Atlanta police surveil people opposing 'Cop City': 'There's this constant stalking feeling'

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/29/atlanta-police-cop-city-surveillance

Atlanta police surveil people opposing ‘Cop City’: ‘There’s this constant stalking feeling’

Residents wonder what legal protections are available as police monitor them at all hours, blaring sirens and shining lights

Timothy Pratt
Wed 29 May 2024 07.00 EDT

Atlanta police have been carrying out around-the-clock surveillance in several neighborhoods for months, on people and houses linked to opposition against the police training center colloquially known as “Cop City”.

The surveillance in Georgia has included following people in cars, blasting sirens outside bedroom windows and shining headlights into houses at night, the Guardian has learned.

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Police have since established themselves in four neighborhoods, centering on about 12 houses – including those that were previously raided – with marked and unmarked cars parking near them, driving slowly by and leaving when approached by residents.

Social movement historian Dan Berger said this low-tech type of surveillance and related behavior – blasting sirens and flashing lights, following people – has precedence dating at least to the civil rights era. He called the actions “naked intimidation with plausible deniability attached to it”.

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