A chorus of Morehouse and Spelman students is the latest group protesting the development of Atlanta’s “Cop City.” They fear the training facility for police will produce a hardened, militarized force, and expressed those fears and more during a forum at Morehouse College.
“We are here to discuss a system that is historically and continuously oppressing our community. We are here to address the construction of a mass police training center in Atlanta,” one of the student protesters said to applause.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=ATLBlackStar&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbWl4ZWRfbWVkaWFfMTU4OTciOnsiYnVja2V0IjoidHJlYXRtZW50IiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19leHBlcmltZW50c19jb29raWVfZXhwaXJhdGlvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOjEyMDk2MDAsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZHVwbGljYXRlX3NjcmliZXNfdG9fc2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3ZpZGVvX2hsc19keW5hbWljX21hbmlmZXN0c18xNTA4MiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ0cnVlX2JpdHJhdGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2xlZ2FjeV90aW1lbGluZV9zdW5zZXQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijp0cnVlLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VkaXRfZnJvbnRlbmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfX0%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1621509325310267394&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fatlantablackstar.com%2F2023%2F03%2F05%2Fmore-death-and-destruction-at-the-hands-of-police-atlantas-hbcu-students-and-faculty-join-the-fight-against-cop-city%2F&sessionId=29d1cdaa6ec60c625a83901b69d6bd780c7e9072&siteScreenName=ATLBlackStar&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=500px
The protest was in response to Atlanta’s controversial “Cop City,” a $90 million training facility for police, fire and emergency first responders. The facility has drawn a slew of criticism from police reformists and environmentalists since the idea was first proposed in 2015, up to its final approval by the Atlanta City Council in October 2021.
Student protesters have accused Morehouse of supporting the construction of “Cop City,” but some AUC students — with some from Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University, for example, present for the forum — have called on their leadership to denounce the police training center.
Morehouse College junior Calvin Bell III is one student activist opposing the training facility.
“This investment will inevitably be increasing policing, which in my opinion, is not synonymous with protection for communities such as the West End, especially when policing is infested with racist and classist history,” Bell said, referring to the predominantly black area of metropolitan Atlanta.
The youth are not the only ones raising concerns at the HBCU on Atlanta’s Southwest side. Dozens of faculty members signed an open letter to oppose the training facility.
“Let us not delude ourselves: Cop City, if built, will result in more death and destruction at the hands of the police,” the letter says.
Morehouse College political science professor Andrew Douglas has been one of the more outspoken faculty members.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=ATLBlackStar&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1623313974128218113&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fatlantablackstar.com%2F2023%2F03%2F05%2Fmore-death-and-destruction-at-the-hands-of-police-atlantas-hbcu-students-and-faculty-join-the-fight-against-cop-city%2F&sessionId=29d1cdaa6ec60c625a83901b69d6bd780c7e9072&siteScreenName=ATLBlackStar&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=500px
Cop City is the name coined by local residents for the Public Safety Training Center. In 2015, the city tasked the Atlanta Police Foundation with fleshing out details for how much the facility would cost and how it would look.
The facility is slated to cover 85 of 380 acres owned by the city of Atlanta. The property was once a prison farm that has sat largely dormant for years.
“Part of the problem with ‘Cop City’ too is it’s very clearly preparing the police force in a militarized type of way. And I think it calls for shooting ranges, they’re practicing large-scale crowd suppression strategies. You know, this is about bringing military tactics to our cities in our communities,” Douglas said to WXIA-TV in Atlanta.
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