Valerie Lans Anderson testified before the Atlanta City Council on September 16th. “My son, Devon Anderson, was murdered by a police officer, Melvin Potter,” Anderson said. On August 5th, 2024, Devon was shot three times by Potter, an off-duty Atlanta Police Department officer in the city of Fulton. The officer, who also has been hit with a prior DUI conviction, has not been discharged from duty. He has yet to be arrested or charged in connection with Anderson’s shooting. 

“You took a job to protect and serve. Not to murder,” Anderson said. A City Department of Law representative responded that the incident was under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and that it took place outside the City of Atlanta’s jurisdiction. The question remained for Anderson, “Why is Melvin Potter not in jail?” 

Outside the inner chambers, a chant was carried by Stop Cop City activists and organizers in Atlanta. “Say his name! Devon Anderson!” The building reverberated with Anderson’s name as people pounded on railings and stomped their feet. Kimo Buchanan, Devon Anderson’s older brother, stood outside the city hall with a poster. On it, pictures of Melvin Potter’s face were surrounded by the handwritten word “Murderer.”

Buchanan heard Devon’s name and saw chant leaders thrown out of city hall by officers. “When I heard them screaming his name inside the city hall,” Buchanan said, “that kind of touched my spirit.” He protested at City Hall for the whole council meeting, along with Cop City Vote activists.

The People’s Campaign to Stop Cop City organized the protest at City Hall to mark the one-year anniversary of the ballot referendum campaign. Throughout the summer of 2023, the campaign collected 116,000 signatures to put the proposed police training center, “Cop City,” on the ballot. A year later, the signatures were not processed, the construction of the training center was underway, and Mayor Andre Dickens appealed to halt the referendum. Atlantans signed up to give public comments, mainly to demand the signatures be verified and Cop City be put to a vote.

The last speaker was Devin Barrington Ward.

Ward is the candidate for the Cop City Vote referendum campaign for city council.

“Democracy is not just a process. It’s a promise,” Ward said in his protestation to the city council. “ It’s a love letter to the people of the city of Atlanta. It’s a promise that the voices of the people will be heard. It’s not just about votes. It’s about power. The power that belongs to the people, not this body.”

Buchanan chose not to speak before the city council for fear of becoming overwrought with emotion but said he and his mother would continue to fight. “We have to make our voice heard because God gave us an instrument, and that instrument is our voice.” Buchanan said the former officer walked free because the police are “Just a big gang; all of them protect each other.” He showed up at City Hall to inform the police “That the people is [sic] the one in charge. The people is the one who deserve answers.” 

Ward finished speaking, and activists in green shirts that read, “The People Will Decide; Stop Cop City” stood up. They threw multiple bags of ping pong balls in the council chambers and chanted, “You Dropped the Ball.”

The chanting continued outside City Hall, where Mary Hooks, tactical lead for Cop City vote, spoke to the assemblage. “Andre Dickens and city council have dropped the ball on democracy,” Hooks said. “We still got smoke. We still got fight in us. They have hurt our comrades. They have incarcerated our comrades. They’ve broken into people’s housing.” 

Earlier in the year, APD SWAT forces raided the home of Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF) organizers and charged them with 15 counts of money laundering. The Georgia Deputy Attorney General dropped these charges in a hearing on September 18th. The Cop City referendum called this a “major victory in the ongoing fight against the political repression of forest defenders and activists.” Members of the movement to Stop Cop City continue to face Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges, including the ASF.

Ward promised that resistance would continue. “The people of Atlanta have spoken. And if you refuse to listen to them, you’ve made a mistake,” He said.  “A mistake that people will remember in 2025 when it’s time to organize, when it’s time to resist, and when it’s time to win.”

At the end of public comment, Anderson stood outside city hall with her family, the crowd chanting “Stop Cop City” behind her. “I’m going to seek justice for my son,” Anderson said. She held Devon’s picture aloft. “For however long it takes.”