FINAL UPDATE
A downtown Columbus protest that drew a heavy police presence went off Friday afternoon without a single arrest.
About 11 protestors gathered in the Broadway median at about 3:30 and spent a little over an hour drawing attention to their cause.
The group is protesting the death of activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán on Jan. 18 at a site for a proposed Atlanta police training center, known as “Cop City.” Terán was shot by a Georgia State Trooper. That trooper was shot in the confrontation but survived.
The target of the protest was Alabama-based construction company Brasfield & Gorrie. The backdrop of the protest was a huge muti-use downtown Columbus development. Brasfield & Gorrie is the contractor.
The company also has a contract to build a police training center in Metro Atlanta.
More than 120 uniformed officers and others undercover monitored the protest. No one was arrested.
Here’s what Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson and one of the protestors had to say about the uneventful event.
Mayor Skip Henderson/Columbus
“That’s our favorite protest, right? Where they get an opportunity to engage in civil disobedience and it doesn’t damage any property and it doesn’t create any issues. But you never know. These were reportedly some of the same people who were coming from Atlanta that had created so many problems over the last couple of weeks. So, we were not going to be caught under prepared.
Liz Elliott/Protestor
“I think murder is wrong. And I think killing people for what they believe in and trying to be peaceful and trying to save a forest that is being illegally destroyed without any regard for zoning laws or the opinions of the community members is wrong. So, we are here to show we care about that.”
UPDATE 4:56 p.m.: Protestors left their position in the median on Broadway at about 4:45 pm.
No one appeared to be arrested. The protest appeared to go off peacefully.
15 minutes after protestors headed South on Broadway, Columbus police still had a heavy presence near the protest site.
UPDATE 3:49 p.m.: It’s been a peaceful community rally.
There are seven protestors in the median of Broadway and 13th St.
They are chanting “stop cop city.” They are flanked by a number of Columbus police officers.
Two protestors are beating on drums.
UPDATE 3:12 p.m.: Just after 3 p.m., about 50 Columbus police officers appeared on Broadway.
They came in the 1400 block by the YMCA and walked in two groups down Broadway. All of the officers appear to be wearing bulletproof vests and some are carrying bags.
The officers appear to be staging in a downtown building.
There’s still no sign of any protestors.
UPDATE 2:20 p.m.: At the intersection of 13th St. and Broadway, there is very little out of the normal activity taking place.
This is where a group of protesters is scheduled to gather in about an hour. There’s no sign of protesters and a little sign of law enforcement presence.
There are some subtle signs of the scheduled protest.
Brasfield & Gorrie, the construction company the protesters are targeting, has reduced work on its multi-use facility being built at this corner. Most of the Brasfield & Gorrie signs have been removed.
A sculpture in the 1400 block of Broadway that contains a number of rocks has been removed. What appears to be a city camera placement has been put on one of the traffic light poles at the 13th St. and Broadway intersection.
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — A downtown Columbus protest scheduled for Friday afternoon has drawn the attention of Columbus Police, Mayor Skip Henderson told WRBL.
A community rally is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at 1301 Broadway, according to a flyer that has been circulating online.
The flier states the group is protesting the death of activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán on Jan. 18 at a site for a proposed Atlanta police training center, known as “Cop City.”
“We are aware of the Columbus protest and are preparing a response,” Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson said Friday morning. “We will be there and make sure everyone is safe.”
That response will include multiple agencies, Henderson said.
The group protesting in Columbus has not received a city permit to protest, Henderson said.
Under city ordinance, protests with more than 15 people must be permitted.
“If the crowd gets larger than 15 people, we will disperse it,” Henderson said.
The Atlanta protests last weekend spilled into the streets of downtown Atlanta on Jan. 21. Six people were arrested during a Saturday protest in Atlanta. It turned destructive after activists set a police car on fire and vandalized multiple buildings.
According to the online flier, the target of the Columbus protest is a large Alabama-based construction company.
Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the United States’ largest privately held construction firms, providing general contracting, design-build, and construction management services for a wide variety of markets.
Brasfield & Gorrie has the contract to build the police training facility. The company’s Atlanta offices were targeted in May of last year, according to multiple reports.
The company has a Columbus presence and a Front Avenue office. Brasfield & Gorrie is currently finishing a multi-use complex called The Rapids on Front Avenue.
The protest is scheduled for 3:30 at Broadway and 13th Street near the Brasfield & Gorrie Columbus construction site.
In an online flier announcing a “Community Rally,” there was this statement: “Brasfield & Gorrie you have blood on your hands! Drop the contract with the Atlanta Police Foundation.”
WRBL has reached out to a Brasfield & Gorrie spokesman and is awaiting comment.
