Anarchists burn police motorcycles during week of action against Atlanta’s Police Training Center

Last month the opponents of the Atlanta Police Training Center made a last ditch attempt to block construction by showing up in numbers at an Atlanta City Council meeting where a final vote on funding would be made. Hundreds of people showed up to express their opinions (or make threats) and delayed the vote by almost 16 hours. But in the end the council voted 11-4 to fund the project.

I said at the time that the effort to abide by the established process to oppose the construction was really just an attempt to check all the boxes. It was very clear that the protesters had no plans to drop their opposition if the vote didn’t go their way. This account was explicit. They tried doing it the “right” way and since that failed they would now use other methods.

One important point: this was us using the “right” channels that the powerful always tell us to use. And doing so in a historic way. And still being ignored. So Council only has itself to blame when people decide to use channels that are not condoned by the powerful.

— #StopCopCity (@micahinATL) June 6, 2023

What methods? The same ones they’d been using for months. Setting things on fire. As I said at the time, this wasn’t a secret. Even before the council meeting began they were chanting “If you build it, we will burn it.”

Video: Hundreds spent their day at Atlanta City Hall to demand City Council vote ‘No’ on a measure to fund the notorious ‘Cop City’ training center, which is tied to a murder scandal.

Over 350 signed up to speak with many others reportedly denied access to the hearing. pic.twitter.com/iWFFbXuczN

— UNICORN RIOT 🦄 linktr.ee/unicornriot (@UR_Ninja) June 6, 2023

So jump forward to this month. The same group that opposed the construction was holding another “week of action.”

#StopCopCity Week of Action has been announced for June 24-July 1, 2023 in Atlanta, GA. pic.twitter.com/UmD9bXCvHy

— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) April 20, 2023

Not coincidentally, in the early hours of July 1, a bunch of police vehicles were set on fire. Eight motorcycles were destroyed.

Emergency crews responded to a fire on a parking deck at the Atlanta Police Training Academy around 2 a.m. ET and found several motorcycles on fire, Atlanta Police Department Sgt. John Chafee told CNN.

“Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames and after doing so they discovered incendiary devices,” Chafee said in an email.

Wednesday, authorities said this arson attack and another one that was thwarted before it could happen were connected to the protesters.

Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta Police Department said Wednesday that fires set at police facilities over July 4 weekend, destroying several motorcycles, were the result of arson by a “small determined group” radically opposing the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center…

They outlined a primary incident inside the parking deck of the old APD Training Academy, saying that all 40 motorcycle vehicles in the area were targeted, but only eight were set ablaze and destroyed…

The officials said there had also been a prior incident in which people were seen breaking windows at an APD precinct on Memorial Drive. Schierbaum said it was their belief the intent was for fires to be set to police vehicles there as well, but that a “citizen observed the criminal acts and actually interrupted the crimes.”

It doesn’t take a lot of intense police work to connect acts to the anti-police movement. All you really have to do is read the anarchist blog to get a good idea of what they’re doing. Here’s a post from July 4 in which people (anonymously) admit to another arson attack. I’m not going to link it.

Dear Brent Scarbrough,

Happy Fourth of July! Today we decided to celebrate our independence from your destruction of the land for Cop City by torching two of your machines, a steam roller and a front end loader, in broad daylight across from the federal prison in Atlanta (the same site that was hit three months ago). We noticed that you only have overnight security there, and we just wanted to let you know that you and your machines will never be safe, night or day. If you thought it was chill to clearcut 80+ acres, you were wrong and you will f**king pay. You may have thought you were done with us, but we will never be done with you.

For all the trees you’ve killed, for all the owls, snakes, frogs, squirrels, snails, slugs, birds, fish, deer, and coyote you’ve displaced, for all the unmarked graves you’ve disturbed, and for our fallen comrade who was murdered while you were contracted to clear-cut the forest, we will wage a campaign of violence and destruction on any and all contractors who participate in cutting down the forest or building Cop City.

We wonder how you and Tina sleep at night [they include the full street address where he lives]?

We are vengeful wingnuts with nothing left to lose.

Fuck around and find out.

#NeverForget #DeathToAmerikkka

They are vengeful nuts but they are wrong about having nothing to lose. The FBI is already involved in looking for the arsonists and there’s a decent chance they’ll be caught eventually. At that point they’ll lose their freedom.

There has been a great hue and cry over some of the protesters being charged with “domestic terrorism.” Clearly that charge can’t apply to every incident of civil disobedience, but what else do you call it when a group is making threats and repeatedly setting fires for political ends? Here’s the FBI definition of domestic terrorism right from their website:

Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.

These arson attacks seem to fit that definition. They are violent, criminal acts to further ideological goals.