Atlanta Police arrested two people during a demonstration on June 29 at a Home Depot in Midtown to protest the company’s financial support of the controversial public safety training center, dubbed “Cop City” by opponents.
Lorraine Fontana, 76, and Taylor Jordan, 26, were arrested at about 5 p.m. while standing in the parking lot of the Home Depot in the Midtown Place shopping center at 650 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE.
They are charged with criminal trespass and were taken to the Fulton County Jail. They were released June 30 on a $1,500 bond.
An Atlanta Police report says Fontana and Taylor refused to leave private property.
“The suspects were detained after being given opportunities to leave,” the report said. “Both were placed under arrest for criminal trespass.”
Fontana and Taylor and others gathered at Home Depot as part of a Stop Cop City Week of Action demonstration.
The demonstration was to show opposition to Home Depot’s financial support of the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF). The APF is developing the controversial Atlanta public safety training center in the South River Forest. Daniel Grider, vice president of Technology for Home Depot, is listed as a member of APF’s board of trustees.
Video of the arrest shows Fontana was holding a sign in memorial to Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran, who was killed by state troopers while camped out near the site of the planned training center. Law enforcement said Teran shot at state troopers first, wounding an officer.
Stop Cop City activists denounced the arrest of Fontana, a lesbian, in a news release. Fontana is a longtime Atlanta activist involved in many social justice movements including for LGBTQ equality and housing rights.
“Lorraine Fontana has more than 50 years of experience organizing for justice,” said E.R. Anderson of Atlanta.
“She’s been in Atlanta for the majority of her career since moving here in 1968. A journalist and attorney, Lorraine worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in NYC before coming to Georgia Legal Services and ultimately retiring from Georgia’s Lambda Legal,” Anderson said.
“She is a prominent member of Grandmothers for Peace, the First Existentialist Church of Atlanta, Charis Circle, and Southerners On New Ground (SONG),” Anderson said.
The Home Depot arrests follow the arrest of another Stop Cop City activist at Cadence Bank on June 28.