3-1-24
LINK: https://lawenforcementtoday.com/op-ed-make-atlantas-cop-city-the-first-of-many
Op-Ed: Make Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ the first of many – it’s time to save America
By VFAF Ambassador Joe Diamond
Last weekend, while patriots met at CPAC, some of America’s most radical cop haters held their own gathering, a “Nationwide Summit to Stop Cop City.” “Cop City” is the far left’s derisive name for Atlanta’s new Public Safety Training Center for police and firefighters, now under construction. Patriots should embrace the slur as a badge of honor.
The project has energized opposition from cop haters from across the country, much of it violent. It even has an international “martyr,” Manuel “Tortuguita” (Spanish for little turtle) Teran, a Venezuelan “eco-anarchist” who died last year in a shoot-out with Georgia State Patrol Troopers.
Teran, a disturbed young man who used they/them pronouns, saw himself as a “defender of the forest,” in this case the unused patch of land where Cop City is being built. His diary radiated love and goodwill towards law enforcement, filled with such phrases as “Prisons were built to be burnt down,” “Cop cars love being on fire,” and “Kill cops.”
One of his fellow forest defenders told reporters that Teran was “undocumented and didn’t want to get arrested.” It’s another feather in the cap of Joe Biden’s open border policy.
On the upside, Cop City has inspired similar training centers in other American cities, including Baltimore and Nashville, underscoring the importance of such initiatives in enhancing public safety.
As America spins further into free fall under Biden, we’ve become increasingly vulnerable to threats both foreign and domestic. President Trump and the America First Movement know that effective policing will play a key role in saving America, securing our borders, and restoring the rule of law. We need more cops, not less. And we need stronger policing, not weaker.
The lawless left has a different plan for cops: Abolish them where possible, and when that’s not an option, deprive them of the funds, training, equipment and authority that they need to do their job. The battle against Cop City is part of the larger war on cops and the rule of law.
Patriots must win this war and safeguard the President’s vision for law enforcement.
Policing and the Movement
Like a large growing family, the America First Movement has distinct but overlapping branches, all dedicated to the proposition so perfectly spelled out in the Constitution’s Preamble:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.”
Our great patriotic family includes the military and veterans community, active-duty and retired law enforcement, and of course, America’s iron backbone of law-abiding civilians, many of whom proudly carry the torch of the Second Amendment.
America First understands that our continued existence as a nation depends on all patriotic groups working together and blending seamlessly in a whole, like instruments in an orchestra.
President Trump’s recent speech at the 2024 NRA Presidential Forum exemplified this unity.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a leader who embodies the American spirit like President Trump,” said NRA Board member Niger Innis. “By the sheer force of his personality, he animates the America First Movement and draws ever closer together the patriotic civilians, military, and law enforcement communities at its heart.”
“Trump’s growing appeal across ethnic and political lines is also historic,” adds Innis. “We’re at a time when law enforcement is under siege from the defund movement, and decent citizens are under siege from radical left-wing DAs that promote no-cash bail and decriminalization of crime in big cities. It’s no surprise that polls reveal Trump is currently making historic inroads in black and brown communities. And actually winning the Latino vote.”
Cop City as a Rallying Point
Cop City will feature an 85-acre cutting-edge facility, including: a lab for developing innovative technologies, a mock streetscape to simulate crisis situations, an emergency vehicle course to train first responders in safe driving techniques, a training fire station, and a leadership institute offering the latest advancements in law enforcement management. Far from creating the “militarized” police of the cop haters’ fever dreams, Cop City will teach harm reduction and de-escalation techniques that reduce the use of force when possible.
Despite strong public support, Cop City has become a flashpoint in the growing conflict between law enforcement and the lawless left. Originally estimated at $90 million, numerous violent protests have increased its cost by nearly $20 million.
Projects like Cop City are vital to rapidly preparing a new generation of law enforcement to join the front ranks of President Trump’s movement to save America. Cop City represents a crucial step in strengthening policing and upholding our America First principles. It stands as a beacon of our commitment to the rule of law, amidst the growing threats to the survival of our communities. We urge all patriots to stand firm behind initiatives like Cop City.
Joe Diamond produces WABC Radio’s “Cop Talk” podcast. He serves as a Veterans for America First (AKA Veterans for Trump) Ambassador.
