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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://popularresistance.org/sixth-stop-cop-city-week-of-action/">popularresistance.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Sixth ‘Stop Cop City’ Week Of Action</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Unicorn Riot.- June 28, 2023<br></div>
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<img src="cid:ii_ljh9xooz0" alt="image.png" width="412" height="232"><br><p>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.</p>
<p>In the months since the last <a href="https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/stop-cop-city-week-of-action-begins-in-atlanta/">national convergence against the project</a>,
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.</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://unicornriot.ninja/unicorn-riot-coverage-of-the-movement-to-protect-the-atlanta-forest/">covering the fight against ‘Cop City’</a>
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.</p>
<h3>State of the Movement</h3>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h3>Unicorn Riot will be covering the 6th Week of Action against Cop City on the ground, follow along below:</h3>
<p><strong>Day 1: Kick-Off Party In Brownwood Park and Vigil For Tortuguita</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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:</p>
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<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Day 2: Rematriating Mvskoke Land and Hardcore Benefit Show</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
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<p>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 <a href="https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/three-atlanta-activists-arrested-home-raided-over-bail-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">criminalize</a> the group for providing legal aid to protect the constitutional rights of protesters.</p>
<p><strong>Day 3: ‘Stop Cop City’ Week Of Action Day 3: Bike Ride/Rally, Signature Gathering, Discussing Movement History</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
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<p>The same evening in Brownwood Park, a panel discussion and community conversation facilitated by <a href="http://www.unityandstruggle.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Unity and Struggle</a>
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.</p>
<p><strong>Day 4: Rally To ReOpen Intrenchment Creek Park</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
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