pending. None of those arrested resided in Georgia.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced on January 20 that forensic ballistic analysis determined that the projectile recovered from the officer's wound matched the handgun found in Terán's possession. On January 23, GBI confirmed that the firearm was legally purchased by Teran in September of 2020.
GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting Following Multi-Agency Operation at Site of Future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center | Georgia Bureau of Investigation
April 5, 2023
January 21, 2023
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Underground Atlanta before marching down Peachtree St. When they arrived at the intersection of Ellis Street, some protesters started breaking windows, throwing fireworks and attacking police vehicles. One of the APD cruisers was set on fire. Three businesses received damage. Six people were arrested and charged with multiple misdemeanors and felonies, including domestic terrorism. Only one of the suspects was from Georgia.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Underground Atlanta before marching down Peachtree St. When they arrived at the intersection of Ellis Street, some protesters started breaking windows, throwing fireworks and attacking police vehicles. One of the APD cruisers was set on fire. Three businesses received damage. Six people were arrested and charged with multiple misdemeanors and felonies, including domestic terrorism. Only one of the suspects was from Georgia.
January 21, 2023
Bank of America ATM vandalized in Cobb County, Georgia
March 5, 2023
Nearly150 activist/terrorist dressed in all black or camouflage and wearing ski masks entered the site of Atlanta's future Public Safety Training Facility. There they threw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails and fireworks at police officers. They then destroyed multiple pieces of construction equipment by fire and vandalism. The activist/terrorist came from the nearby South River Music Festival. There has been extensive footage released of the incident. In total, 35 people were detained and 23 charged. This marked the second day of an organized "Week of Action" promoted by activist/terrorist.
Two of those arrested were members of the National Lawyers Guild. One of those attorneys, Thomas Jurgens, is an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which defended his presence as a legal observer at the site of the demonstration.
Allegedly three excavators were set on fire located at a site across from the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta.
THREE BRENT SCARBROUGH EXCAVATORS BURNED IN ATLANTA – Scenes from the Atlanta Forest (noblogs.org)
April 10, 2023
April 10, 2023
Allegedly a bulldozer was destroyed
"After smashing the office door and throwing cans of paint inside, a message was left sprayed across the front: HANDS OFF THE ATLANTA FOREST. Demands are being made for CSC to drop their client, Blackhall Studios. Blackhall Studios would like to level the South Atlanta Forest to build the country’s largest soundstage and an airport, creating unprecedented levels of gentrification in the city."
April 25, 2023
ATM's glued at the Bank of America in East Atlanta Village.
June 30, 2023
Allegedly, protesters/terrorst went to the home of LS3P senior architect Anthony Kenny and the home of Ambrish Baisiwala, who is on the APF board of trustees and works for Portman Holdings. Messages were left in paint, tires were slashed.
July 1, 2023
Eight police motorcycles located at a parking area at the Atlanta Police Training Academy were set on fire. After extinguishing the flames, firefighters said they discovered explosive devices. At another APD property near the Atlanta BeltLine, the windows of three police vehicles were also found smashed in.
July 4, 2023
Two construction vehicles were vandalized, located at a site across from the federal prison in Atlanta.
September 8, 2023
Protester/Terrorist vandalized Norfolk Southern Rail property.
October 1, 2023
An excavator owned by Brent Scarborough located across from the penitentiary was burned.
Destruction Outside of Georgia
There have been a number of destructive acts committed by leftist outside of Georgia allegedly perpetrated in support of the Defend the Forest movement.
August 23, 2021
In Roseville, Minnesota, the windows of Corporation Service Company office are smashed. An anonymous online statement reads,"After smashing the office door and throwing cans of paint inside, a message was left sprayed across the front: HANDS OFF THE ATLANTA FOREST. Demands are being made for CSC to drop their client, Blackhall Studios. Blackhall Studios would like to level the South Atlanta Forest to build the country’s largest soundstage and an airport, creating unprecedented levels of gentrification in the city."
January 31, 2022
“Autonomous vandals” break windows and spray paint “stop cop city” on a Bank of America in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. According to an online statement, this occurs in solidarity with the protesters arrested on January 28.March 26, 2022
Wells Fargo and Bank of America ATMs are vandalized in City Center, Philadelphia. According to an online statement, both institutions were targeted because they fund the Atlanta Police Foundation.
September 23, 2022
Vandals targeted the Birmingham-area home of M. Miller Gorrie, the chairman of Brasfield & Gorrie, which is a primary contractor for the public safety facility. The house, two vehicles and some sculptures on the property were targeted, and police are investigating an initial charge of “harassing communications.”
January 21, 2023
Six "activist"were arrested for vandalizing a Bank of America in Lansing, Michigan. According to authorities, just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, Lansing police went to the Frandor area to find a large group of 30 people throwing glass candles at the windows of the Bank of America and smashing them. Police said that they were aware of a national protest relating to a police shooting in Atlanta,
January 21, 2023
In Boston, Massachusetts, "protesters" defaced a monument with tags of "NO COP CITY" and "ACAB." During an arrest, an officer was “hit in the face and could be seen bleeding from the nose and mouth.”
January 22, 2023
A large excavator was set on fire in Portland in retaliation for the death of Manuel Esteban Paez Teran
January 26, 2023
Wells Fargo bank in Durham, North Carolina vandalized with "Stop Cop City" messages.
**There's a bunch more of these but I don't have the time right now to look them all up. If you want to find more, you can look through "Scenes from the Atlanta Forest". There are many posts of people reporting acts of vandalism throughout the country in support of Stop Cop City protest. It is difficult to know if they are all true since most of these incidents would never make the news.**
Came across this Vice article on the issue:
The ‘Stop Cop City’ Movement Is Vandalizing Pro-Police Companies Across the US (vice.com)
The ‘Stop Cop City’ Movement Is Vandalizing Pro-Police Companies Across the US (vice.com)
***Note: I periodically update this post with new information.
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