Atlanta ‘Cop City’ protest quickly turns violent and fiery, video shows

Atlanta police detained at least 35 people after demonstrators set fire to a construction site where public safety and police officers will be trained once completed.

Video posted by the Atlanta Police Department on Sunday night shows what led to chaos at the future Public Safety and Training Facility, known to some as “Cop City.”

The video starts off with a couple of law enforcement officers near equipment on the site with a horde of people just beyond a fence, mostly wearing black and black masks.

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The horde of protesters began to move toward the fence and officers stepped back before walking out of frame.

Once the officers left the frame, several other officers and a police SUV were seen fleeing the fenced-in area before closing it off. As the officers fled, the horde was seen rushing the future public safety facility.

The horde started throwing fireworks and rocks at the officers, who were inside a separate fenced in area, which the rioters could not reach because they, too, were fenced in with the equipment.

Rioters could be seen throwing rocks and fireworks over the fence.

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As protesters organized by the fence, one could be seen with a make-shift shield made from a piece from a 55-gallon drum.

A pair of protestors threw rocks at a bulldozer, before someone else threw fireworks at the vehicle, and another man poured alcohol onto the machine.

Outside the fence area, flames could be seen on both sides, likely from fireworks thrown at the police officers.

Smoke quickly filled the air, and law enforcement blocked off the road.

A little while later, the bulldozer that had alcohol poured on it earlier was engulfed in flames and another vehicle rolled over onto its side was also on fire.

Protestors then opened a shipment container before fleeing toward the back of the site, where they came from.

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The bulldozer and other equipment continued to burn, and black smoke and soot lifted into the air. 

Though demonstrations at the 85-acre property in DeKalb County secured for a $90 million police and fire training facility have been ongoing, Atlanta Chief of Police Darin Schierbaum said Sunday’s incident marked a “significant escalation” both in the level of violence and the number of individuals involved in the attack.

“This wasn’t about a public safety training center. This was about anarchy, and this was about an attempt to destabilize. And we are addressing that quickly,” Schierbaum told reporters. “Actions such as this will not be tolerated. You attack law enforcement officers, you damage equipment, you are breaking the law. This was a very violent attack that occurred this evening.”

Atlanta police said at least 35 people had been detained as of Sunday night. Carr said all but two were from out of state, and 23 individuals were charged with domestic terrorism.

Before Sunday, at least 19 people had been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism since December in connection to demonstrations at the “Cop City” site. Six of the 19 arrests came out of a violent riot in downtown Atlanta on Jan. 21 that was sparked by the deadly shooting of 26-year-old environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Teran by Georgia State Patrol. 

State patrol had responded to the construction site to clear out demonstrators. Authorities said Teran, who reportedly went by the name Tortuguita and identified as non-binary, shot a trooper in the abdomen before law enforcement officials returned fire and killed Teran.

Danielle Wallace of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.