Does the city of Atlanta really know Mayor Andre Dickens?

Dickens allgedly has online Instagram exchange with opponent of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center [aka Cop City] declaring the city knows him)

For the past couple of years there has been a public war within the city of Atlanta about the establishment of a public safety training center that has grown to become known as “Cop City.”

With so much negative publicity surrounding police officers throughout the country and here in metro Atlanta involving police brutality, harassment, racism and more. Understandably, there has been so much drawback from opponents.

Opponents argue that Andre Mayor Dickens did not seek the approval of the local community to build the training grounds. The destruction of the local forest to build the training grounds is a perfect example of environmental racism.

Along with those drawback there has been a number of protests, destruction and vandalism of the training grounds, but is the violent resistance of the training grounds really helping the argument of the opponents? Some say that their actions are proving why such a training grounds is needed, to help prepare and properly train law enforcement for such activities.

It has been a year since opponents of Cop City had managed to organize and collect over 100,000 signatures demanding a referendum to allow the public decide if the training grounds should be built, not just the city council. But yet, the Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta City Council has not taken the time to sit and speak with opponents about their concern nor the support of over 100,000 supporters of referendum.

Actress and Macon based supporter of the referendum, Hannah Kasulka, posted on Instagram about the one year anniversary of collecting over 100,000 signatures. She also tagged Mayor Andre Dickens and he allegedly responded with:

“Girl, go take another selfie! Hahahaha! You don’t know Atlanta. You know social media and lies. And anyone,I mean literally anyone that actually knows me know that I don’t care about money. I’m a real Atlanta born and raised kid by Atlanta Public Schools and Atlanta Parks and Recreation and Atlanta Black churches. You can take that crazy talk to someone else that’s scared of non-Atlantas typing angrily in computers. But I know real ATL.”

Surprised that Dickens allegedly responded to her Instagram post being that he has not responded to their protest and acquiring over 100,000 signatures. Kasulka took a screenshot of Dickens’s exchange and contacted us here at the A.T.L. sharing her concern.

We tried reaching out to the Mayor’s office over the weekend to seek verification that Dickens sent Kasulka the IG message, but we have not heard anything.

So that brings us to ask if the city really knows Dickens? The city government is led by one of Atlanta’s very own, but does he know the city? If he did, do you think he would take the time to listen to his constituents and come up with a plan that would please both sides? If he did, do you think he would take the 100,000 signatures and verify them to determine if a referendum is really needed?

If he did, would he be leading a divided city that he claims to love and would do anything for?

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