ATLANTA, GA. — A Bloomington woman was detained following a violent protest on Saturday, March 4th along with 23 others at the future site of a police training center in Atlanta, Georgia.
Atlanta Police Department officers arrested 25-year-old Maggie June Gates along with 22 others. She was part of a group that wore black clothing and threw “large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks” at police officers. Protestors say they are dedicated to preserving the environment.
Gates is facing a charge of domestic terrorism after what police say was a “coordinated attack” on construction equipment and officers at the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
Several pieces of construction equipment were destroyed due to fires and vandalism.
While 35 people were initially detained, only 23 were arrested, including Gates.
The plans for the training center call for it to be built on 85 acres of forested land, and include an area for police trainees to learn vehicle skills and even a mock village, with space for facsimiles of a nightclub, a convenience store, and homes to practice different tactics in an array of settings.
But the proposal has been assailed from the outset by critics of the Atlanta Police Department who have described the $90 million development — derisively nicknamed “Cop City” — as a dangerous investment in militarizing law enforcement. Activists have moved into the forest, and their efforts to block construction have escalated in recent months into violent confrontations with law enforcement officers.
