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Dueling protests against Atlanta Public Safety Training Center – WSB-TV Channel 2

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ATLANTA — Groups for and against Atlanta’s controversial Public Safety Training Center have held rallies around Atlanta City Hall to get the attention of the mayor, city council members and the public.

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“The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center aims to ensure our officers, first responders, firefighters and paramedics are well-trained to work in an urban environment like Atlanta. This really sets an example for the rest of the country on how to fight crime. We want more police officers on the streets, but we also want them to be better trained and respect the rights of all citizens,” said Gabriel Nadales, a supporter of the training center. Channel 2’s Tom Regan.

Nadales, who calls himself a former Antifa leader, has decided that the police are not the enemy and need the support of communities.

“This type of training is essential for officers,” Nadales said.

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Another supporter of the training center is the great-nephew of the late civil rights leader Dr. Joseph Lowery.

“It gives officers the opportunity to receive more training (and) be a better team. It’s good for the community and it will help build relationships between officers and the community, bring some form of unity and I’m here to support that,” said Pastor David Lowery.

Several dozen people opposed to what they call “police city” say it will further militarize officers. They cited what happened on the Emory University campus when police broke up a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli encampment several weeks ago.

“We saw what happened with Emory with the violent APD crackdown which we found horrific. We see the connections between cops and police violence,” said Stop Cop City protester Neal Sardana.

Sardana and others called on Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to certify the signatures of 116,000 Atlantans who signed a petition opposing continued funding of the training center. He said the city council would have to approve a referendum vote of the city’s voters.

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“If this is a true democracy, Mayor Dickens should count and record every one of these petition signatures. We know we have met the threshold required to put this project on the ballot,” Sardana said.

The training center project, now estimated to cost $110 million, is expected to be completed in December 2024.

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