ATLANTA (WKRN) — A Nashville woman is among 23 people who were arrested Sunday in what police are calling a “coordinated attack” on the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center activists have dubbed “Cop City.”
The incident marks the second time in about a month that someone from Middle Tennessee has been charged with domestic terrorism in the Atlanta area.
Protestors gathered at the site of the planned public safety training center at about 5:30 p.m. after attending a nearby event, Atlanta Chief of Police Darin Schierbaum told reporters at a brief press conference Sunday night.
Schierbaum said they were “armed with fireworks, rocks” and “Molotov cocktails.” Several pieces of construction equipment and other items were reportedly destroyed by fire and vandalized.
The APD said protestors also tried to attack police officers. However, no officers were injured. Multiple law enforcement agencies were deployed to the area and several people were detained.
Schierbaum, who called the restraint of officers “noteworthy,” said police used non-lethal enforcement to make arrests. Some protestors reported “minor discomforts” and were being treated by medics, according to the APD.
“We were very fortunate because of the quick action of commanders on the scene no police officers were injured,” Schierbaum said. “I am very proud of the men and women at the Atlanta Police Department and our partners from DeKalb County and the Georgia State Patrol.”
As of Sunday night, 23 people from 15 different states, and two from different countries including Canada and France, had been charged with domestic terrorism. So far, Zoe Claire Larmey, 25, of Nashville is the only suspect from Tennessee.
“We continue to see a number of individuals not from Atlanta, Georgia that are present tonight undertaking criminal activities to destabilize the construction of a fire and police training center,” Schierbaum said.
Opponents of the $90 million project worry it would be environmentally damaging and oppose investing so much money in what they call a “Cop City.” People have been protesting the project for over a year by building platforms in surrounding trees and camping out at the site.
However, Atlanta police said several recent protests have turned violent. In January, a protestor who authorities said shot and injured a Georgia state trooper was killed after officers returned fire. More protests are reportedly planned this week.
“Actions such as this will not be tolerated. When you attack law enforcement officers, when you damage equipment, you are breaking the law,” Schierbaum said. “This was a very violent attack. This wasn’t about a public safety training center. This was about anarchy.”