Residents speak out after Atlanta Police Foundation damaged by protestors
By Iyani Hughes
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ATLANTA (WGCL) — Protesters vandalized the Atlanta Police Foundation, leaving shattered glass behind in the wake of their frustration Friday night.
“Total disregard for property and lives you know…”said an upset local, Simpson Brown.
According to police, around 4:00 p.m. Friday, multiple protestors stopped the flow of traffic on Peachtree St. and Andrew Young International Blvd.
Photos taken by a local freelance photojournalist Nathan Posner shows a group called Defend Atlanta Forest shattering glass doors and holding signs that say “our woods not Hollywood’s.”
CBS46 reached out to the group, but have yet to hear back.
Atlanta police believe the protesting ignited over the building of the new Public Safety Training Center.
“It has become a desensitizing issue where people just don’t care and just don’t give a damn like they don’t know right from wrong you know,” Brown said. “It’s disgusting you know, I mean even with on-site security, they just kind of bum rushed security.”
He worked at 191 Peachtree Tower before COVID hit and said he has never seen this kind of violence.
“That’s not the right way I think there’s other means to rectify the current situation” Brown said.
When officers arrived, protesters quickly fled the scene, but the damage remained.
Below is a statement from Defend the Forest on the matter:
“Atlanta is a city in the forest. This forest is the lungs of our city, and necessary to maintaining a livable climate. The Atlanta Police Foundation, with the support of Keisha Lance Bottoms and Joyce Shepherd, intend to cut down hundreds of acres of our forest to build a militarized compound known as “Cop City.” Ever since the murder of George Floyd, there has been widespread demand to defund the police, while the city has responded by pouring millions of dollars into the department. Defend the Forest is a leaderless, decentralized movement, and while we cannot take responsibility for anyone’s actions, we can understand why someone would be motivated to break windows in order to save our forest.”
At this time, no arrests have been made.
The investigation is ongoing.
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