[News] An Historic Direct Action in a Forest Outside Atlanta
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Mon Mar 20 11:26:40 EDT 2023
unicornriot.ninja
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/an-historic-direct-action-in-a-forest-outside-atlanta/>
An Historic Direct Action in a Forest Outside AtlantaUnicorn Riot - March
18, 2023
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[image: image.png]
DeKalb County, GA – In broad daylight Sunday, March 5, a group of about
three hundred masked people wearing mostly camouflage and black
clothing stormed
the main police security outpost
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/police-raid-atlanta-forest-after-cop-city-opponents-overrun-security-post/>
within the Weelaunee Forest at the proposed construction site of the ‘Cop
City’ project. Demonstrators tore up silt fencing, and set an office
trailer, two UTVs, a mobile surveillance tower, and a front end loader
afire as police ran for cover. The group hurled rocks and fireworks at the
retreating police, who repositioned to a smaller outpost across Key Road SE
and worked furiously to close a gate behind them to establish a barrier
between themselves and the advancing group.
The moment marked an historic turn in both the environmental and police
abolitionist movements, as those seeking a climate-adaptive world without
police went on the offensive. An action involving this level of mass
participation in coordinated sabotage in defense of both the earth and
disenfranchised communities is unprecedented in the modern environmental
movement in the U.S.
Although urban uprisings against police violence have become a visible part
of the modern anti-police movement since at least the Oscar Grant riots in
Oakland, California in 2009, these events typically occur shortly after the
police kill someone or after the officers responsible go unpunished. In
preventing the construction of a police training facility, where cops from
across the country will train in urban warfare tactics, the movement in
Atlanta doesn’t wait for the police to harm communities, but instead
proactively targets the origin of mass production of law enforcement
officers and the replication of militarized techniques.
In order to provide some insight into Sunday’s action, Unicorn Riot
interviewed one anonymous participant about what it felt like, the
motivations and strategies grounding it, and the future of the movement.
------------------------------
*Unicorn Riot:* *What was your experience of the action on Sunday, March 5?*
*Anonymous Participant*: I have never seen anything like it in this
country. Aside from acts of mass, “spontaneous” rebellion such as riots or
uprisings, this was the most serious act of direct action I have ever
witnessed a crowd perform. It was hundreds of people in masks, many holding
shields. Most wore camo or all-black. The crowd was tight but not in a
formation. It wasn’t regimented. This wasn’t a military assault, it was
only a march. The sun was up. The weather was warm. The music festival
crowd cheered and applauded us as we passed them. I felt safe. I felt calm.
The energy was not vengeful or menacing. It was serious, it was bold, but
it was light. I really felt like I was with a group of people who want to
make the world a better, freer, safer, place. We were chanting *“we are
unstoppable, another world is possible.”* At the time, I really could feel
that that was true. When we were close to the [proposed] construction site,
we had a police [helicopter] hovering over us, we could see police inside
of a fencing staring down at us and we paused. The people holding shields
moved to the front. Everyone chanted and called out for those who had rocks
or projectiles to move behind the shields. You have to understand, people
had different objectives, different tools, dispositions etc. And not
everyone wanted to be up front, to hold a shield, to throw objects. Some
people were there as medics, or even to just hold space, to be present and
supportive in a more unstructured way or an unplanned way I could say. When
we approached the gate finally, it was not chaos, but it was something like
it. Our crowd unleashed a wild burst of energy. It was incredible and I
will never forget it. It was rhythmic almost. We devastated all of their
work. The silt fencing, the vehicles, the trailer. Everything.
Crowds of militant direct action forest defenders march toward the ‘Cop
City’ outpost on March 5, 2023 before chasing police away and destroying
the site. *UR: What do you see as the goal and the broader strategy that
the action fit into?*
*Anonymous Participant: *I think that at this moment, defense of the land
could form a serious and coherent strategy. I was someone who was uncertain
about this before. I am not sure of the viability of permanent mass
encampments after Tortuguita’s killing. Maybe I am wrong. In any case, I
think that this marks a new possible way forward. Direct negation of the
deforestation process. It’s not about destruction and mayhem. It’s about
taking care of the world we want to build together. We have to be able to
address the work they are doing when they do it. There are a lot of ways to
do that. I do not care which way works, but in order to find the winning
forms we will have to try many things. I think people want to work together
with as many people as possible, but they also want to be effective. This
demonstration allowed for both of those things to happen. I also think many
people were fighting in memory of Tortuguita. *“Viva viva Tortuguita”* was
a popular and recurring chant of the crowd.
*UR: How do you see this action as fitting into the broader environmental
movement in the U.S. and around the world?*
*Anonymous Participant: *Acts of sabotage have a long history within
environmental movements, within anti-colonial movements, all kinds of
struggles. Specifically, I think that large-scale land reclamations in
places throughout Latin America are a powerful example for movements in the
US to study. I think that the US environmental movement has adapted itself
to strategies that work well for small groups. Essentially, they have
embraced somewhat specialized, training-intensive, forms of resistance.
That has allowed people to do a lot of things. But I think that this other
format of action, of unspecialized resistance, may have a better horizon to
it. It’s an open question. We will see what works. But I think all
movements have a lot to learn from the tactics employed during the George
Floyd 2020 rebellion, and people should be thinking about that in specific
and applicable terms. And innovating on that, even. It’s not good enough to
nostalgize events, or to compare movements across contexts. We have to be
creative. We have to keep an open and light spirit about things. Maybe in a
few months I [will] say *“OK, actually we made a mistake in March. It seems
like we should have done X or Y.”* Actions can only be really judged by the
effects they have in the world, by what they make possible. We have to
finally move away from fetishistic or moralistic forms of action. We cannot
dedicate our politics to tactics.
*UR: Do you think an action like this has precedent within the
environmental movement?*
*Anonymous Participant: *It certainly does. For one thing, Indigenous
people have been engaged in actions like this for a long time. It depends
on how we understand an ‘environmental movement,’ I suppose. In the current
framework of ‘Soulevements de la terre’ in France, acts of mass sabotage
have devastated large job sites repeatedly. It’s hard to discuss because,
of course, anti-colonial struggles often relate themselves to their
landbase. And certainly actions like this, and far beyond, are regular
features within some of those movements. But in the US, no. I don’t believe
something quite like this has ever occurred. Maybe I am wrong.
*UR: How do you interpret the police response to the action?*
*Anonymous Participant: *I think the Governor must have called in a panic.
The police came into the forest an hour later, and a mile away on the total
opposite end of the area. They attacked a music festival. Random people.
And they were just kind of going nuts. I think it was a symbolic
intervention. A serious attack, no doubt. But chiefly symbolic. The current
administration has to prove to the ruling class, to all of the corporate
interests and investors working within the Atlanta Committee for Progress,
that they have a handle on the situation. They have to prove to Delta, to
The Woodruff Foundation, to Bank of America, etc that they can suppress the
resistance. The charges against these poor concert-goers are completely
specious. They are supposed to make people scared, perhaps. Or to make
people blame the movement, to disidentify with direct action. But I think
it’s having the opposite effect. If anything, people are beginning to see
the need for more serious self-defense. We are seeing that the ruling class
is not afraid to unleash fascism to defend itself. A few days after the
protest, a group of people, a small group, were passing out fliers about
the movement downtown. Riot police arrived and made dispersal orders. We
are no longer living in a democratic society, for what that’s worth. Not
for the moment. That could change, of course. But if this is the case, if
the Mayor is willing to throw everything out the window, to jeopardize his
entire government in order to hold onto this project, [then] the situation
will escalate to historic proportions. Soon, nobody will be able to stop
what is developing.
*UR: The police have circulated zoomed-in video allegedly showing people
fleeing the site of the action and changing clothes. They claim (without
concrete evidence) that all those arrested participated in the direct
action. How do you respond to that?*
*Anonymous Participant: *It’s kind of funny footage. They want this to be
like their smoking gun. Anyway, they have to prove that these are the
people that committed criminal acts, and that they arrested those people.
They haven’t done that. During the initial bond hearing, the prosecutor
argued in court that everyone at the festival was guilty because they
chanted *“Stop Cop City.”* This is what we are actually dealing with.
Unabashed suppression of free speech. Some people changed out of their
clothing. So what? I heard people walking around telling concert goers to
take off any camo or black clothes if they didn’t want to be blamed.
Personally, I saw a friend of mine wearing a balaclava ironically or like
just for fashion. He had shorts and a t-shirt on, he didn’t go to the
protest it was just like a fun fashion statement. I told him to take it
off. Maybe there is footage of him! This is the level of “proof” they are
rolling out for cable TV. It’s a sign of their desperation that they are
actually attempting to legitimize collective punishment.
------------------------------
*Editor’s Note: Unicorn Riot wants to make clear that this interview is
only one participant’s perspective, and it is not meant as a comprehensive
report about March 5, 2023, but a glimpse into at least one person’s
experience. *
------------------------------
*Unicorn Riot*'s coverage on the* movement to defend the Atlanta Forest*:
- Landing Page: Unicorn Riot Coverage of the Movement to Protect the
Atlanta Forest
<https://unicornriot.ninja/unicorn-riot-coverage-of-the-movement-to-protect-the-atlanta-forest/>
- Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Terán’s Independent Autopsy Report Released at
Press Conference
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/manuel-tortuguita-terans-independent-autopsy-report-released-at-press-conference/>
(March 13, 2023)
- Police Raid Atlanta Forest After ‘Cop City’ Opponents Overrun Security
Post
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/police-raid-atlanta-forest-after-cop-city-opponents-overrun-security-post/>
(March 5, 2023)
- ‘Stop Cop City’ Week of Action Begins in Atlanta
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/stop-cop-city-week-of-action-begins-in-atlanta/>
(March 4, 2023)
- ‘Tortuguita Vive’: A No-Compromise Movement Responds to Police Killing
a Forest Defender
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/tortuguita-vive-a-no-compromise-movement-responds-to-police-killing-a-forest-defender/>
(February 27, 2023)
- Atlanta Activists Say Prosecutors Plan to Indict them on RICO Charges
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/atlanta-activists-say-prosecutors-plan-to-indict-them-on-rico-charges/>
(February 25, 2023)
- ‘Community’ Committee Cheers Police Violence as Authorities Repress
Resistance to ‘Cop City’
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/community-committee-cheers-police-violence-as-authorities-repress-resistance-to-cop-city/>
(February 24, 2023)
- Supporters of ‘Cop City’ Opponents Rally in Philly
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/supporters-of-cop-city-opponents-rally-in-philly/>
(February 24, 2023)
- Minneapolis March Connects Roof Depot Demolition Resistance to the
Atlanta Forest
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/minneapolis-march-connects-roof-depot-demolition-resistance-to-the-atlanta-forest/>
(February 21, 2023)
- Atlanta PD Releases Bodycam Footage from Deadly Jan. 18 Forest Raid
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/atlanta-pd-releases-bodycam-footage-from-deadly-jan-18-forest-raid/>
(February 8, 2023)
- Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Terán’s Family Seeks Transparency in Police
Killing
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/manuel-tortuguita-terans-family-seeks-transparency-in-police-killing/>
(February 7, 2023)
- City of Atlanta and DeKalb County Announce ‘Agreement’ Amidst Growing
Opposition to Cop City
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/city-of-atlanta-and-dekalb-county-announce-agreement-amid-growing-opposition-to-cop-city/>
(January 31, 2023)
- Marches and Vigils Across the US Respond to the Police Killing of
Forest Defender Tort
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/marches-and-vigils-across-the-us-respond-to-the-police-killing-of-forest-defender-tort/>
(January 22, 2023)
- Protester Shot and Killed by Officers During Raid on Atlanta Forest
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/protester-shot-and-killed-by-officers-during-raid-on-atlanta-forest/>
(January 18, 2023)
- Blackhall Intensifies Destruction of Weelaunee People’s Park in
Atlanta Forest
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/blackhall-intensifies-destruction-of-weelaunee-peoples-park-in-atlanta-forest/>
(January 16, 2023)
- SWAT Teams Attack Atlanta Forest Encampments, Activists Charged with
‘Terrorism’
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/swat-teams-attack-atlanta-forest-encampments-activists-charged-with-terrorism/>
(December 18, 2022)
- [Mini Doc] Defending the Atlanta Forest: Behind the Movement to Stop
Cop City
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/defending-the-atlanta-forest-mini-doc/>
(Oct. 9, 2022)
- “Cop City” General Contractors’ Offices Attacked
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/cop-city-general-contractors-offices-attacked/>
(May 19, 2022)
- Police Raid Atlanta Forest Occupation
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/police-raid-atlanta-forest-occupation/>
(May 18, 2022)
- Atlanta Fights to Save Its Forest
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/atlanta-fights-to-save-its-forest/> (May
14, 2022)
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