Even in the creative political wordplay that abounds in the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” and “Cop City” protest controversies, it’s pretty special when the words “park reopening” don’t mean what you think they means. DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond last month announced a $1.8 million “plan to reopen” Intrenchment Creek Park, which he ordered closed […]
Tag: Cop city
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Both sides in ‘Vote to Stop Cop City’ lawsuit state their cases, tease bigger battles
With a federal judge poised to decide whether to extend the clock on the “Vote to Stop Cop City” referendum effort in a lawsuit over who can collect signatures for it, both sides have laid out their initial cases – and teased bigger battles about the vote’s validity that may well end up before the […]
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In ‘Vote to Stop Cop City,’ organizers build a democratic challenge to Atlanta’s backroom ways
The “Vote to Stop Cop City” referendum effort may or may not do just that. Either way, its organizers already see the campaign as an unprecedented, history-making challenge to the old “Atlanta Way” of backroom deal-making. The call for direct democracy is coming from a broad coalition of left-wing groups, some with a record of […]
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Legal support group for protesters returns after leaders’ controversial arrests
A legal support organization for protesters against Atlanta’s public safety training center says it returned to operations this week, nearly a month after three of its leaders were controversially charged with money laundering and charity fraud. The Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF) announced its return on June 26 on social media, saying it is using the […]
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‘Cop City’ policing is ripe for a federal civil rights investigation
The time is ripe for a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) civil rights investigation of “Cop City” protest policing, as Atlanta’s long-burning pattern of retaliatory arrests against protesters and journalists is exploding with the fuel of “domestic terrorism” narratives. For nearly 15 years, the City has proven incapable of policing its own police abuses in […]
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Healing the divide: Matt Westmoreland and Liliana Bakhtiari offer hope
The plans for a new public safety training center have polarized Atlanta into two camps – those for and those against. That was evident during a confrontational Atlanta City Council meeting that began at 1 p.m. June 12 and lasted for nearly 17 hours with an overwhelming number of speakers passionately arguing against what they have labeled as “cop city.”
