Residents of Atlanta are facing the impending expansion and increased militarization of the Atlanta Police department with the building of “Cop City.” But protestors of this move are up against more than the department. The Atlanta Police Foundation and its donors create the greatest hurdle to stopping this facility.
The Atlanta Police Foundation is a multimillion-dollar nonprofit intended to support the police department in the same way that nonprofits support libraries or schools. However, their goal is much more dangerous. And with the help of corporate backers, their bankroll is limitless.
Big corporations like UPS, Wells Fargo, Delta, and Chick-fil-a are helping to invest $60 million of the $90 million needed to build Cop City. The remaining $30 million comes from Atlanta taxpayers without a say on the matter.
Residents are tired of their voices being ignored and are taking to the streets in protest of the police department’s expansion. The facility plans to open by the end of 2023 but protestors will fight until the very end.
Cop City represents the future of militarism in modern-policing and serves as a threat to our freedoms as Black people in this country. We have to envision a future without the violent police structure we live in and stand up against any who oppose our liberated future.