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Atlanta

Georgia’s Repressive Tactics Unravel In ‘Stop Cop City’ Case

Atlanta, GA – In a surprising but significant turn of events, on September 24, Georgia prosecutors have dropped all 15 counts of money laundering against three prominent activists involved in the “Stop Cop City” movement. These activists – Marlon Kautz, Adele MacLean and Savannah Patterson – are leaders of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF), a bail fund that has supported protesters opposing the construction of a controversial police training facility in Atlanta. While the trio still faces racketeering charges, the dismissal of the money laundering allegations nevertheless marks a victory against state repression and exposes the cracks in the state's legal strategy.

Georgia Drops Money Laundering Charges In Cop City RICO Prosecution

Atlanta, GA — Money laundering charges against three Atlanta Solidarity Fund defendants, who are among the 61 people indicted in a sprawling conspiracy lawsuit against Cop City protesters, have been dropped as of Tuesday. Last year Marlon Kautz, Adele Maclean and Savannah Patterson were indicted as part of Georgia’s wide-reaching Racketeering Influenced Criminal Organization, or RICO, case that the state filed against opponents of the multi-million dollar police training compound known as Cop City. The three organizers were arrested and charged during a raid on their home by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Atlanta Police Department in May last year.

Atlanta Activists Protest Trump/Vance Campaign Event

Atlanta, GA – On August 3, a coalition of local activists and community members gathered at Georgia State Convocation Center to protest a high-profile rally for former President Donald Trump and Republican Senator JD Vance. The demonstration, organized by the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America, was called in response to the extreme right-wing agenda promoted by Trump, Vance and the Republican Party as a whole. The protesters gathered directly outside the venue, facing off the thousands of MAGA supporters from around the Southeast, as evidenced by the number of people with wearing LSU and Alabama caps, who were unable to secure a spot inside.

The Transformative Power Of Urban Recipe’s Food Co-Op Model

It is 10 a.m. on a Monday morning, and the warehouse at 970 Jefferson Street in Atlanta is humming with activity. A forklift loads a pallet of cereal boxes. Two men are setting up a line of folding tables. Several people casually sort a box of bananas into grocery bags. Fog escapes from a walk-in freezer as someone rolls a dolly filled with boxes toward the line of tables. Five or six people walk in from the bus stop with rolling grocery carts. In the center of the bustling warehouse, JoAnn Crowder stands behind a desk with her clipboard, quietly orchestrating the hustle. For the last 24 years, JoAnn has spent almost every other Monday morning here.

The Goal Is To Attack A Movement

The Georgia Attorney General’s office appears to have made a major blunder in the ongoing prosecution of 61 Stop Cop City activists—one that could potentially cost the state its case altogether. According to a motion filed by attorneys for three defendants who run the nonprofit Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF), Georgia Deputy Attorney General John Fowler’s prosecutorial team has extensively and brazenly violated multiple defendants’ right to attorney-client privilege. This motion is just the most recent episode in the RICO case that has been denounced by activists and legal experts as a political prosecution intended to punish and intimidate those in the Stop Cop City movement.

Morehouse Students Show Solidarity With Gaza During Biden Speech

Advisers for U.S. President Biden reportedly saw Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta where he gave the commencement address Sunday, as a school where the president was unlikely to face protests over his continued support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has been the subject of mass demonstrations led by students at universities across the country over the past month. But students and faculty made clear at the ceremony that many of them, like others in higher education, are intent on sending Biden a strong message of disapproval over his Israel policy. A number of faculty members and students wore keffiyehs, the traditional scarves worn in parts of the Middle East including Palestine, and by some supporters of Palestinian rights to show solidarity with civilians in Gaza.

Morehouse Will Stop Commencement If Students Protest Biden Speech

When President Joe Biden gives the commencement speech at Morehouse College this weekend, it might be a short one. Administrators at the historically black college have warned the event will be stopped if there are protests over Gaza. When President Joe Biden gives the commencement speech at Morehouse College this weekend, it might be a short one. Administrators at the historically black college have warned students that the event will be stopped if any “disruptive” behavior occurs. Recent events suggest that there’s a good chance we’ll see some, as community members have consistently protested the administration’s support for Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza.

Emory Faculty Prepares ‘No Confidence’ Vote For University President

Atlanta - Last Thursday, April 25, Emory students and faculty, AUCC students, and other community members from Atlanta arrived on Emory’s quad to establish a Gaza Solidarity and Stop Cop City encampment. Protesters are demanding that Emory University immediately divest from Israeli and “Cop City,” the $109 million police militarization facility being built in Weelaunee Forest in unincorporated DeKalb County. Almost immediately, Emory University President Gregory Fenves called the police to repress the protests. The Emory police, Atlanta Police Department, and Georgia State Patrol were all present.

‘I Was Arrested For Trespassing On My Own Campus’

In recent days, we’ve seen police sweep multiple Gaza solidarity encampments. One of the most violent crackdowns occurred at Emory University in Atlanta, where state and local police swooped in hours after the tents had been erected, arresting almost 30 people while using tear gas and rubber bullets. Students have been protesting Israel’s war on Gaza, the school’s connection to the carnage, and Atlanta’s planned police training center Cop City. “This local resistance is a vivid tableau of a global struggle for liberation. At its core, the fight against Cop City is interconnected with global movements against oppressive state practices, most notably the Palestinian struggle for liberation from illegal occupation, apartheid, and systemic violence,” said student organizers in a statement shortly before the crackdown.

We’re Occupying Emory University To Demand Divestment From Israel

In Gaza and the West Bank, over 34,000 Palestinians have been murdered since the siege began on October 7, 2023. For over 75 years, the Palestinian people have been subjected to the illegal Zionist settler colonialism and white supremacy funded by Western Powers. The violence of the Israeli regime goes beyond denying Palestinian livelihood, making it its mission to sever Palestinians from their communities, land, and history. Halfway across the world, in the heart of Atlanta, a battle rages against the encroachment of Cop City, a sprawling police training facility slated to be erected in the Weelaunee Forest.

The New Modern Day Militarized Fort!

This week represents the first year anniversary of the State’s attack and arrest of Amin Chaoui and others who were challenging its attempt to build another kop city, this time within the Atlanta, Georgia, area. It's important to look at the creation of kop city within the larger context of State repression and the creation of an expanded police State of hyper surveillance, pushing ever greater intrusion into the private lives of the people. The repressive State relies upon the use of poor or working class folks to police and dominate other poor, oppressed and marginalized folks.

UPS To Close 200 Hubs, Cut Teamster Jobs

Atlanta, GA – United Parcel Service (UPS) announced on March 26 that the company plans to close up to 200 UPS hubs and automate sorting at the remaining hubs within the next five years. The plan is part of a broader initiative by UPS called “Network of the Future” which looks to automate union jobs with a goal of saving the company $3 billion in labor costs by 2028. UPS made $6.7 billion in profit last year and UPS CEO Carol Tomé took home $23.4 million in total compensation. The plan was announced at the UPS investor and analyst conference held at Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky.

Black Women Blast Atlanta City Hall; Demand Stop To Cop City Buildout

Atlanta, Georgia - A collective of Black Women of the Movement for Black Lives dropped a 30-foot banner under the atrium of City Hall and demanded Mayor Andre Dickens allow Atlanta residents to vote on whether or not construction of Cop City should proceed in DeKalb County. Outside Atlanta City Hall they displayed banners sewn with samples of over one hundred thousand petitions of Atlanta area residents opposed to Cop City. Several city employees watched the demonstration inside City Hall as the women chanted “Stop Cop City!” and “Black Women Oppose Cop City!”

Phony Fani Willis, Misguided Support, And The Atlanta Plantation

It is interesting that the scoundrels who happen to be Black know how to deflect from their misdeeds and get undeserved support from their people. The less any solidarity is deserved, the more blatant the effort to use Black trauma as a get out of jail free card. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivered quite a performance during his 1991 confirmation hearings. He defended himself against charges of sexual harassment by referring to his experience as a “hight tech lynching,” and in doing so he immediately won the support of many Black people who should have known better than to give him any credence for any reason whatsoever.

Free Palestine; Stop Cop City

In South Dekalb County, Georgia, the South River forest forms a canopy so lush and life-giving that it is referred to as one of the “four lungs of Atlanta.” This sprawl of green space was known as “Welaunee” by the native Muscogee people, who were forcibly displaced in the 1830’s. Swaths of Welaunee Forest were settled and cleared to make way for a cotton plantation. This history encapsulates the twinned imperatives of the American colonial project: the displacement and genocide of indigenous populations and the stolen labor of enslaved Africans. Today, the Welaunee forest is once again imperiled.
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