Atlanta Police arrested and charged a person with obstruction and simple assault after they allegedly threw “spoiled meat” at officers during a Midtown demonstration against the planned Atlanta public safety training center known as “Cop City.”
Activists at the protest denied committing any illegal acts and accused armed Atlanta Police officers of chasing them and capturing people who could not outrun them, including the person arrested.
According to a report from the Atlanta Police Department, officers were in the area of Midtown Plaza at 1349 West Peachtree St. NW responding to reports of a planned protest at about 9 a.m.
About 25 people gathered at Midtown Plaza to protest Cadence Bank, located inside Midtown Plaza, for loaning money to the Atlanta Police Foundation to build the $90 million training facility in the South River Forest.
The APD said in its report that demonstrators were told to leave the bank property and remain on the public sidewalk. Several protesters yelled they were not going to move, but then they did start leaving the property.
“As demonstrators were leaving, one demonstrator dumped a bag of spoiled meat onto the steps of the property,” the APD report said.
“Several others picked up some of the spoiled meat and threw it in the direction of police. Officers were able to locate one of the individuals who threw spoiled meat and took her into custody,” the report said.
The person arrested is Aidan Wood, 27, from Lansing, Michigan. She was charged with obstruction and simple assault and taken to the Fulton County Jail, according to APD.
Cop City protesters, known as forest defenders, issued a press release saying one person was arrested and two people were detained after about 25 people gathered outside Cadence Bank. The protesters said they left the bank property after about 10 to 15 minutes.
“As forest defenders were departing the noise demonstration, dozens of Atlanta Police Department officers followed on foot and on the road, including several officers documented in other recent instances of police aggression towards the movement, some armed with long guns and zip ties, chasing the crowd and catching anyone who couldn’t outrun them,” the news release said.
The protesters said there they did not commit any property damage and no criminal activity occurred during the brief demonstration.
“Dozens of APD officers showed their allegiance to private property as they blocked the doors to the building and acted as personal security for executives before chasing down and violently arresting 3 protestors who had already left the site,” said Jasmine Burnett in the release. Burnett is a member of Community Movement Builders, an organization involved the protest.
“These actions show how desperate the state is to suppress our movement and the urgency we must have in fighting back,” Burnett said.
Burnett added, “Concerned citizens went to Cadence Bank to urge them not to service a loan to the Atlanta Police Foundation to build Cop City.
Burnett said the demonstrators were met with a “wall of resistance” from Atlanta Police and private security.
“Yet again, Atlanta’s corporate and private interests used working class Black people as the front line to silence opposition of a project that Atlanta does not want,” Burnett said. “In this case, Black police officers were called on to shut down a completely peaceful protest at a bank that would probably never even give Black folks a loan but will support a project that puts Black communities in danger.”
As the group of demonstrators left the bank, the group was “stalked by dozens of police officers who grabbed people,” Burnett said.
“One officer attempted to throw me down, ripping my shirt in the process, despite breaking no laws or harming anyone,” Burnett said.
Rev. Matthew Johnson of Beloved Communities Ministries accused private interests and law enforcement of doing everything in their power to “repress dissent in any of its many forms.”
“They are in no moral position to tell us the right way to protest, because they are the ones who use violence indiscriminately,” Johnson said in the release.
“They are making it abundantly clear what they are being trained to do: stop any resistance to a country that continues to create laws that benefit few and endanger marginalized communities,” Johnson said.
“The people must stand up to Stop Cop City for a world future worth living in,” he added. “Despite attempts by APD to change reality, Cop City will never be built.”
The protest at Cadence Bank is one of the numerous events taking place during a Stop Cop City “Week of Action” to voice opposition to the planned Atlanta public safety training center. Several activities are taking place at Brownwood Park in East Atlanta, including teach-ins, parties, marches and free food distribution.
The Atlanta Police Department issued a statement on the Week of Action, saying it “respects, supports and upholds the First Amendment rights of all citizens and those in Atlanta to assemble, speak, and engage in peaceful protest.”
“At the same time, we must ensure compliance with our city ordinances and a safe public environment for all residents and visitors,” the APD statement said,
“We welcome the care and concern of the organizers for our city and their efforts to open dialogue and raise community awareness about the center,” said the APD. “We respectfully ask all who engage in “Week of Action” events to abide by the same city regulations for a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere for all persons wishing to enjoy the city’s greenspaces and public areas this week.”
The training center, approved by the council in 2021, is being built on 85 acres of city-owned land in DeKalb County. The site is in the South River Forest near the Old Atlanta Prison Farm. The project includes preserving 265 acres of forest as public greenspace. The city is the owner of the training center and the nonprofit Atlanta Police Foundation is a funding mechanism for the project.
Atlanta Police, Atlanta Police Foundation and Atlanta Fire say the new facility is needed because existing police and firefighting training facilities are inadequate. City leaders say the new center will help boost morale, help retain police officers, E911 personnel and firefighters. The new center will also help recruit more public safety personnel, according to the city.