Report back on recent protests at Georgia Tech against Cop City in Atlanta, Georgia.
On April 24th, demonstrations took place at Emory University, Georgia Tech, Agnes Scott College, Clark Atlanta, Spelman, and Morehouse.
At Georgia Tech, a few dozen of us gathered on Tech Green, an open green space located on campus. A graduate student hosted one of their classes on the Green while we set up tents and gazebos. For several hours, we distributed literature about the movement to defend the Weelaunee forest and to stop Cop City. We also distributed a zine about the 2017 murder of queer anarchist and Pride Alliance student Scout Schultz by GTPD officer Tyler Beck, and the subsequent revolt on campus in the wake of the killing.
Around 5pm, 30 of us marched around the student center chanting, “Stop Cop City!,” and “If you build it, we will burn it!,” as well as other unique slogans such as, “Listen up Georgia Tech/Cop City must be wrecked!” The atmosphere was convivial and while nearly all of us were students or alum, we were happy to see a few non-students attend the events. Georgia Tech is not only a university, it is also an arms manufacturer and a real estate speculator. Thus, non-students have every right to take place in on-campus movements. There are no “outside agitators” in this movement.
Campus police positioned themselves outside of every single building we passed, fearing we would enter them and disrupt the economic racket they uphold.
Upon returning to the Green, we erected several tents and began a movie. Throughout the night, police attempted to intimidate us, but we held out strong. We hear that our fellow travelers at Emory did not fair as well, and were encircled by dozens of APD cruisers at 3am.
The struggle against Cop City will not be stopped by the repression, the ongoing clear-cutting of Weelaunee, or the ruthless murder of Tortuguita by Georgia State Patrol. The Dickens government continues to spin confusing narratives and outright lies to dissuade the public from taking bold action to oppose his fascistic plans.
If we cannot establish public spaces on campus to organize and talk, we will be forced to escalate.
To everyone reading this, to students everywhere: don’t stop, spread the resistance.
“Wait-and-see” — a mentality to be avoided at all costs.
Originally posted to Scenes from the Atlanta Forest.