A protest turned violent in downtown Atlanta on Saturday night following the death of an environmental activist who died this week after authorities say the 26-year-old shot a state trooper.
Masked and black-clad activists hurled rocks and set off fireworks in front of a skyscraper that houses the Atlanta Police Foundation, smashing large glass windows.
They then set fire to a police car and vandalized other buildings, as the stunned tourists dispersed.
The violent protesters were a subsection of the hundreds of people who had gathered and marched down Atlanta's famous Peachtree Street to mourn the death of the protester, a non-binary person who went by the name
Little Turtle
and used the pronouns they/it.
Demonstrators protest the death of an environmental activist, who called himself Little Turtle, in Atlanta on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023. AP
Tortuguita
died Wednesday as authorities were evicting a small group of protesters from a planned site for a public safety training center in the Atlanta area, which activists have dubbed “Cop City.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said
Little Turtle
died after shooting and wounding a state trooper, but activists have disputed the authorities' version of events,
calling it a “murder” and demanding an independent investigation.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), the incident was not recorded by body cameras.
The GBI said Friday that it determined that the officer was shot in the abdomen by a bullet from a pistol in
Tortuguita's possession.
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News of Saturday's protest had spread widely in advance on social media and among left-wing activists, with some distributing leaflets reading:
“Police killed protester.
Get up.
Defend yourself".
A police statement said protesters damaged property at various locations along Peachtree Street, a corridor of hotels and restaurants, adding that several arrests were made and "order was quickly restored to the Downtown space."
There were no immediate reports of any injuries.
“This is still an active and ongoing investigation and we will not be able to provide specific data on the number of arrests or property damage, at this time,” police said in an emailed statement to the agency. news The Associated Press.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp condemned the violence and thanked the officers who responded.
[The school did not heed the warnings of the teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old boy]
“Violence and illegal destruction of property are not acts of protest,” the Republican governor tweeted.
These are crimes that will not be tolerated in Georgia and will be thoroughly prosecuted."
Opponents of the training center have been protesting for more than a year by building platforms in the surrounding trees and camping on the site.
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They claim the $90 million project, to be built by the Atlanta Police Foundation, involves cutting down so many trees that it would be detrimental to the environment.
They are also opposed to investing so much money in a facility that they say will be used to practice "urban warfare."
According to the GBI, some 25 encampments were located and removed on Wednesday, and mortar-type fireworks, bladed weapons, pellet rifles, gas masks and a blowtorch were recovered.
Seven people were arrested during the raid and charged