ATLANTA — A peaceful protest in downtown Atlanta turned violent Saturday evening when protesters set a police car on fire and started smashing windows.

The protesters are opposed to the construction of an APD training center in a forest in DeKalb County.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at Underground Atlanta before moving down Peachtree St. in the heart of downtown Atlanta.

Shortly after, some of the protesters dressed in all black began marching down the streets of downtown.

Protesters then turned violent, setting an Atlanta police cruiser on fire and smashing windows of local businesses, including a Wells Fargo bank.

Spokespeople with “Stop Cop City,” who have claimed several times that they are peaceful protesters, released a statement saying they are not backing down and do not believe their actions on Saturday night are violent.

“Destruction of material is fundamentally different from violence. All reported acts appear to be explicitly targeted against the financial backers & goons of the Atlanta Police Foundation, a shady nonprofit that funnels weapons and military gear into our city to wage war on black and brown folks. The police have raided the forest for over 7 months, destroying material by trashing camps and water supplies, threatened the lives of forest defenders and now have murdered one. Protestors are only leveling the playing field & preventing future violence by disabling the economic machine of the Atlanta Police Foundation that seeks to sterilize all life within the Weelaunee Forest.”

They later released an amended statement that read:

“What is the proper reaction to police killing Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Esteban Paez Teran? Destruction of material is fundamentally different from the violence that led to extinguishing someone’s light. We are seeing what we have seen across the country, a community in grief seeking accountability against the financial backers and goons of the Atlanta Police Foundation, a shady nonprofit that funnels weapons and military gear into our city to wage war on Black, Indigenous, Brown and poor folks in the community. The police have evoked violence when they raided the forest for over 7 months, destroying material by trashing camps and water supplies and threatening the lives of forest defenders. It seems the community is trying to disable the economic machine of the Atlanta Police Foundation that seeks to sterilize all life within the Weelaunee Forest to protect the community they love from further violence.”

Mike Register, the Director of the GBI, said the protesters are not peaceful, but were violent on many occasions.

“Arson, attacking citizens, shooting police officers, using explosives,” Register said at a news conference Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Georgia State Patrol and other agencies were at the site of the proposed facility clearing protesters who had been camped out in the forest for months.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says one of the protesters, Manuel Teran, shot a state trooper and was then killed by return fire.

Friends of Teran, who went by the nickname “Tortuguita,” have repeatedly claimed since the shooting that they are peaceful protesters.

Seven fellow protesters were arrested on Wednesday and charged with domestic terrorism and criminal trespass.

The governor’s office released a statement saying they will not tolerate any unlawful crimes in the name of peaceful protest:

The governor remains well informed of the situation through regular updates from state law enforcement and is actively monitoring the situation. State patrol is well equipped to respond to any and all threats to public safety and is coordinating closely with other state agencies and local PD.

While the state continues to respect peaceful protest, acts of violence against person or property will NOT be tolerated. Those committing such unlawful acts will be arrested and prosecuted fully.

A short time later, Governor Brian Kemp himself Tweeted a statement:

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr Tweeted calling those involved “rioters.” Carr told WSB′s Mark Winne earlier this week he is working on a sweeping indictment to charge these protesters with domestic terrorism.

Atlanta police released the following statement to WSB:

“The Atlanta Police Department is aware of the ongoing events, and we will continue to monitor them and address accordingly. We stand ready to respond to demonstrations to ensure the safety of those in our communities and those exercising their first amendment right, or to address illegal activity, should the need arise.”

At 6:45 p.m., Atlanta police released an update:

“Atlanta Police have responded to a group damaging property at several locations along Peachtree St. Several arrests have been made at this time and order has been restored to the downtown space. This is still an active and ongoing investigation and we will not be able to provide specifics on arrests numbers or damaged property, at this time.”

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APD car set on fire during violent protest in downtown Atlanta (WSB-TV Viewer)

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