ATLANTA — City of Atlanta officials announced Thursday that a man has been arrested for an arson attack in protest of the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, known as "Cop City" to opponents of the project.
During a press conference, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, joined by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta Fire Rescue Chief Roderick Smith, confirmed that 30-year-old John Mazurek was taken into custody early Thursday morning at a home in Atlanta.
He is charged with one count of first-degree arson.
Police say Mazurek was charged in connection to a July 2023 arson where eight police motorcycles were destroyed with incendiary devices at a southside APD precinct.
Schierbuam also confirmed that an Atlanta police officer was inside the precinct at the time of the arson attack.
"These people are threatening members of the Atlanta city council, threatening county commissioners, city employees and employees of private businesses and their families," he said. "They do not want Atlantans to have safety. They do not want Atlantans to feel that safety."
Schierbaum added that this one of nearly 30 arsons connected to protests against the public safety training center, noting that the investigation is "very active."
The reward to assist with identifying additional arson suspects was recently increased to up to $200,000. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-557-8477.
Background on the case
Those opposed to the training center have protested and organized against it for roughly two years. A RICO indictment brought by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has charged over 60 people for their involvement with the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” movement, though what level of organization — if any — that might exist between various factions of activists under this umbrella is not clear.
The protest movement mushroomed following the Jan. 2023 law enforcement shooting death of Manuel Teran, known as Tortuguita, during a clearing operation of the forest encampments where protesters first started opposing the training center's construction.
The elements of the opposition movement against the center have included lawsuits to halt its construction, a referendum drive to put the facility's funding on the ballot in Atlanta, marches and protest actions such as the one Monday morning, and more radical elements of the movement that allegedly have vandalized the construction site and set arson fires targeting companies tied to the center.
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