Category Archives: Atlanta

Protests as Atlanta council adopts new rules for referendum on Cop City

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Vote comes amid protests against the methodology the council adopted for signature matching on referendum petitions

The Atlanta city council adopted new rules on Monday that would allow the referendum process for the public to vote on the “Cop City” project to move forward. The vote came amid protests against the methodology the council adopted for signature matching on referendum petitions, which critics say gives the city a way to block a public vote on the controversial project.

Three people calling for the signature matching element of the ordinance to be removed were escorted from the council chambers ahead of the 10-5 vote adopting the ordinance.

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Georgia’s Fulton county hacked, but DA says Trump election case is unaffected

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Many county systems are inoperative, but the district attorney’s office says the racketeering case against the ex-president is secure

Officials said court and other systems in Georgia’s most populous county were hacked over the weekend, interrupting routine operations, but the district attorney’s office said the racketeering case against former president Donald Trump was unaffected.

Fulton county, which includes most of Atlanta, was experiencing a “widespread system outage” from a “cybersecurity incident”, the chair of the county commission, Robb Pitts, said on Monday in a video posted on social media. Notably, he said, the outage is affecting the county’s phone, court and tax systems.

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Nose wheel falls off Boeing 757 airliner waiting for takeoff

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Delta Air Lines jet was due to depart Atlanta international airport and none of the crew or passengers were hurt

A nose wheel fell off a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 passenger jet and rolled away as the plane lined up for takeoff over the weekend from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson international airport in the US, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

According to a preliminary FAA notice, none of the 184 passengers or six crew members aboard were hurt in the incident.

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‘Tortuguita vive’: campaigners across US hail anti-Cop City activist killed by police

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Events in more than 30 cities mark ‘Day of the Forest Defender’, recognizing enduring impact of Manuel Paez Terán

At a gathering Thursday, the mother of an activist killed by police had a clear message on the first anniversary of their death: “I have news for you. Manuel is alive. Tortuguita vive!”

It was a message of celebration for the life of Manuel Paez Terán, also known as “Tortuguita”, that was being made in Atlanta and more than 30 cities across the US, a sign of the slain activist’s enduring impact on several movements, observers said.

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Rudy Giuliani ordered to pay $148.1m in damages for lies about election workers

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Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, from Atlanta, received threats after Trump ally falsely accused them of trying to steal election

A Washington DC jury has ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay $148.1m to two Atlanta election workers after he spread lies about them, one of the most significant verdicts to date seeking accountability for those who attempted to overturn the 2020 election.

The verdict follows a four-day trial in which Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, her daughter, gave haunting details about the harassment and threats they faced after Giuliani falsely accused them of trying to steal the election in Georgia. The women, who are Black, described how they fled, are afraid to give their names in public, and still suffer severe emotional distress today. Their lawyers asked the jury to award them each at least $24m in damages. Giuliani’s attorney said earlier this week that awarding the plaintiffs their sought damages would be a “death penalty” and would be "the end of Mr Giuliani”.

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Judge asks if Giuliani is mentally fit as ex-mayor defends his poll worker lies

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Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are seeking up to $43m in damages after Giuliani falsely accused them of trying to steal 2020 election

A federal judge probed Rudy Giuliani’s state of mind on Tuesday after he told reporters he intended to prove false claims he made about two Atlanta election were true.

The federal jury trial entered its second day on Tuesday, seeking to determine the extent of damages Giuliani should have to pay to two Atlanta election workers after spreading lies about them.

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Pro-Palestine protester self-immolates outside Atlanta’s Israeli consulate

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The person, who is as yet not been identified, is in critical condition and a guard who attempted to intervene was injured

A protester with a Palestinian flag self-immolated on Friday outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, injuring a security guard who attempted to intervene, authorities said.

The person, whom officials did not identify, is in critical condition, the Atlanta police chief Darin Schierbaum said at a news conference. The guard’s condition was not immediately clear.

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Federal agency says it stopped measuring water pollution near ‘Cop City’

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Move is bad news for local environmental groups, whose motion to halt construction will be heard on 15 November

A federal agency that monitors water quality says it stopped measuring sediment pollution levels in a creek that runs alongside the controversial police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” months ago due to safety concerns.

The issue is particularly important as a local environmental group’s motion to stop construction of the project will get its day in federal court on 15 November.

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Movement against Georgia’s ‘Cop City’ plans occupation and ‘week of action’

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‘Block Cop City’ plans non-violent march onto site of police center and a week of panels and screenings aimed at Black audiences

The movement against the police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” is planning two events for the coming weeks in and near Atlanta, Georgia – including a first-ever, non-violent protest march onto the project’s construction site.

The action, planned for 13 November and aimed at occupying the Cop City site for a day, could draw a thousand or more people from across the county. This would make it the largest protest to date at the location. The other event is a Black-led “week of action” the week before, aimed at Black audiences.

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Georgia refuses to release evidence from police shooting of Cop City activist

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Experts say decision not to make evidence available to family of Manuel Paez Terán or public sets ‘frightening’ precedent

The state of Georgia is refusing to release evidence tied to the police shooting and killing of an activist protesting a police and fire department training center known as “Cop City”, prompting concern from police accountability experts who say this sets a “frightening” precedent .

District attorney George Christian released a 31-page report earlier this month concluding that the 18 January shooting of Manuel Paez Terán, or “Tortuguita”, was “objectively reasonable”. Paez Terán was one of a small group of “forest defenders” camping in a wooded public park to protest Cop City, planned for a separate part of the forest south-east of Atlanta, Georgia, less than a mile away. Dozens of officers from multiple agencies raided the park; the state claims Paez Terán fired a gun first, prompting six officers to shoot the activist. The activist sustained 57 gunshot wounds and died nearly instantly.

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Outcry as Atlanta refuses to handle petitions over ‘Cop City’ police campus

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City condemned for controversial move after activists and protesters deliver signatures to clerk’s office at city hall

The city of Atlanta has refused to begin counting and verifying petitions signed by about 116,000 registered voters to put on the ballot the question of whether a controversial police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” should be built.

The move was backed by a legal memo from lawyers hired by the city, citing an active court case, after dozens of activists and Atlanta residents delivered the petitions to the clerk’s office at city hall on Monday.

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Atlanta police arrest five activists chained to bulldozer at ‘Cop City’ site

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Activists entered open gate where trees are being cleared two days after state attorney general indicted 61 people under Rico law

Atlanta police arrested five activists, including two clergy members, on Thursday after the activists chained themselves to a bulldozer at the construction site for “Cop City”, a huge police and fire department training center being built in a forest south-east of Atlanta.

The activists entered an open gate around 9am local time where trees are being cleared and land is being graded for the training center, which would occupy a footprint of 170 acres if completed according to plans. Two Unitarian Universalist church clergy members hung a sign on the bulldozer saying: “Stop work.”

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‘Cop City’: civil rights groups urge US to investigate surveillance of protesters

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ACLU and NAACP among organizations condemning homeland security department over ‘domestic violent extremist’ label

Prominent civil rights and civil liberties organizations have called on the US homeland security department to investigate the agency’s intelligence-gathering on protesters against ‘Cop City’, the police and fire department training center planned for a forest south-east of Atlanta.

The organizations draw attention to the dozens of environmental protesters arrested and charged with domestic terrorism in a letter to the department director, Alejandro Mayorkas. The charges have caused outrage among many observers who accuse Georgia law enforcement of a heavy-handed crackdown on the protest movement.

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Police kill suspect wanted in shooting deaths of four people in Georgia

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Andre Longmore, 40, was shot by police as they tried to take him into custody after weekend killings of four people south of Atlanta

Authorities in Georgia hunted Saturday for a man who remained at large hours after he was suspected of gunning down three men and a woman in a suburban neighborhood south of Atlanta.

Andre Longmore, 40, is believed to be armed and dangerous, Hampton police chief James Turner said during a news conference. The shootings happened late Saturday morning in a subdivision in Hampton, a city of roughly 8,500 people.

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Atlanta politicians face pressure to vote against giving $31m to ‘Cop City’

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City council to vote on giving taxpayer money to controversial project as state characterizes opposition as work of ‘terrorists’

Pressure is growing on Atlanta politicians to vote against giving $31m to a police and fire department training center known as “Cop City”, even as the state continues to characterize opposition to the project as the work of “terrorists”, and the city’s mayor doubles down on the notion it is needed for “public safety”.

Atlanta’s city council will soon vote on giving taxpayer money to the controversial scheme, which is months behind schedule due to protests. The Atlanta Police Foundation, the organization behind it, is also apparently coming up short in sought-after $60m in corporate funding.

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One person killed and at least four injured in shooting in midtown Atlanta

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Police are actively searching for the suspect and additional victims after incident inside building in commercial area

One person was fatally shot and at least four injured on Wednesday in a shooting in a midtown Atlanta building, police said.

Atlanta police, who were still searching for the suspect on Wednesday afternoon, said there had been no additional shots fired since the initial shooting unfolded just after 12.30pm in a waiting room on the 11th floor of the Northside Hospital in midtown Atlanta, a commercial area with office buildings and high-rise apartments.

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UN human rights experts begin US tour focusing on racial justice and policing

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Panel established in response to George Floyd killing will visit Washington DC, Atlanta, LA, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York

A team of United Nations experts has arrived in the US on a tour that will focus on racial justice, law enforcement and policing.

On Monday, the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement, an independent panel appointed by the UN human rights council, began its two-week visit to the US.

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Trans woman starring in award-winning documentary fatally shot in Atlanta

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Rasheeda Williams, who performed as Koko Da Doll, killed in third fatal shooting of trans woman in the city this year

Rasheeda Williams, an Atlanta-based transgender woman who features in a forthcoming documentary that highlights the stories of four Black transgender sex workers in New York City and Georgia, was fatally shot in this week, the film’s publicist said on Friday.

Williams, 35, who performed under the name Koko Da Doll, was killed on Tuesday evening at a shopping center in the south-west of the city. It was the third fatal shooting of a transgender woman in the city since the beginning of the year, Atlanta police said in a statement.

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Man found dead eaten by bed bugs in Atlanta jail, lawyer says

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Family of Lashawn Thompson call for criminal investigation after his death in custody in filthy jail cell

An Atlanta man died in a local jail after being eaten alive by bed bugs, alleges a lawyer representing the man’s family.

The family of Lashawn Thompson, 35, is calling for a criminal investigation into Thompson’s death and for the closure and replacement of a local jail after alleging that Thompson died in custody from bed bugs in a squalid jail cell.

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Atlanta residents take fight over $90m ‘Cop City’ police training site to city hall

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Petition to Fulton county superior court seeks halt to building work while appeal against huge police training center is ruled on

Recent mornings at South River Forest, south-east of Atlanta, have begun with workers driving tractors around, clearing paths and felling trees, guarded by more than 100 police officers.

The workers are taking the first steps in building an 85-acre, $90m police and fire department training center planned for the land, called “Cop City” by activists.

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