Thread by @UR_Ninja

Today on June 5, #Atlanta City Council will vote on whether to authorize $33.5 million taxpayer dollars for the Atlanta Police Foundation to fund the construction of the Public Safety Training Center, aka ‘Cop City.’

You can tune into the council here: atlantaga.gov/government/cha…

On May 15, hundreds of Atlantans unanimously spoke out against the proposed authorization.

Learn more about the over seven hours of public comment in opposition to 'Cop City' on May 15 here: unicornriot.ninja/2023/we-do-not…

However according to research done by @atlanta_press, the amount of public funds allocated to 'Cop City' construction may actually be over $51 million. atlpresscollective.com/2023/05/24/bac…

@atlanta_press At least 357 people have signed up to speak during public comment per Council President Doug Shipman. Attendees say the city only put out 1 sign up sheet for pub comment, shut down elevator access to the 2nd floor, and began denying access to city hall around 12:30.

After parliamentary haggling, Council moved to enter into committee of the whole, allowing addt'l time for public comment after the regular pub comment period ends. Council will let people sign up for pub comment until ~2:30. Chants of "let us speak" heard outside chambers

Several commenters against 'Cop City' have referenced last Wednesday's raid on the Atlanta Solidarity Fund as an example of the risks 'Cop City' poses. Read our coverage of last week's raid here:

unicornriot.ninja/2023/three-atl…

An attendee holds up signs in council chambers reading "let them in" and "there's 15 empty seats in here." The city has reportedly stopped letting people into the building citing capacity restrictions

~4 hours in to the meeting, and speakers have overwhelmingly been against 'Cop City.' Hundreds have gathered inside city hall, and hundreds more are rallying outside. People are reportedly prepared to stay throughout the night as hundreds of speakers are still waiting to comment

Crowds remain inside & outside Atlanta city hall, sharing food & listening to speakers, as residents speak against ‘Cop City.’ Once public comments are over, city council will vote on providing $33.5 million in public funds to help the Atlanta Police Foundation build ‘Cop City’

People have been rallying outside city hall since the meeting began. Many of them have reportedly been prevented from entering the building to submit public comments before the council votes on providing an addt'l $3.5 million to build 'Cop City'

*$33.5M* correction

Councilmember Michael Julian Bond just divulged that he plans to support the training center, after he spent time saying how he supports activists and that he's had loved ones and friends killed and brutalized by police.

There is now a vote on whether to take a 15 minute recess initiated by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari. All 'yes' votes, recess for 15 minutes.

Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari is now speaking directly to the public commenter audience saying how some of the city council wants to move the meeting to a private room and only allow individual people who are speaking into the room.

Bakhtiari is "begging" people to stop directly naming council members because when they do it gives council members the right to respond and take up time. Bakhtiari also mentioned how some members have received death threats and are uncomfortable in the room with the public.

There is discourse between Bakhtiari and the public about what to do at this point, whether to be quiet in the audience and not name council members, or the council will move to a private room.

Council recess is over and Bakhtiari asked their colleagues to stop responding to speakers if they name them to keep the public comment moving.

Bernice King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s youngest daughter, asked on Twitter how any #Atlanta City Council member can vote 'yes' "on #CopCity funding and live with their conscience after hearing today’s Public Comments"

https://twitter.com/BerniceKing/status/1665884158088945668?s=20

Public comment at Atlanta City Council has been happening for 10 hours and there are at least 100 more people expected to speak (possibly 100s more). So far, every single speaker has opposed 'Cop City' except for a few in favor.

Public comment on the ‘Cop City’ funding vote is expected to stretch on for much, much further as it approaches midnight on the east coast.

Here’s a quick look at the scene in Atlanta City Hall today:

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman recently said there is “about 25 people left on the list” but there may be more public comment speakers who weren’t able to get on the initial list.

“We have our final court speakers on the list” - Atlanta City Council Pres. Doug Shipman

Over 300 people have spoken in today’s public comment about the ‘Cop City’ funding measure - only 4 spoke in favor

Additional people who were unable to sign up were promised they could speak as well after many of them waited over 12 hours to do so - some council members seek to limit this additional public comment on the ‘Cop City’ funding to one hour

The motion to limit the rest of the public comment to one hour passes 13-1. Council President Shipman asks speakers to limit themselves to one minute each

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman says public comment has ended - yells of “I waited 14 and a half hours to be able to speak!” from the crowd in response

“My grandma told me that back in the day if the police wasn’t acting right they would just beat their ass,” one audience member yells as Council Pres. Shipman says “there is no more public speaking”

Atlanta City Council just voted unanimously to go into recess, unclear if they will continue to meet in the main chamber or move to a private committee room where they will be shielded from interactions with members of the public, many of whom waited 14 hours to not get to speak.

Just minutes ago in Atlanta City Council officers of the Atlanta Police Department pushing to build 'Cop City' physically ended comments by members the public who had been waiting ~14 hour to be able to speak out against the unpopular urban warfare training center proposal.

In a perhaps unintentionally symbolic moment, Atlanta Police officers occupied the space taken up by members of City Council after council members vacated the room after informing those still waiting to speak about the 'Cop City' funding measure they would not be heard tonight.

City Council seems to be resuming in main chambers - Doug Shipman calls council back to order as members of the public sing the civil rights song "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round"

Livestream: citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/council-divisi…

Atlanta City Council member Matt Westmoreland motions to allow anyone still waiting to give public comment to be allowed to speak for two minutes each.

Council Pres. Shipman says 22 people are still waiting to speak - council votes 14-1 to allow them all to speak.

Public comment again resumes in Atlanta City Council regarding 'Cop City' funding - current speaker is against the paramilitary police complex proposal - as have been all but 4 of today's ~350 speakers. Behind them someone holds up a copy of The Jakarta Method by @Vinncent Bevins

"I had an entire statement to read but that was 15 hours ago, when I came here..." - current speaker tells Atlanta City Council they have a fiduciary duty to their constituents & the constantly-shifting costs of 'Cop City' don't pass muster

"All of us represent an untold number of people who couldn't be here"

"The only ones I've met who support Cop City are the ones who benefit from it financially... more often than not people have not heard of it and when they learn what it is they are appalled...move the motion...back to committee..and preferably, vote it down."

Speaker mentions a quote from the Art of War by Sun Tzu - "Appear weak when you are strong and appear strong when you are weak" - "it's clear this is a pretty weak city council"

The additional list of public comment speakers; concluded, Atlanta City Council moved on to "report of the journal" and numerous non-'Cop City' related agenda items

The item containing the ‘Cop City’ funding vote has indeed been moved to the very bottom of the agenda, Atlanta Community Press Collective reports

https://twitter.com/acpc_live/status/1665987492565139456

After saying he found the Atlanta Solidarity Fund arrests "chilling", council member Amir Farokhi introduces ordinance to fund 'Cop City' - Farokhi priases the troubled Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which purged an engineer member who brought up environmental… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Council members Alex Wan and Liliana Bakhtiari motion to refer to 'Cop City' funding measure back to the finance committee.

Council member Jason Dozier says he plans to vote 'no' on the funding and asks others to join him in voting no.

The motion to send the 'Cop City' funding measure back to the committee fails 11-4.

#BREAKING: The Atlanta City Council votes yes 11-4 to fund the 'Cop City' urban warfare training center, despite over 12 hours of overwhelmingly opposed public comment & recent reporting finding the reported $33.5M cost was less than half of the true cost - closer to $67M.

The large crowd that has stayed in the hearing for well over 15 hours now is chanting "Cop City will never be built"

Council adjourned itself and the official livestream was cut immediately after the vote, council members have left and Atlanta Police officers appear poised to soon sweep the public from city hall.

The packed audience gallery reacted with boos and chants as soon as the vote came in - Atlanta police officers, some in riot gear, soon replaced the council members vacating the dias

Officers from the Atlanta Police Department - the agency that last week carried out the unprecedented SWAT raid & arrest targeting organizers of a bail fund supporting #StopCopCity protests - have been present in city hall in large numbers since early Monday morning.

Another #StopCopCity week of action is set to take place June 24 - July 1.

While Atlanta's govt continues to bow to the private corporate-funded Police Foundation, several legal challenges to the project are pending & public opposition has grown significantly in recent weeks.

Learn more about the movement to #StopCopCity and defend the Atlanta forest: unicornriot.ninja/unicorn-riot-c…