The Atlanta Police Department (APD) announced Thursday that five individuals were arrested after trespassing onto the site of the City of Atlanta’s future Public Safety Training Center and chaining themselves to a piece of construction equipment.
The incident happened around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, according to APD.
All of the following individuals were charged with Trespassing and Obstruction:
- 28-year-old Lalita Martin from Atlanta, GA
- 25-year-old Timothy Sullivan from Burlington, MA
- 25-year-old Ayeola Whitworth from Atlanta, GA
- 61-year-old David Dunn from Roswell, GA
- 65-year-old Jeffrey Jones from Smyrna, GA
Lalita Martin was also charged with Reckless Conduct, APD notes.
Once officers took the five suspects chained to the equipment into custody without incident, approximately 25 more people gathered outside the site to protest. Those protesters also posted a request for additional people to come and join the protest.
The protesters began clearing out of the area around 11:00 a.m. and no additional incidents were reported, APD notes.
“Additional resources were moved to the site and our local, state and federal law enforcement partners provided support to ensure the 1st Amendment rights and the safety of protesters was protected, as well as to ensure the work site remained safe and secure as work continued on the training center,” APD wrote in a press release.
The Public Safety Training Center has been a source of controversy and subject of violent attacks ever since its approval by the Atlanta City Council in September 2021.
In fact, 61 people have been indicted by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr as part of an alleged criminal conspiracy related to protests of the site, as previously reported by The Georgia Star News.
There is currently a petition organized by the Vote to Stop Cop City coalition, which, if all of its 100,000 signatures are lawful, would hand the fate of the training center – dubbed ‘cop city’ by activists – over to voters as a referendum on a ballot. The City of Atlanta has announced its intent to check every signature on the organization’s petition by signature matching to ensure the authenticity of each signature.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network.
