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Courts’ Fight Over ‘Cop City’ Protests Raises Questions About Terrorism Laws and Environmental Activism 

Inside Climate News · By Jade Yeban · last updated
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.

By Jade Yeban

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?