October 2, 2026
ATLANTA (AP) — More than 20 people from around the country faced domestic terrorism charges Monday after dozens in black masks attacked the site of a police training center under construction in a wooded area outside Atlanta where one protester was killed in January.
The area has become the flashpoint of ongoing conflict between authorities and left-leaning protesters.
Flaming bottles and rocks were thrown at officers during a protest Sunday at “Cop City.” Protesters against what detractors call “Cop City” run the gamut from more traditional environmental environmentalists to young, self-styled anarchists seeking clashes with what they see as an unjust society.
Almost all of the 23 people arrested are from states across the U.S., while one is from Canada and another from France, police said Monday.
An activist was killed by authorities at the site on Jan. 18. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said officers killed the man in self-defense after the protester shot a state trooper while authorities cleared activists from the forested site.
On Sunday, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a midnight news conference that several pieces of construction equipment were set on fire in what he called “a coordinated attack” at the site for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in DeKalb County.
Surveillance video released by police show a piece of heavy equipment in flames. It was among multiple pieces of construction gear that were destroyed, police said. Protesters threw rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police, officials said.
Officers used nonlethal enforcement methods to disperse the crowd and make arrests, Schierbaum said, causing “some minor discomfort.
Demonstrators tried to blind officers by shining green lasers into their eyes, and used tires and debris to block a road, the Georgia Department of Public Safety said Monday.
Along with classrooms and administrative buildings, the training center would include a shooting range, a driving course to practice chases and a “burn building” for firefighters to work on putting out fires. A “mock village” featuring a fake home, convenience store and nightclub would also be built for rehearsing raids.
Opponents have said the site will be used to practice “urban warfare.” Opponents say that building the 85-acre training center would involve cutting down so many trees that it would be environmentally damaging.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has said that the facilities will be built on a site that was cleared decades ago for a former state prison farm. He said the tract is filled with rubble and overgrown with invasive species, not hardwood trees. The mayor also said that while the facility would be built on 85 acres, about 300 others would be preserved as a public greenspace.
Many of those already accused of violence in connection with the training site protests are being charged with domestic terrorism, a felony that carries up to 35 years in prison.
Lawmakers are considering classifying domestic terrorism as a serious violent felony. That means anyone convicted must serve their entire sentence, can’t be sentenced to probation as a first offender and can’t be paroled unless they have served at least 30 years in prison.
Meanwhile, more protests are planned in coming days, police said Monday.
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