In Georgia, protesters interrupted Atlanta’s City Council meeting on Monday to demand a public referendum on the massive, 85-acre police training complex known as “Cop City.” Monday’s protest came one year after the Vote to Stop Cop City Coalition in Atlanta submitted more than 116,000 signatures calling for a ballot measure on the fate of Cop City, the estimated budget of which has ballooned to $110 million. Atlanta officials led by Mayor Andre Dickens have so far committed $67 million in public funds to the project while racking up outside legal fees in a bid to keep a referendum off November’s ballot. On Monday, protesters released thousands of ping-pong balls into Atlanta City Council chambers and unfurled a banner reading “Andre Dickens, you dropped the ball on democracy.” This is Pastor Keyanna Jones Moore, speaking during a public comment ahead of the protest.

Rev. Keyanna Jones Moore: “If you’re so confident in what you have to offer, then give people a choice. Andre Dickens constantly says that this project has overwhelming support. Well, all right, then, Andre, why you working so hard to keep people from voting? Because 116,000 people, whether they want Cop City or not, believe that people should be able to vote on the issue.”