Officials charge 23 with ‘terrorism’ in Atlanta ‘Cop City’ march

Authorities in the United States have charged 23 people with “domestic terrorism” following the latest round of arrests in a months-long movement against the construction of a sprawling police training facility in a forest in Atlanta, Georgia.

Protest groups have pushed back on the police characterisation of events that led to the arrest of 35 people late Sunday, which came as demonstrators held a festival near the site of the proposed complex — dubbed “Cop City” by opponents, who have sought to end the project since 2021.

In a statement, the Defend the Atlanta Forest coalition said about 1,000 people had been gathered at the nearby festival when a group of about 350 to 400 protesters marched to the construction site.

“Forest defenders were able to push out the police without causing them physical harm, and dismantled the machinery that they used to kill the forest and its human and non-human inhabitants,” the group said.

Atlanta police, meanwhile, said “a group of violent agitators used the cover of a peaceful protest of the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center to conduct a coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers”.

The police statement said the group “entered the construction area and began to throw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails and fireworks at police officers”.

Police later announced charges against 23 of those arrested. It was not immediately clear if all of the others would be charged or had been released.