ATLANTA — Atlanta police and other city officials cut the ribbon Tuesday on the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center after years of opposition and protests slowing down construction.
The law enforcement hub is in the South River Forest between Constitution and Key roads in southeast Atlanta.
It includes several buildings for training scenarios that may involve, for instance, a house, a daycare or convenience store.
And while it may be for city training, Gov. Brian Kemp told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne on Tuesday that his resolve to help finish the center strengthened after a state trooper was wounded and an activist was killed in return fire.
“One reason the day is so fulfilling is to show people that we did not buckle, we did not, you know, lay down in the face of all those threats that we stood up and said you’re not going to do this to us, you’re now going to this to the city of Atlanta, you’re not going do it to the state of Georgia,” Kemp said.
The state had a moral stake in the completion of a new state-of-the-art public safety training center for the city of Atlanta in the face of sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent opposition, Kemp told Winne.
“It’s certainly a city project, but we had a stake in it because public safety cuts across all political boundaries, it’s just the right thing to do. It’s our really supreme duty, I think, as elected officials, whether you’re the governor, whether you are the mayor. We have worked together on that issue,” Kemp said.
As arsons, vandalism, and other alleged acts of domestic terrorism stacked up, Kemp said he supported the Georgia Bureau of Investigation stepping in to lead a multi-agency investigation.
“I not only supported, but was pushing them, pushing the state patrol, pushing and supporting the locals to be forceful against, as the Chief Schierbaum talked about today, the Antifa demonstrators,” Kemp said.
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“When Antifa put out its call for individuals to rally here in this spot and on Peachtree Street from across the nation and literally the globe, we were up against a playbook we had never seen,” Schierbaum said.
“That literally were burning private sector people’s equipment, terrorizing their homes, public threats and private threats,” Kemp said.
Defense attorney Malcolm Conner represents one of 61 people charged in a domestic terrorism indictment tied to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
“We can’t associate the acts of a few people to everyone else, OK,” Conner said.
His client has pleaded not guilty.
“Many people who exercise their constitutional rights to protest are now facing criminal charges,” Conner told Winne.
Kemp indicated he pushed for the Georgia State Patrol to assist the city in securing the construction site when needed.
The governor indicated his resolve was strengthened after a state trooper was wounded in an operation in the area and activist Manuel Teran was killed by return fire.
“One of our officers was shot, and it was by the grace of God that we had paramedics on scene that saved his life and got him to Grady quickly. But he’ll deal with that injury for the rest of his career and life,” Kemp said.
“Do I believe this training facility is necessary? No, but I do believe cops need better training,” Conner said.
“We’ve seen some things that shouldn’t be happening in law enforcement and people need to be trained on how to deal with those types of situations and to make sure we know how to do with different kinds of people. That’s what these training centers are for,” Kemp said.
Conner said the domestic terrorism indictment right now constitutes simply allegations.
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