Atlanta, GA
Atlanta City Council poised to approve training center funding
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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – On Monday, hundreds of people crowded into Atlanta City Hall to voice opposition to the funding of the controversial public safety training center ahead of the Council’s final vote.
357 seven people signed up to give public comment, a process that is expected to take at least 12 hours.
“I am done with the niceties. I do not need your cell phone number, I need y’all to listen, and the people in my community matt are staying stop Cop City,” said Shannon Cofrin Gaggero, during Monday’s public comment period.
The public funding is expected to pass despite the outcry on Monday against public funding.
Councilmember Keisha Sean Waites told Atlanta News First she believes four councilmembers will vote against the project, leaving 11 voting for the public funding.
Another council member also told Atlanta News First on background that they believe that the final vote will either be 11-4 or 10-5 in support of publicly funding the training facility.
On Monday, in a breakout interview during the public comment period, Councilmember Michael Julian Bond he will vote in support of it because he believes the obligation of new training facilities outweighs the opposition against the project.
Atlanta News First asked Council President Doug Shipman ahead of the public comment period if the Council had already made up its mind.
“I think a lot of their minds are made up, but I’m not going to comment specifically because I don’t want to be seen as putting my thumb on the scale,” said Shipman. “I’m there to make sure it runs smoothly and obviously break a tie if necessary.”
The City of Atlanta will be responsible for $67 million in taxpayer spending for the project, including $30 million in a one-time capital investment to the Atlanta Police Foundation for the ongoing development of the project.
In addition, the City will pay $1 million towards a new gymnasium on the site.
Also, the City will be on the hook for a lease-back agreement with the Police Foundation. The terms of that agreement are $1.2 million annually for the next 30 years.
The far majority of those who spoke to the council were opposed to public funding of the project.
“Instead make investments that are necessary to create truly public safety. Invest in affordable housing, invest in affordable healthcare,” said Gary Spencer with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
In addition to the 357 people who signed up, the Council passed a motion to allow those who were still waiting in line to sign up, but were unable to, to still be able to give comment after the initial comment period.
“We should have been prepared to accept the people today,” said Councilmember Andrea Boone, reacting to those initially turned away from being able to speak.
The Atlanta City Council is set to vote on whether or not to fund the public safety training center.
The outcries extended from inside City to outside in downtown Atlanta.
For hours on end, chanting could be heard in the streets of Atlanta outside City Hall.
“What good is it training if the police officer that you’re training is already a bad police officer on the street? Not all police officers are bad police officers but what we in the community want is for the bad officers to be off the street,” Opponent Queen K said.
Hundreds of people lined up outside Atlanta City Hall in hopes of getting inside for public comment. City Hall even changed its policy and would not allow gels or liquids inside out of an abundance of caution over explosives.
“There’s going to be officers who slip through the cracks and officers who get weak and have a moment of weakness and might lose their temper. That’s all improved by training,” Supporter Lou Arcangeli said.
“The police officer who murdered Rayshard Brooks had hours and hours of training, the police officers who shot Jamarion Robinson over 100 times had hours and hours of training and when we talk about bad apples, bad apples come from rotten trees. The whole institution is rotten to its core,” Opponent Mary Hooks said.
Amid everything happening outside, there was a large police presence, and everything remained peaceful.
“We’re spending millions on this that could be put into reimagining a way to do things besides beefing up force,” opponent Chad Hale said.
Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.

Atlanta, GA
Cartersville police thwart alleged Atlanta airport

Cartersville police say they moved quickly after learning that a local man was threatening to shoot up Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Atlanta police found 49-year-old Billy Cagle at the airport within about 20 minutes and took him into federal custody.
Posted
Atlanta, GA
Suspect seen setting fire to Atlanta daycare center

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Atlanta, GA
Police arrest man at Atlanta airport after getting tip he was planning to ‘shoot it up’

Police arrested a man at Atlanta’s bustling airport on Monday after getting a tip from his family that he was planning to shoot up the place – and found an assault rifle and ammunition in his truck outside, the city’s police chief said.
Billy Joe Cagle, of Cartersville, Georgia, had described his plan to shoot up the world’s busiest airport on a social media livestream, said Darin Schierbaum, the chief of police, during a news conference.
“The Cartersville police department was alerted by the family of Mr Cagle that he was streaming on social media that he was headed to the Atlanta airport, in their words, to ‘shoot it up,’ and the family stated that he was in possession of an assault rifle,” Schierbaum said.
Cagle, 49, arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport in a Chevrolet pickup truck that was parked right outside the doors to the airport terminal. When police went to the vehicle, they found an AR-15 with 27 rounds of ammunition, Schierbaum said.
“We’re here today briefing you on a success and not a tragedy because a family saw something and said something,” the chief said.
Greg Sparacio, the Cartersville police captain whose department received the initial tip from family members, said Cagle “had the intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could”.
During the news conference, police showed surveillance video that shows Cagle arriving at the airport and officers’ body-worn camera video of his arrest.
A Chevrolet flatbed pickup truck is seen arriving curbside at the airport terminal around 9.30am, and then a man police identified as Cagle is seen entering the airport a few minutes later. He walks over to the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint and had “high interest in that area”, Schierbaum said.
Body-camera footage shows Atlanta police officers, who had a photo of Cagle provided by his family on their phones, approach him and start asking him questions before taking him into custody. As they take him to the ground and put handcuffs on him, Cagle can be heard yelling.
Cagle has been charged with making terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, Schierbaum said.
Cagle was booked into the Clayton county detention facility on Monday evening, according to online jail records. Attempts to reach his family and co-workers through multiple phone numbers and emails were unsuccessful. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could comment on the charges.
Nick Roberts, who has known Cagle since high school, texted his friend Sunday night after being concerned by Facebook posts he had made. He said Cagle was struggling with mental health issues. Cagle had posted on Facebook earlier Sunday that he is schizophrenic and was taking medication.
Roberts said Cagle called him at about 9pm Sunday night and assured him he was OK. Roberts said Cagle loved his two daughters and worked hard hauling hay and doing fencing work.
“I want folks to know that he wasn’t some monster,” Roberts said. “This was a very big surprise for a lot of us that went to high school with him and know him in the community.”
Atlanta police will work with federal authorities to determine how he obtained the gun, “which he was not able to legally possess”, Schierbaum said.
Andre Dickens, the mayor of Atlanta, said “we’re thankful to God” that a tragedy was averted.
“We’re thankful to God and to good information, and good intel, and good people for this crisis being averted,” Dickens said.
Kristi Noem, the US homeland security secretary, said in a post on the social platform X: “I am thankful this individual was taken into custody by law enforcement before harming anyone.”
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