Atlanta shuts down strategic park in ‘Cop City’ protest movement

Opponents say move is yet another example of crackdown by officials seeking to disrupt protests against $90m training center

Children and parents from a couple of Atlanta private schools recently showed up at City Hall during a school day to urge city council members not to go ahead with Cop City," a $90m police and fire department training base planned in a forest that has become a center of controversy in the US and overseas.

On Monday college students at Emory University, Georgia Tech and other Atlanta schools protested the gigantic project, holding up signs, handing out leaflets and giving speeches. They tried to camp overnight at Emory, but were forced off by Atlanta police early Tuesday morning.