AAAF's Updated Statement on Cop City
On April 25, 2025, city and state officials officially opened the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, otherwise known as Cop City, a police militarization and training facility with a hefty $67 million taxpayer price tag. Cop City opened against a backdrop of sustained, years-long community opposition and brutal police crackdowns on protestors, including the death of 26 year old Manuel Esteban Paez Teran aka “Tortuguita.” Cop City bulldozed, quite literally, its way into existence by plowing down acres of Weelaunee Forest (often referred to as the “lungs” of Atlanta), disenfranchising its residents and refusing to allow the measure to come to a referendum, and suppressing dissent by arresting protestors and bringing RICO charges against 61 of those protestors.
AAAF reiterates that all these actions are a disgrace to Atlanta’s legacy as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement and Atlanta’s elected officials have continued to fail its constituents.
While we know that the opening of this facility is incredibly disheartening to many community members, the fight is not over. Atlanta is unfortunately not alone, as other cities have either proposed or built their own cop cities, including, but not limited to, Baltimore, New York, Chicago, and Charlotte.The growing prevalence of cop cities across the nation speaks to the increased militarization of our law enforcement, an increase of mass surveillance, and the erosion of our democratic values such as free speech and expression. Atlanta’s Stop Cop City (SCC) movement sparked nationwide attention and we must continue the fight here and across the country.
We want to remind City of Atlanta residents that this is an election year for your Atlanta representatives, including the mayor and all fifteen of its city council seats.
Click here for a brief refresher on who voted to fund Cop City.
IG Accounts to Follow
@CommunityMovementBuilders
@SaveWeelaunee
@StopCopCity
@DefendAtlantaForest
@AtlantaCommunityPressCollective
@FireAntMovementDefense
Calls to Action
The Free Atlanta Abolition Movement raises money to make bail for people in Atlanta-area jails. Donate here
Resources
No Cop City, No Cop World - “A collection of essays from the Stop Cop City movement on the fight for police abolition and for a liveable planet for all, with gripping reporting from activists on the ground and rousing articles from renowned radical academics.”
Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News - “In this groundbreaking expose, essential for understanding the rising authoritarian mindset, award-winning civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis introduces the concept of “Copaganda” defined as a special kind of propaganda employed by police, prosecutors, and news media that stokes fear of police-recorded crime and distorts society’s responses to it.”
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The Asian American Advocacy Fund is a grassroots organization dedicated to building power for Georgia’s Asian American communities through policy advocacy, electoral organizing, and community-led movements. The Advocacy Fund’s mission is to advocate for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians in Georgia. To learn more about AAAF, visit https://www.asianamericanadvocacyfund.org