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Cop City

Voices On The Frontlines Of The Fight To Stop Cop City

March 6, 2023 IGD Worldwide, It's Going Down. , , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia - “A massive victory,” is how one participant, “Jean,” who spoke to It’s Going Down in a recent interview, described this weekend’s mobilization against “Cop City” in Atlanta. The movement is currently at a high-point, following an outpouring of support and rage over the brutal murder of Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran, an anarchist and forest defender, who was shot and killed by law enforcement during a raid on tree-sits and protest encampments on January 18th. Statements of solidarity and support have come in from across the Left and the environmental movement, spanning from the Sierra Club and 350.org, to grassroots collectives and organizations all over the US and the world.

‘Stop Cop City’ Week Of Action Begins In Atlanta

March 5, 2023 Unicorn Riot. , , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia – Atlanta-area forest defenders, community activists and their allies from around the country and the world are initiating a ‘week of action’ against a proposed ‘Cop City’ urban warfare campus and a movie industry facility that would demolish much of the largest urban forest in the country. The upcoming week of protests and direct actions comes less than two months after Georgia State Patrol shot and killed Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Terán in suspicious circumstances at a defense encampment near the proposed site on January 18, 2023. The week of action is kicking off with a rally at Gresham Park, with a music festival scheduled for the rest of the weekend.

Cities Across The Us Take Part In ‘Week Of Action’ Against Cop City

March 4, 2023 IGD Worldwide, It's Going Down. , ,
Over the past week, dozens of cities across the so-called US took part in the recent week of action in solidarity with Tortuguita and the ongoing struggle to stop Cop City and defend the Weelaunee Forest. This out-pouring of solidarity has been amazing to see, both from the wider autonomous movement and even mainstream environmental and Left groups. Many towns organized small events, including nights of writing letters to those facing charges, benefit shows, and informational teach-ins and film showings on the struggle itself. Other cities organized mass marches and protests, bringing attention to the various corporations and banks that are currently funding the Cop City project and demanding that they drop their contracts.

Atlanta Activists Say Prosecutors Plan To Indict Them On RICO Charges

February 27, 2023 Ryan Fatica, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia – Community organizations involved in the ongoing campaign to defend the South River Forest outside Atlanta, Georgia and ‘Stop Cop City’ say state prosecutors are planning on releasing indictments in the coming weeks charging them as a “criminal organization” under RICO statutes. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, targets organized criminal enterprises and was created in the 1970s to more effectively prosecute the mafia. Since then, RICO statutes have been used against participants in the 2019 college admissions scandal, anti-abortion groups, insider traders, and now, environmental and climate justice activists.

There Is No Cop City In The Beloved Community

February 25, 2023 Jasmine Gurley, Morehouse College Faculty. , , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia - As members of the Morehouse College faculty, we have grown accustomed to consoling and counseling our students as they attempt to grapple with cycles of police brutality. Year after year, as Black people continue to be abused and killed at the hands of the police, jailed and surveilled in barbaric ways, we struggle to make sense of it all. We struggle to help our students determine where we go from here. But events that have transpired in Atlanta in recent months—specifically, the City’s initiative to build a $90 million police training facility, commonly known as “Cop City”—give us a clear indication of where we need to direct our energies.

Forest Defenders Vow Resistance After Court Okays Phase I Of ‘Cop City’

February 24, 2023 Candice Bernd, Truthout. , , ,
Georgia - The Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, issued an order last week denying three plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order to halt clearing and construction work at the forested site of a planned police training facility that activists in Atlanta have dubbed “Cop City.” The ruling paves the way for construction activity even as the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals considers the merits of the plaintiffs’ legal appeal of the project’s land disturbance permit. The 85-acre, $90 million police militarization and training complex is being spearheaded by the Atlanta Police Foundation.

As Pressure Mounts Against Cop City, Mass Mobilization On March 4-11

February 17, 2023 Defend The Atlanta Forest. , , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia - Nearly two years after the beginning of the movement to Defend the Atlanta Forest, Georgia State Patrol officers murdered an activist found alone in the forest. Repressive forces continue their legacy of attacking civil rights protesters in Atlanta, supposedly “The City Too Busy to Hate.” The people of Atlanta have had enough. We will no longer accept “The Atlanta Way,” the backroom deals made between corporations and those in city government who pledge to support their constituents. Atlanta is not for sale. We are fighting against corruption and tyranny, we are fighting to defend public space and the right to protest.

Building The Movement To Stop Cop City: Three Theories Of Victory

February 12, 2023 Unity and Struggle, It's Going Down. , , , ,
The struggle in Atlanta’s Weelaunee forest and against Cop City has been waged on many fronts: treesits, rallies, community meetings, targeted property destruction, lawsuits. Recently, police attacks and the assassination of Tortuguita dealt many of us a devastating blow. But the choice by Mayor Dickens to continue with Cop City in the face of mounting nationwide opposition also poses risks for the Atlanta ruling class. If we size up our enemy’s vulnerabilities, and strike effectively, we can win. For the last two years, a diverse movement has defended the last forested land in metro Atlanta and prevented the construction of “Cop City,” a massive police training complex slated to be built in a Black working class area of Dekalb county.

‘Cop City’ Opposition Spreads Beyond Georgia Forest Defenders

February 9, 2023 Timothy Pratt,The Guardian. , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia - The headlines surrounding the “Cop City” project in Atlanta have focused on the death of Manuel Paez Terán, a 26-year-old killed when police fired at least 12 shots during a raid on the forest where the eco-activist, who went by Tortuguita, and others had been camped out, seeking to stop the building of a police and fire department training center. But in fact the movement opposed to the center – planned for the South River forest in an area south-east of the Georgia city – has drawn attention and concern from a broad range of local and national US voices who worry about the social and environmental impact of the huge complex. Two editorials on the $90m, 85-acre project, called “Cop City” by activists, recently appeared in the New York Times, both calling attention to flaws in the democratic process that led Atlanta city council to approve the training center in late 2021.

Training Center Permit Challenged By Its Own Review Committee Member

February 7, 2023 John Ruch, Saporta Report. , , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia - The Atlanta public safety training center’s land disturbance permit (LDP) is being challenged by a member of the project’s own review committee, and another member has resigned in outrage over the police killing of a protester at the site. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond just days ago publicly praised the project’s Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee (CSAC) as ensuring ongoing citizen input into the controversial plan, with Thurmond claiming it was “speaking truth to power.” Neither said that one citizen had already quit and they did not see the other member’s rebuke coming in the form of an appeal. CSAC member Amy Taylor filed an appeal on Feb. 6 with the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA). The appeal claims the County improperly issued the LDP because the project would violate a state limit on sediment runoff and because its lease gives an inaccurately large number for the amount of green space set aside.

City Of Atlanta And DeKalb County Announce ‘Agreement’

February 4, 2023 Ryan Fatica, Toward Freedom. , , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia - Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced Tuesday that the City of Atlanta and DeKalb County have reached an agreement regarding permitting issues that had previously slowed their plans to build an elaborate 85-acre police training facility in the middle of a forest in unincorporated DeKalb County, southeast of Atlanta. The training center, nicknamed “Cop City,” has sparked massive opposition; violent police repression of the movement against the project recently led to SWAT officers shooting and killing a protester. Dickens’ announcement varied little from the Atlanta Police Foundation and the City of Atlanta’s previously stated plans. However, apparently responding to criticism from environmental groups and community members, the mayor attempted to reframe the project as environmentally beneficial to the South River watershed and surrounding forest.

1,300 Groups Demand Atlanta Mayor Resign Over Tortuguita’s Death

February 1, 2023 Sharon Zhang, Truthout. , , , ,
Over 1,300 climate, justice and community groups are calling for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to resign over the police killing of anti-“Cop City” activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán on January 18, issuing a strong rebuke to Dickens for his refusal to even condemn the killing. In their letter, the groups said that Dickens has stood firmly on the side of law enforcement as Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has sent in the National Guard to crack down on protests in a continued escalation of the violence and threats of violence against protesters. “Mayor Dickens has stood by as police violence and rhetoric towards protestors has steadily ratcheted up, including the use of chemical agents and militarized raids on small groups of protestors engaged in civil disobedience,” the letter reads. “Less than a month ago, Atlanta City Council members and activists rang the alarm about the dangers of escalated police violence after an aggressive raid on peaceful protestors on December 13th.

In Standoff Over Cop City, Police Are The Real Terrorists

January 29, 2023 James Dennis Hoff, Left Voice. , , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia - The ongoing protests against the construction of a police training center in the Weelaunee Forest in Atlanta, Georgia are a testament to the spirit of resistance that was ignited by the Black Lives Matter movement and the George Floyd Protests of 2020. For two years, brave activists and protesters have occupied the forest and taken to the streets to demand that the city reverse its decision to spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to further fund a police force that has historically been used to violently repress, control and limit the power of working class people and people of color in particular. But the protesters in Atlanta are not only fighting against further wasteful spending on police and the “Cop City” training center, they are also fighting against the destruction of the region’s natural environment and the further pollution and degradation of land that will disproportionately affect the poor and working-class who live in the area.

NLG Statement In Solidarity With Atlanta Forest Defenders

January 28, 2023 National Lawyers Guild. , , , , , , ,
On Wednesday, January 18, Georgia State Patrol murdered Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran, who was camping in a public park to defend the Weelaunee Forest and stop the construction of Cop City. Over the weekend, six protesters were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism. In solidarity with the protesters, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) calls for an end to the construction of Cop City and the ongoing police brutality against demonstrators. NLG National joins our Atlanta and University of Georgia Chapters and comrades in mourning the devastating loss of a beloved community member. Tortuguita was a kind, passionate, and caring activist, who coordinated mutual aid and served as a trained medic. The Atlanta Community Press Collective is compiling memories and accounts of their life, and we encourage everyone to honor and remember Tortuguita through the words of those who love them.

Cop City Kills Before It Opens

January 27, 2023 Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report. , , , ,
Atlanta, Georgia - The city of Atlanta, Georgia is often presented as a “Mecca” for Black people. Every mayor of that city who has held office since 1974 has been Black, and celebrities have made it their home. Major Historically Black Colleges and Universities are located there. Atlanta is thought of as a place where Black people thrive. Except it is like every other major American city, where Black people are more likely to be low wage workers or among the unhoused. The Black people in leadership positions are allowed to occupy them precisely because they have taken a pledge not to upset the established political order. These caveats must be kept in mind when discussing the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, known popularly as Cop City. The purported Black Mecca municipality is spending $30 million to construct an 85-acre militarized police training camp in the Weelaunee Forest.
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