EXCERPT:
HAYES: "Now, the context here is important, right? This comes in this broader context of a national conversation about violence and policing over the past few years, right? In 2020, we watched civil rights protests, perhaps the largest in American history, spread across the country after the videotaped police killing of George Floyd. That same year, the rate of violent crime began to spike, with a murder rate jumping up nearly 30%. Now, however, after the plans for Cop City have been initiated, it seems the spike in violence may have had a lot more to do with the massive disruption of all aspects of social life of the pandemic and its aftermath. Violent crime is rapidly on the decline now. Look at this headline. It’s a great, encouraging headline. In Atlanta, the city this is being done, homicides are down more than 50% so far this year. I think it’s fair to say that it’s just not clear if a $90 million police training facility is the wisest use of Atlanta’s taxpayer dollars, even from a public safety perspective, given that headline. Despite the overwhelming vote with the city council, opponents of Cop City are not giving up yet. Today, activists announced a plan to force a referendum vote on the project. And I’ll say this: If the people who are so dead set on this project really think it’s great on the merits, I would imagine they would welcome a citywide referendum to make their case and give it a real mandate. So, Atlantans may actually get a say after all."