This resulted in the development of Stop Cop City, a multi-faceted movement opposing the construction of the training center.

In January 2023, Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, a member of the Stop Cop City movement, was fatally shot by Atlanta police.

[1] The $90 million[2] construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center began in spring 2023 on an 85-acre plot of land in the South River Forest, DeKalb County, Georgia.

[6] The Muscogee peoples lived in the area of the South River Forest until the 1830s, when the United States federal government forcibly removed most of the community to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) during the Trail of Tears.

The Muscogee people harvested from the forest for human needs, including acorn flour for food and hickory wood for toolmaking.

[3] According to a lawyer working on behalf of Terán's mother, an independent autopsy revealed "Both Manuel's left and right hands show exit wounds in both palms.

"[17] On March 5, 2023, protesters threw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers, and destroyed various construction vehicles.

[4][2] Hours later, police raided the nearby South River Music Festival and detained 35 people, alleging that vandals had hidden in the crowd.

[26] On June 6, 2023, the Atlanta City Council approved the $31 million funding after more than 16 hours of in-person public comment from over 300 speakers, the vast majority of whom were opposed to the project.

[30] In June 2023, a coalition of activist groups opposed to the construction project announced their plans to force a referendum on Cop City.