Video shows 'Cop City' activists chain themselves to top of 250-foot crane at Atlanta site
Two protesters who climbed a 250-feet crane at an Atlanta construction site and attached their arms with duct tape were subsequently arrested.
The Atlanta Police Department released video showing how officials used a cutting tool to remove the tape attached to the reinforced pipes and help the demonstrators down. The site is at the construction of a public safety training center being built in a forest near Atlanta that many protesters are calling "Cop City."
"In a coordinated effort, Atlanta Police and Fire Rescue teams were compelled to intervene and remove two anarchists who had scaled construction equipment to protest the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center," the department wrote on X.
March 27, 2024- In a coordinated effort, Atlanta Police and Fire Rescue teams were compelled to intervene and remove two anarchists who had scaled construction equipment to protest the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. pic.twitter.com/IaKJjOgU7R
— Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) March 27, 2024
Video shows officials speaking to the pair up above while a crowd is heard cheering below.
"If they love you they wouldn't have you up a hundred feet in the air. That's not love," one official tells the protesters. "It's not love to fall backwards or to fall down there. It's instant death."
Climbers protested anti-transgender legislation
The protesters are seen cooperating with the officials as they are brought down safely wearing harnesses. Officials are heard offering medical resources to the duo in case they need help.
The two activists were trans women who climbed the crane to bring attention to the violence trans people have faced in Atlanta and anti-trans legislation within the Georgia Legislature, Drop Cop City said in a news release.
"We are just getting started. We will keep taking action until Brasfield & Gorrie ends their contract to build Cop City. Mayor Dickens and the City of Atlanta - by blocking the referendum on Cop City - have given residents no other choice but to engage in direct action," Drop Cop City said in a statement.
The climbing of the crane follows many protests amid concerns that the training center will damage the environment and contribute to the militarization of police. Since late 2021, activists have dedicated efforts to halt the project's development by occupying the area.
'Cop City' protests follow death of activist
Arrests of "Cop City" activists began following the death of a 26-year-old environmental activist who was killed by police after allegedly shooting a state trooper as officials cleared the area, according to law enforcement.
The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is a $90 million, 85-acre training space, according to the Atlanta Police Foundation.
The city said the facility will include classrooms, a shooting range, a mock city for "burn building" and "urban police" training, as well as a course for emergency vehicle driver training. The remaining 265 acres of the property, which until 1995 served as the Old Atlanta Prison Farm, will be preserved as "greenspace," officials said.
Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch: 'Cop City' protesters chain themselves to top of Atlanta crane
