Lawsuit accuses Atlanta police of illegally targeting ‘Stop Cop City’ protesters
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ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta police have for years illegally targeted critics of a police and firefighter training center, according to a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a protester who is one of dozens of “Stop Cop City” activists facing criminal charges.

The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Georgia on Wednesday, alleges that authorities view critics of the training center as a criminal. The lawsuit is filed by U.S. District Judge Amanda Williams Nolt, whose previous lawsuits have focused on the Department of Justice’s approach to charging individuals for the creation, use, and sale of weapons.

The lawsuit alleges that the training center, which is located in Atlanta’s Roswell area, has been a target of harassment by local residents and police. The city of Atlanta and the Public Defender Service have both been sued by former police officers for their actions.

The plaintiffs, who are being represented by the law firm of C. J. Price, include Detroit police officer Bradd Bland, the former director of the Atlanta Public Defender Service, and former police officers who have filed lawsuits against the city and police department for past acts of violence and harassment.

“Police officers have created a web of surveillance and a systematic campaign of harassment against the city’s most influential and elected officials,” Nolt said in a statement. “The City of Atlanta has been subjected to a campaign of harassment and a relentless campaign of confrontation by a group of individuals who are determined to expose the truth about what happened in the police department’s 13-year construction of a police training facility.”

The lawsuit seeks $500,000 in damages for violations of the First Amendment, 4th Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment, including for the arrest of protesters and the use of force against them. It also seeks to compel defendants to issue a public statement confirming their actions were lawful.

Nolt also held that the defendants must pay the plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees and costs. She also issued a nationwide injunction barring the defendants from using or storing electronic evidence of the arrest and other actions.

The plaintiff, Jamie Marsicano, who is also the attorney general of Georgia, said in a statement that the lawsuit is preparing to file a summons request with the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to seek a preliminary injunction, in addition to a terminating injunction against defendants and for a declaration of the law that cannot apply to him. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants were involved in the construction of the training center, but he did not allege a connection to the construction laborers who apparently helped build it.

The plaintiff also argued that the construction of the training center was a violation of his First Amendment freedom to express his views.

The plaintiff also argued that the defendants violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection by treating him differently than they treated other members of the public.

The plaintiff also claimed that the defendants had violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to political freedom by “harassing” him with his presence at the training center.

Marsicano directed reporters to the city’s public records portal, where he said he found that the city had not testified in response to the charges filed against him by the defendants. He said Atlanta officials had not provided any evidence that a police officer was arrested or that the police had issued a warrant for a warrantless search of the training center’s building.

The defendants also filed an answer, denying the claims, asking for a summary judgment. They also argued that if the claims had been true, the plaintiffs would have been entitled to a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.

Nolt said she will initiate proceedings to get a ruling on the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

The suite of lawsuits is part of a broader effort by the family of former Chicago police officer William Briscoe, who was killed in the 2013 shooting of a Black family member. Malinda Briscoe, Briscoe’s wife, has been charged with assault and conspiracy for plotting a murder that killed her husband and his partner.

The plaintiffs in the recent lawsuit say they did not know Briscoe was a former police officer until late last year, when they received an invitation for a hearing that was scheduled for January.
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