billboards, geo-fencing campaigns in search of ‘anarchists’ against training center

Atlanta Police say billboards, geo-fencing campaigns planned in search of ‘anarchists’ against training center

From Rough Draft Atlanta

Hundreds of billboards and digital marketing campaigns are now part of a national effort to arrest and convict violent “anarchists” suspected of attacks against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, according to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.

Schierbaum said at a Wednesday morning press conference that more than 450 billboards will go up this week in Atlanta and other major cities including Miami, Nashville, and New York. The billboards will advertise rewards of up to $200,000 announced last month for information in finding arson suspects protesting the training center, also known as “Cop City.”

The announcement came a day after activists set fire to construction equipment near the training center site and took credit for the action on a website, Schierbaum said.

“There is an effort underway by a very small group of individuals, anarchists, that want to impact the safety of Atlanta, Georgia,” Schierbaum said.

Attending the press conference with Schierbaum were Atlanta Deputy Fire Chief James McLemore, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King and members of the FBI, ATF and the GBI.

The chief’s press conference was held before officials told members of the Atlanta City Council Finance Committee that the training center was more than 75% complete despite many acts of vandalism, including arson. City officials said the vandalism has increased the estimated $90 million cost to build the complex by nearly $20 million.

Geo-fencing to be also be used to advertise cash reward

In addition to billboards and digital marketing, geo-fencing campaigns will also be utilized in nine cities to advertise the cash reward for information leading to the arrest and convictions of those attacking the training center, according to a news release.

Geo-fencing was not discussed during the police chief’s press conference. Atlanta Police did not respond to a request for comment about what specifically would be involved in the geo-fencing campaigns.

Geo-fencing is used to create a virtual geographic boundary around an area using GPS, Wi-Fi or cellular data technology. Businesses use geo-fencing to target specific advertisements to someone’s cell phone, for example, when they walk into the virtual boundary.

Crime Stoppers in other states have used geo-fencing to get tips to solve crimes. But some critics worry data compiled by police could be used to target innocent people. Some legal experts also say geo-fencing could be harmful to protesters and social activists.

The billboards and cash reward are being funded by Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta and private donations, Schierbaum said. Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta is managed by the Atlanta Police Foundation.

The Atlanta Police Foundation is in charge of building and managing the 85-acre public safety training center being built on city-owned property in the South River Forest in unincorporated DeKalb County.

Schierbaum also said Seth Brock Spigner was arrested in South Carolina and charged with arson for setting fire to construction equipment in a case related to Atlanta’s public safety training center.

“There was a loose, inaccurate association of that company [in South Carolina]. Someone thought that it was connected to this construction site,” the chief said. “Based on that misinformation, an anarchist went there and set it on fire. Their motivation was they thought they were stopping our public safety training center.”

Construction of training center more than 75% complete, say city officials

Members of the city council’s finance committee were updated on construction of the training center at their Wednesday afternoon meeting.

City officials said the training center is more than 75% complete “despite multiple acts of violence” over the past two years and is expected to be completed in December.

Deputy Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks told the finance committee that the frequency and intensity of the attacks in opposition to the training center – including a recent defacing of Manuel’s Tavern – have contributed to an increase in the estimated cost for the training center from $90 million to $109.6 million, according to a news release.

The increase includes $6 million for additional security and $400,000 for insurance increases. Atlanta taxpayers will not bear the burden of the $19.6 million in incremental costs, Burks said.

“We are moving forward as planned and not allowing distractions to deter us from improving the safety of Atlantans by completing the public safety training center” Mayor Andre Dickens said in a news release.

According to the city, more than 80 criminal acts have been made at the training center site and more than 173 arrests have been made. More than 20 acts of arson have resulted in the destruction of 81 pieces of equipment and buildings across 23 states, the city said in the news release.

This includes the destruction of APD motorcycles and a firebombing at the At-Promise Center, a local youth crime diversion program funded by the Atlanta Police Foundation.

In the news release, Dickens and city administrators also pushed back against the $67 million cost to taxpayers to build the training center.

“The City’s share of the training center construction cost, approved by the Atlanta City Council in June 2023, remains an allocation of $31 million,” according to the news release.

“The other Council-approved training center cost, which is a budget-neutral annual lease-back payment to the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) of $1.2 million, is not an incremental, additional, or new expense for the city’s taxpayers.

“As outlined previously, the city currently pays $1.4 million annually for various leases for suboptimal training facilities around the city and metro area. Once the new training center is built, the City will cancel those various leases and start making the $1.2 million leaseback payments to APF. The leaseback payments are a $200,000 annual savings or a $6 million savings over 30 years,” the news release said.

The city’s presentation was made one year after Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran was killed by Georgia State Patrol trooper in the South River Forest while protesting the construction of the training center complex. The killing of Teran, 26, catapulted opposition to “Cop City” into a national and international movement.

Police said Teran shot first. No criminal charges were brought against any officers.

The mayor and other city and state officials have argued a new public safety training center for police and firefighters is needed to replace rundown facilities. They also argue the new facility is needed to recruit and retain police officers. The Atlanta Police Department, like many departments across the country, saw an exodus of officers following national protests against police brutality in 2020 sparked by the murder of George Floyd.

Opponents of the training center say building the complex would only lead to more police militarization and violence against Black and brown people. They also accuse the city of environmental racism for building the training center in a majority Black neighborhood.

There are 11 Comments

The claim of Cop City being 75% done in just over two months from Nov 13, wirh all contractors literally under fire strikes me as extremely unlikely. Similar lies are told about the beseiged Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Now a message to the cops: billboards didn't catch the folks who pulled down a confederate statue in DC and they won't catch the warriors against Cop City either.

Phone and license plate geofencing isn't hard ro defeat either: do not drive into the licensed area,and do not use a registered phone, Google Maps, or Google Play Services of their Crapple equivalents.

They are desperate because they are losing. Few will snitch even if they saw anything (which they won't against skilled operators). Even if they ever get ir built, Cop City will be impossiblet to defend. Too much woods, too long a perimeter.

Bring it on...

Furtermor, billboards only work with the few lackeys and Karens that are dumb enough to believe in the cops' fairy tales. The cops are at best further discrediting themselves with such over-patronizing orwellian witch hunts.

is the geofence for catching ppl or for advertising their tipline? id assume they've had the former going at the site. but i took this as advertising tips in the cities with billboards

My first thought is to flood their snitch line, particularly with info for owners and employees of companies contracted to construct cop city, and also cops and their families, and local politicians that support the project. Also just repeatedly calling it, or spamming their email, just to jam up the system.

Atlanta will be a "heavily targettted geofence campaign" as will Savannah, GA and Seattle, WA. Another geofence campaign in Portland, Oregon

THIS SUGGESTS DISPOSING OF PHONES used during forest defense ops, if they were not burners trash phone, SIM, and phone number and start over with new service. Also close any Google or Apple accounts associated with these phones if anything in them links back to you after clearing all history in such accounts.

We know from the geofence campaign around J6 that they were able to find only those who had been logged into Google or Apple accounts with phones connected to their names. Those fash got warrants. We do not know if technical details will differ this time around. APD just tipped their hand, so let's take advantage of it.

"If the cops come after me, i'll just go underground lol easily defeated" -- @
"If the FBI comes after me, i'll just grab an ak47, head into the mountains and occasionally work at the local bar. And in the meanwhile learn how to make ied watching YouTube videos." -- ChatGPT

The amount of cope I sense irl / the elephant site / insurrecto circles is just unbelievable at this point. Kinda reminds me of your Houthi true believers view of their great leader (the chubby dude with the beard) and Allah

Say what you want about the Houthis, they fought Saudi Arabia ro a standstill and have now blocked the direct shipping route from Asia to Israel. Not only Israel but their allies pay more and wait weeks longer for imports from Asian ports. Shipping lines are refusing to use the Red Sea, so the Houthis have all but closed the Suez Canal. These ships now go around Cape of Good Hope If South Africa wants to put some muscle in the ICJ genocide ruling, they could block the big container ships from going anywhere near the cape. These ships would have to either brave the ice of the far reaches of the Southern Ocean-or go the other way around the world,crossing the Pacific, then the Panama Canal, then the Arlantic in turn.

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