[News] Sixth ‘Stop Cop City’ Week Of Action

[Anti-Imperialist News]

popularresistance.org
<https://popularresistance.org/sixth-stop-cop-city-week-of-action/>
Sixth ‘Stop Cop City’ Week Of Action
By Unicorn Riot.- June 28, 2023
------------------------------
[image: image.png]

Atlanta, GA — This week (June 24 – July 1) activists, organizers, and
community members opposed to ‘Cop City’ are converging in Atlanta for a
“Week of Action” against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. From
June 24 through July 1, people will gather in and around Atlanta to
mobilize against the Atlanta Police Foundation’s proposed urban warfare
training center.

In the months since the last national convergence against the project
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/stop-cop-city-week-of-action-begins-in-atlanta/>,
clear cutting in Weelaunee, where the training facility may be built, has
escalated, the city of Atlanta has approved millions in additional funds
for the project, and repression against organizers has continued.

The fight has drawn national attention, and those opposed to what would be
the largest police training compound in the nation remain determined to
stop the project. Unicorn Riot has been on the ground covering the fight
against ‘Cop City’
<https://unicornriot.ninja/unicorn-riot-coverage-of-the-movement-to-protect-the-atlanta-forest/>
for the past two years, and our coverage of this diverse struggle will
continue this week as we report from Atlanta throughout the “week of
action.” Check back here for updates on our coverage as the sixth week of
action continues.
State of the Movement

Anarchists, environmentalists and activists of various stripes have been
resisting ‘Cop City’ since late 2021. Through political organizing and
militant direct action, including physically repelling police and
construction workers and occupying the forest itself until early 2023,
people have successfully delayed ‘Cop City’s’ construction for nearly two
years.
Unicorn Riot will be covering the 6th Week of Action against Cop City on
the ground, follow along below:

*Day 1: Kick-Off Party In Brownwood Park and Vigil For Tortuguita*

The ‘Week of Action’ started with a gathering featuring food and plant
distribution, creating and giving out signs, banners, shirts and other art,
a bouncy house for kids, and a barbecue.

After approximately 9 relaxed hours of people gathering in the park,
Atlanta Police arrived at right around the scheduled start time of a vigil
for slain forest defender Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Terán, claiming they were
there in a “friendly” visit to remind protesters they could not remain in
the park after 11 p.m. Chanting protesters followed the police throughout
the park until they left.

Unicorn Riot livestreamed the tail end of the police action (seen in its
main portion in the Twitter video above as police exited the grounds of
Brownwood Park:

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px;
overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;"
class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

The vigil went ahead as planned with the crowd heading words and sharing
prayers with Tortuguita’s mother Belkis Terán. After the vigil concluded,
attendees of the gathering removed all structures and tents and left the
park before 11; a group of officers reportedly swept through the park
looking for tents around midnight.

*Day 2: Rematriating Mvskoke Land and Hardcore Benefit Show*

At Community Books in Stone Mountain, GA near Atlanta, Mekko Chebon Kernell
— a spiritual leader and ceremonial practitioner of the Muscogee Creek
people — spoke about the history of their displacement from lands in
Georgia including the Weeluanee Forest, which encompasses the proposed ‘Cop
City’ site. He also shared stories, lessons and principles from Muscogee
Creek cosmology and how they could inform people from diverse backgrounds
working to co-create a livable future for future generations in the face of
ongoing damage to the earth.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px;
overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;"
class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

The same evening in Atlanta also saw a hardcore punk concert that raised
funds to benefit the Atlanta Solidarity Fund as Georgia Attorney General
Chris Carr has tried to criminalize
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/three-atlanta-activists-arrested-home-raided-over-bail-fund/>
the group for providing legal aid to protect the constitutional rights of
protesters.

*Day 3: ‘Stop Cop City’ Week Of Action Day 3: Bike Ride/Rally, Signature
Gathering, Discussing Movement History*

After hearing words from Tortuguita’s mother Belkis Terán, a ‘slow roll’
bike ride memorializing Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Terán rode the Beltline trail
to Freedom Park, where attendees collected signatures for the petition to
hold a ballot referendum that would allow Atlanta residents to vote to
cancel the lease for the proposed ‘Cop City’ site in the South River Forest.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px;
overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;"
class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

The same evening in Brownwood Park, a panel discussion and community
conversation facilitated by Unity and Struggle
<http://www.unityandstruggle.org/> provided education about the last decade
(2010-2019) of radical social movement struggles in Atlanta. Speakers
shared stories and lessons from their experiences in Atlanta protesting and
organizing in periods such as the 2011-2012 Occupy movement and the
so-called “Black Lives Matter” protests that took place from roughly
2014-2016 after the spark provided by events in Ferguson.

*Day 4: Rally To ReOpen Intrenchment Creek Park*

Students and other community members rallied at DeKalb County headquarters
in Decatur, GA to demand county officials reopen Intrenchment Creek Park,
which has been closed under the pretext of safety concerns since March 24.
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said in early June that the county plans
to reopen Intrenchment Creek Park to the public, however it remains closed
to public access.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px;
overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;"
class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20230629/6beb209e/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2872714 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20230629/6beb209e/attachment.png>