Protesters shout down Atlanta mayor at SXSW

At South by Southwest on Monday, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens was forced to leave a panel discussion at the Hilton hotel as a group of protesters shouted at him and unfurled a banner decrying the building of “Cop City,” a huge police training facility. Protesters accuse Dickens of being aligned with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who supports building the facility. The facility is planned for a large forest in South Atlanta, which protesters point out hosts a great deal of biodiversity and serves to prevent flooding. If built, the facility will provide a space for police to practice urban warfare tactics. Protesters have been trying to stop construction of the training center for more than two years. Dickens tried to explain his position during the panel discussion but was shouted down by protesters. Eventually, Dickens, along with the other panelists – Christian Menefee, county attorney for Harris County, Texas; Tishaura Jones, mayor of St. Louis; and Aftab Pureval, mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, stepped off the stage. The protesters were escorted from the room and Dickens left. The three remaining panelists returned to take questions from the audience about the difficulties faced by local elected officials when dealing with governors and legislators on the other side of the political aisle. Menefee responded to a question about how to get people to vote. He noted that because of gerrymandering, many elections are decided in the primary, discouraging people from voting in the November elections. He said it was very important to appeal to people on the issues that they care about, so they may go to vote for a sheriff candidate, for example, or for the county attorney. Menefee concluded, “We need nonpartisan redistricting commissions all across the country.”