Atlanta protest over police killing of activist turns violent

ATLANTA — A protest turned violent in downtown Atlanta on Saturday night in the wake of the death of an environmental activist who was kille...

ATLANTA — A protest turned violent in downtown Atlanta on Saturday night in the wake of the death of an environmental activist who was killed this week after authorities said the 26-year-old activist shot a state trooper.

Masked activists dressed in all black threw rocks and lit fireworks in front of a skyscraper that houses the Atlanta Police Foundation, shattering large glass windows. They then lit a police cruiser on fire, smashed more windows and vandalized walls with anti-police graffiti as stunned tourists scattered.

The violent protesters were a subsection of hundreds of demonstrators who had gathered and marched up Atlanta's famed Peachtree Street to mourn the death of the protester, a nonbinary person who went by the name Tortuguita and used they/it pronouns.

Tortuguita was killed Wednesday as authorities cleared a small group of protesters from the site of a planned Atlanta-area public safety training center that activists have dubbed "Cop City."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said Tortuguita was killed by officers after shooting and wounding a state trooper, but activists have questioned officials' version of events, calling it a "murder" and demanding an independent investigation.




Full Story: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/21/1150632964/atlanta-protest-police-killing-activist