Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the upcoming Atlanta Public Safety Training Center now has an official Twitter feed.
If you haven’t heard of Cop City by now, time to catch up. Allow me to quote Stop Cop City for starters:
What is Cop City?
Stop Cop City
Atlanta Police Foundation is trying to build the largest police training facility in the US in Weelaunee Forest, a watershed surrounded by primarily Black residents who overwhelmingly oppose the project.
The plans include military-grade training facilities, a mock city to practice urban warfare, dozens of shooting ranges, and a Black Hawk helicopter landing pad.
Protests have been raging for several months over this project, the outrage culminating with the Police shooting of activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, in what seems at best a massive SNAFU, at worst an execution. Since then the Atlanta police has been engaging in daily crackdowns against relentless protests, while organisers are gathering signatures to bring Cop City to the ballot box. This is the worst standoff between law enforcement and protesters in the US since Black Lives Matter.
Of course the city of Atlanta is trying to counter the movement with a futile effort at propaganda. But on Twitter of all places? The account has been up for two weeks and has barely posted anything, and yet it’s already attracted thirty followers—apparently all opponents to the project. I would ask what the hell these authorities were thinking if asking the question didn’t amount to denying the answer.
The rare few posts at this point are beyond tone deaf. Here’s a particularly juicy one:
De-escalation? Civil rights? The centre and surrounding crackdowns may already be considered the pinnacle of police escalation and civil rights violations, and yet it’s supposed to provide de-escalation and civil rights training? This has to be satire… right?
Predictably, the feed is being deluged by detractors’ calls to stop Cop City with graphic prompts, and these numbers are bound to swell as the word spreads. In the meantime, the authorities don’t even see fit to use fake supporter accounts to boost its own standing, or block protesting followers (because then nobody would follow it). Seriously, would there be anyone to think this was a good idea? Because this strategy doesn’t even look like desperation, but cartoonish self-injury. This is my answer to anyone who thinks cops are secretly smart.
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