Climate Change
Courts’ Fight Over ‘Cop City’ Protests Raises Questions About Terrorism Laws and Environmental Activism
A years-long legal fight tied to protests over Atlanta’s Public Safety Training Center could shape how states wield terrorism laws against environmental protest movements.
ATLANTA—On a recent March morning, a large monitor at the front of a DeKalb County courtroom flickered to life as Superior Court Judge David B. Irwin appeared over Zoom. The hearing—with attorneys and out-of-state defendants joining remotely—centered on a question with national implications: Can activists who protested Atlanta’s controversial police training center be prosecuted as domestic terrorists?