June 12, 2023 • 36 mins
Gare is joined by Matt from the Atlanta Community Press Collective to discuss the vote to approve public funding for Cop City, and the recent police raid targeting the Atlanta Solidarity Fund.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, Welcome to week it happened here. This is Garrison.
We're going to be doing a little bit of an
update on some of the things that have been happening
in Atlanta, Georgia the past few weeks in relation to
the Stop Cop City movement. With me today to help
help go through the many, many happenings of the past
of the past past few weeks is a Matt from
(00:25):
the Atlantic Community Press Collective.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello, Hello, my friend, good to see you.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yes, last time, last time we talked on the show,
it was during our our very very critically acclaimed comedy episode,
So nice to.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Highlight lighted.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I'm glad you approve. As someone who was on the episode.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I might have been like the target audience for that.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
But yeah, there was like there was like four jokes
that only like three people get. But that's all right.
So this is going to be a bit of a
bit of a looser episode because people are preparing for
the week of Action. Uh, there's a lot of a
lot of things in play. It's kind of a lot
of stuff still up in the air. So I don't
(01:11):
I don't have time to put something super super superscripted together.
But many things have happened that are worth talking about,
especially before the week of action. I guess would the
first thing on the docket be to kind of go
over the stuff regarding the extra funding that that the
city seems to be uh be giving towards the Copsity project,
(01:34):
even beyond the thirty three million dollars that was the
that was the target of the city council vote a
few a few days ago. But there's a whole bunch
of extra extra money floating around, as discovered by you
guys at the Atlantic, a Lantic community press collective and
then UH who had had their journalism pretty much by
every other outlet.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
They put our name, they put our name in there,
and you know, they get paid and you get paid
in the spotlight, right, that's how that worked.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I'm only paying you an exposure for these episodes exactly,
which isn't true FAI.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
But anyway, so yeah, okay, So going back to twenty
twenty one, this conversation started a couple of months after
the lease legislation was sucked. Back then, it was a
conversation about like a fifty five million dollar funding package
between the Atlanta Police Foundation and chief operating officer at
(02:38):
the time John Keene, So that conversation has morerphed over
the last two years, but that the key part of
it was the extra money was going to come from
this lease back agreement. So originally it was going to
be a twenty year, one million dollar a year. We
found out that that is actually a thirty year, one
(02:58):
point two million dollars a year paid for thirty six
million dollars going to the Atlanta Police Foundation. And part
of what they were what they had talked about using
it for in twenty twenty one, was to pay down
this twenty million dollar loan construction loan that the Atlanta
Police Foundation was planning on taking out to build the facility.
So when they were talking about that like sixty million
(03:21):
dollar philanthropic donation, they really they meant or twenty of
that was going to come from from a loan that
the city was going to pay back. So immediately, like
these numbers were skewed from the get go and have
been misleading for the last year and a half.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
And I mean part of the original plans for the
cop City project that people are unaware included what like
thirty million dollars of public funds being contributed and the
other sixty million for the first phase was supposed to
come via like private funds, with the Land Place Findation
doing like fundraising with via all their big corporate backers,
(04:06):
and then what's happened in the past few months of
them trying to trying to down downscale some of like
the more expensive parts of the plan and like cutting
cutting some of the fat in terms of like the
stables aren't going to be in the same same spot
that they they wanted there to be stables, and other
other small kind of money saving cuts, and then all
(04:29):
this increase in the amount of the project that's just
being funded by taxpayers. It seems like the APS been
not as successful and being able to fund their project
privately as they initially hoped. That's at least my read
from what's from what's going on here.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So maybe not from what they originally hoped, but from
what they originally shows or told us that they were
going to do. According to the chief financial operator of
the City of Atlanta, Mohammed Bala, he said that the
Atlantic Police Foundation has raised thirty three point four million
dollars in film graphic funds for this which their goal.
(05:12):
Apparently this whole time was only thirty million dollars in
actual funds from corporations and film graphic organizations.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Including the streamer Destiny, who donated I think twenty thousand
dollars to the Atlantic Philly Station, which is a fight,
which is a reference to all of you Internet cells
out there who are also who are also cursed with
this knowledge. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So the other interesting thing is is originally ten million
dollars was supposed to come in new market credits, and
we're getting like really into the.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, this is finances, and I'm as soon as you
said new market tacks credits part of my raid, just
like shut off, but continue, continue to continue.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Like thirty found and put overview that money is supposed
to go to like revitalizing impowers or like underserved communities.
It's supposed to go to like businesses that want to
like open grocery stores and food deserts and things like that.
So it's not ten million dollars anymore now it's five
million dollars. But it's still going to build a police
training center. And you know, predominantly black neighborhood that is
(06:24):
under the average monthly income. So things got twisted here
that this doesn't seem like a revitalization project that that
is supposed to improve the lives of the neighbors around it.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
So yeah, it's it seems like the the the amount
of funding that they actually are going to end up
receiving from public funds is balloons to be much bigger
than they initially promised. And then project was initially sold on,
which is just another another another thing in the long
line of of of APF moments.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So this entire time, the deputy Chief Operating Officer for
the City of Atlanta, le Chandra Burks, she has been
playing quarterback for the finance conversation, and she was part
of the finance conversation the way back in, so somebody
she's she's in the mayor's cabinet and like she's privy
(07:22):
to these conversations. So the entire time like this is happening,
Andre Dickens is still like out in the press repeating
this thirty million dollar number, like tells it to Rose Scott,
who's a basically our our NPR like person here. He
tells it to the AJAC, the paper of record, and
says that it's gonna be thirty million dollars if it
(07:45):
goes over it's gonna it's gonna come out of the
Atlanta Police Foundation. And then of course you know his
his cabinet is having conversations about way more money.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
This entire well, do you know who else cares a
lot about money?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
The products, since services, services, the pros, the products.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Services really really do want your money. And now also
the the Sophie is poking me to tell you the
apthel premium subscription option. Also, here's a lot about your money. Uh,
and Android version launching shortly. Anyway, here's some ads. Okay,
(08:28):
we are back. We're gonna talk about another another another
good uh. Staying on the topic of of of stealing
your money and using it for purposes that it's probably
not very good. Let's talk about let's talk about the
the the two Atlanta City Council meetings that happened. One
was during late May, right, that was the first one
(08:49):
with public comment. That was like people were being public
comment for like seven hours. That lasted quite a while.
It was it was a pretty pretty long day. And
then on the then during the meeting on June fifth,
was even longer.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Like, how.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Late were you at city Council on June fifth?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
All right, Well, on May fifteenth, the first city council
meeting one where we kind of like we're like, hey,
this this is going to come up for vote, so
and then organizers you know, got everyone to show up. Yeah,
so about seven and a half hours of public comments
that night city council meeting ended up like like eleven o'clock,
and then there was a meeting, the Finance Executive Committee
(09:31):
meeting in between that had about two hours of public comment,
which for a subcommittee meeting is a lot. And then
all of that, every like record was blown out of
the water on June fifth, where we had just just
over fourteen hours of public comment. That includes like breaks
(09:53):
for disruption and like a ten minute break that the
city Council took, and then a lot of arguing between
Doug Ship and the city couple of president trying to
help people down. But you know, overall, it was fourteen
and a half hours of just public comment, which is
the largest public com in person public comment session that
is in modern history. Yeah, and it was basically unanimous.
(10:19):
There were there were four speakers who got up pretty
early who were in favor of the training center, and
then everyone else was anti cop city.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yeah, did I remember remember seeing some things about like
APF police departments trying to like trying to push people
through to give public comment.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, so there was a rumor going around that the
Atlanta Police Foundation and the Mayor's office were trying to
get fifty people. There was like this number, it was
like fifty people. I never saw anything to back them up,
but they did seem like the four people who showed
up were kind of coordinated and you know, like one
of them brought their kids, which the stop op city
(11:03):
side does the same thing. So sure did seem to
be some like intentional.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Parallels, but what was not parallel was just the sheer
number of people on the different sides. It was.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I don't think anybody who's in favor of the facility
is like going to wait fourteen hours to talk for
two minutes. Yeah, that's just not going to happen. And
you know, the Atlanta Police Foundation hasn't shown up to
defend the facility in since twenty twenty one, and like
they're the most invested.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah it is. It is striking the amount of which
their work on it is just so much like backdoor lobbying,
and they really have never had to defend the project,
like publicly and openly. It's it's all, it's all just
these these these back backer meetings between city council members,
between people, people in the air's office, between people and
(11:57):
the police department.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, the Atlantic Foundation lobbyist was actually running around uh
city Hall on juth it.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, not surprising. So I feel like most if people
are online, they probably heard the result of the vote
after fourteen hours of public common which was almost like
unanimously against the facility. What was it of four to eleven.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Yeah, four votes against eleven in favor.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
So they they passed the funding package, allocating at least
the thirty three million plus the future loans.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
The least back agreement.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, yes, the.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Thirty one million plus the least back. Okay, we're not
going to get more deep than.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That, Okay, but yes, it was it was like what
what time was? That was like four am? At thirty
Jesus As.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
I got there, there was a Young Democrat like thing
against There was a press conference with the Young Democrats
of the already coming out against cup City at eight am.
So I was there at seven thirty. I left City
Hall at six thirty. That was the wildest game.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
So so after probably the longest city council meeting day
in quite a while.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
They in history, in history, for sure, in history. They
single day.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
They voted to approve the funding, which I mean, I
don't know, I think I wasn't I was not surprised.
I wasn't surprised, but I was disappointed as as a
as a as a parent would say.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I want to point out a couple of things that
they did in preparation, So I think city council was
prepared for like an action or a Hegler's veto, and
they had two moves to kind of neutralize them. The
first is they moved the actual vote on this to
the very last thing, So the vote on the funding
(14:00):
came at the end of the meeting, so if you
know there was an attempt to stop the vote itself,
it wouldn't have affected any city business before that. And
then they also prepared a committee room so that if
you know, things got rowdy or there was some sort
of direct action in the chambers itself, they were just
going to take the council and physically move them to
a different room and let people continue to demonstrate in
(14:23):
city councils. So I think they were they they made
some wise moves on bare ends to prepare.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah, and they loaded the chamber with the cops before
the vote. I know, back like during the afternoon, they
were setting up kind of barricades and staging around city Hall.
I mean, it just seemed to be a lot of
like eretic euretic stuff happening around, did not. I mean, yeah,
I mean I was unsure what was going to happen myself.
(14:55):
I didn't know how how it would play out, what
what tax people will try to employ. It seemed like
people mostly tried to kind of like go buy the
book there and see how far that would get. And
then if the result was like what we got, then
other other things will happen in these next few months,
especially with a week of action coming up. So, yeah,
(15:16):
do you think people on that like what did people
on the ground think, Like, did did they think that
that the vote would go through? Do they think the
vote would be stopped?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I met?
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I am, I am kind of It's it's been it's
been it's been a little little over a month since
I've been in Atlanta, And I think that the mood
on the ground fluctuates so quickly often.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, And I think it's you know, kind of dependent
upon which segment of the movement we're talking about. There's
there's obviously full sections of the movement that that are
opposed to electoralism. They still showed up, like they still
you know, came and gave public comment, and I feel
like they they didn't expect that this would go any
(15:57):
other way. There's more like electorally plugged in groups that there.
You know, there was a slim chance of this thing
getting sent back to committee, and that was the closest
that uh, this had to not going through city council.
You know, the kind of the whip count that that
(16:19):
we learned was if it if it came to a
straight up or downvote, it was always going to go through.
It's never the numbers to do anything else. Yeah, So
there was some lobbying happening behind the scenes that uh,
with student organizers and various other organizers who are more
prone to having these these discussions, especially with elected officials.
(16:43):
So there was bobbying for the tickets sent back to
community to committee where it would be held and hopefully
delay the actual funding and mess up if you have
slumming mechanism. But that didn't happen. So there are people
who are hopeful, Like even I was, you know, I
(17:03):
said that this was the closest electorally that we'd never
come to stopping it. I you know, just kind of
knowing how the whip count changed over the course of
like forty eight hours. It got close, and then then
it got taken away.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Adrey Dickens called city council members into his office Monday
morning and started feeling them all.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, well, I mean and this was never going to
be the end of the movement by any means. There
was already plans for things afterwards, like the Week of
Action at the end of June here, and I guess
we can we can talk about how some of the
ways the movement might continue going forward after after these
these these messages from our our lovely sponsors who endorse
(17:50):
everything we're saying. Thank you, Ronald Reagan, I know you
agree with me on this, So we're back.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Like ghost it's crazy, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Mean most people don't. So as if you're part of
like gold, yeah, exactly, if you're part of the ghost
on the community, there is there is a few types
of ghosts who actually really like bargaining material possessions. If
they're able to give away enough of their stuff, their
souls able to actually transcend to the next level and
go to a more safe, like a more RESTful place.
(18:30):
So these are people who've been too materially driven on Earth.
Their soul gets trapped in that. So they have to
have to make sure that they get rid of their
gold in orders to them to go to their next place,
whether that's like, that's like a safer version of Limbo, Paradise, Heaven, hell, whatever.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So yeah, I waiting for you to move here so
I can learn more about this.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
I was just making all of that up on the fly.
So let's talk about what's gonna happen next. Obviously, there
was a week of action planned for June twenty fourth
to July first, which is going to be a very
hot week. So there's that. To my understanding, in Trench
(19:08):
Creek and Trenchman Creek Park is still closed.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Correct, So in Trench Creek Park is still closed. There
is there is a motion or there's some legislation in
the Thecab County Border Commissioners that is supposed to come
up again on Tuesday. The CEO's office asked for like
thirty days to finish cleaning up the park. So the
thirty days will expire Monday, and then there's a Border
(19:34):
Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. After that, they hopefully the park
is open, but we'll see.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
So it may or may not be open. That is
still park that is still to be determined. I've heard
there will be another music festival of some sort, not
many details as of the time of recording, so we
we knew that was going to happen. I talked about
this during during the Week of Action retrospective episode, which
(20:03):
honestly is still pretty applicable here in terms of the
amount of destruction that's happened in the forest and how
people are thinking about ways to continue resistance in the
face of not again. I'm against the binary of like
victory and defeat. I think that's not a useful way
of looking at this situation at this point. But you're
(20:23):
they're kind of looking down like the barrel of something now,
being like a lot of the land's been cleared, a
lot of the trees have been cut. Preconstruction is ongoing.
Construction is scheduled for this summer. They just got approved
for all the city funding, right like things are in motion.
So the ways that people are going to choose to
resist now might be different in the ways that they
(20:44):
chose to resist like a year or two ago, because
it's just a very different, very different situation. There's a
different risk level, there's a lot of more surveillance around
the forest, there's a lot more surveillance outside the forest.
It's just it's just a very different scenario. So I
think if uh, the retrospective episode still contains a few
things about how how sistance might might take forms during
(21:06):
these next few weeks. But there's this this this other
thing that came up after the city council meeting, which
is the referendum that some people are planning. Uh, do
you want to go over a little bit of those details.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, So a lot of people or I've seen kind
of on Twitter where a lot of people are like, oh,
the referendum is just coming out and rise to the
city council vote, and like, no, this has been in
the works for a little while. Okay, to my knowledge,
it dates I mean I know it dates back to
before even the funding question was was in place, so
it's been in the works for a minute. And then
(21:40):
they decided to hold off until after the city, so
we're probably going to do it regardless of the city.
But the referendum there there is there's a spaceport that
was supposed to be built in South Georgia and basically
this one woman like started at random question and got
(22:02):
this spaceboard canceled. Of course, we're talking very different like municipalities.
That was a much smaller one. She only had to
collect fourteen hundred signatures or something like that. But there's
a referendum question that is in front of the municipal
clerk to kind of sign off on it and make
sure that it is properly worded and all these things
(22:25):
like just to administrate issue at this Once the clerk
signs off on it, then these organizers have sixty days
to collect seventy five thousand. The number they actually need
is just over seventy thousand, but they're collecting a little
extra because these signatures will be challenged, you know, things
like that with a vote. If they're successful in doing so,
(22:49):
it goes to city council who again as in the
administrative position, has to all the signatures, make sure everything
you know is official and then and if once that passes,
then it goes automatically on the November seventh, and then
it will be a straight up or down question of
(23:10):
do we cancel this twenty twenty one, least to the
Atlanta Police. But there are a couple where this comes in.
I think most interestingly is the organizers of this believe
that they can get an injunction to stop construction both
(23:32):
now once the referendum campaign kicks off, and then if
they collect the seventy thousand signatures again until November seventh,
So this could significantly delay the Beneflete Foundation's ability to
continue destruction on the land. And like, right now we
are in the mass grating days of this project, which
is the most environmentally damaging part of it. Now we're
(23:55):
we're screwing with the contours of the land. So you know,
they're going to have to prove that they're serious about
the referendum, and the judge is going to have to
believe that the referendum is at least likely to succeed
in order to get this injunction. But it does look
like they should be able to prove at least that
(24:16):
they are serious and there is a good chance of
the succeeding.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
How soon do people have to start like doing stuff
for that.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So the referendum once the clerk signs off on the paperwork,
and that the clerk has seven days to validate, and
then once that spends, you have the sixty days. So
we're in this kind of interim period where they can't
start collecting signatures, but as soon as the clerk signs
off on it, they will start collecting signatures. So they
(24:45):
anticipate the clerk to like kind of try to hold
off as long as possible. So they're looking at Wednesday,
which I'm going to look at my calendar because you
know exactly what that. So they're looking at Wednesday the
fourteenth as the kickoff for the signature collecting camp. So
(25:07):
for more information about the referendum campaign or to find
ways to volunteer, or if you are an Atlanta resident
who was registered to vote in the last election, you
can sign the referendum. So copsity vote dot.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
That's copsityvote dot com.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Let's see, there's one other thing that happened of Note
the past few weeks.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
One thing, one little thing.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
There's one other thing that happened of note the past
few weeks, and that's when police rated the home of
three people and this this home kind of serves as
like a legal defense hub in Atlanta and arrested three
people associated with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund and are charging
(25:57):
them with a variety of of quote unquote charity fraud
and like another other quite nonsensical financial crimes. As the
bail hearing judge admitted himself, so do you wanna do
you want to go over some of some of those details,
because this is something that was honest. People have been
(26:20):
expecting this to happen, Like the alne of solid Already
Fund themselves has said, hey, we will probably be the
target of something like this in the future. During during
other hearings, the prosecutors have have talked about how they're
investigating the Solidarity Fund as a part of this like
conspiracy they're trying to weave. So it's definitely something that's
(26:41):
been on on people's minds of of this type of
legal this type of like state repression targeting all of
like the bail funds and like legal support structures that
have been set up. So, yeah, this happened like late
late May, I believe. Yeah, last day, they were still asleep.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
In their beds. They got swat broke down their door.
You know, I'm sure everyone's seen the video, broke down
their door, armored vehicle and pulled them all out of
their beds in their pajamas and took them to jail
in their pajamas. Just you know, utterly insane for a
bail fund or a nonprofit to have this go down.
(27:25):
But yeah, they had been prepared for this for quite
some time. Marlin, one of the organizers, had sent a
CPP you know, a statement in preparation for this, and
you know, you saw how quickly they transitioned the actual
running of the bail from the Atlanta Solidary fun to
(27:48):
the National Bail Network been seamlessly that day. So they
were prepared. And then you know, someone who was talking
to Marlin while he was in jail said, Mark, pretty
chill about the whole thing, which if you've ever interacted
or seen Marlin, uh, that is that's that's pretty apt
to describe him. But the actual charges are are insane.
(28:13):
You know, the the charity fraud part of it. They're
they're saying things like buying a cell phone, uh for
for the bail fund is charity broad or reimbursing yourself
or gas is charity broad or buying COVID test is
charity broad like all these things that that are just
(28:34):
like overhead.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Yeah, it was very very very standard like overhead costs
for running an organization of this scale. Yeah, and as is,
this was all on the website when people dot it
anyway to talk to the various uses that these funds
were going to have. All the charges are truly flin flimsy.
There was a veil hearing a few few days later
(28:57):
which I watched the whole thing, and the judge there
did not think the charges had much much merit, which
is the first time really during any kind of bail
hearing associated with top coupstandy stuff. For the judge was like, okay,
so this just seems very clearly fake. And and I
told the prosecution that they'll have to put put a
(29:19):
much much stronger, stronger case together if they want this
to go forward and at at at any at any
further stage. So all three got out on bail. It's
it's pretty scary though we like it's it's it fucking sucks.
During the bail hearing, uh, the I believe, I believe
it was it was it was the assistant attorney general
(29:40):
who was there. Of Valler, I believe he was talking
about how police were going through the trash of solidarity
fund how they're monitoring phone calls, uh other other communications.
So just another another good reason to have a have
a paper shutter and to have to have a burn
(30:01):
pile in your backyard, because yeah, they're they're they're gonna,
they're gonna go through your trash if they want to
find things out about you. They they they they stole
a journal from somebody. They were someone's someone's personal journal
was was taken. And so yeah, a lot of a
(30:22):
lot of kind of very very standard, like very standard
of this type of like shady investigation police stuff, which
is just it's always good to have a reminder for
people about what what the police are willing to do.
But still, even even with all that, it seems like
they were not able to get much at all, because
the most they can put together is, oh, you you
(30:46):
you use these funds in a way that you explicitly
said that you could be used on your website, which
is not probably not going to be a crime, So
not compelling long term, but certainly a pretty large inconvenience
in the short term, and still a very like chilling
like display of police repression, saying that we'll we'll, well,
we'll make your life incredibly difficult if if we don't
(31:09):
like you.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
But you know, and as has happened every time there's
been like this massive display of police repression, it utterly backfired,
right like we national media is now just harping on
the fact that these charges are overblown and they're attacking
(31:31):
bail buds, which is inconceivable to let's say, like the
liberal or the liberal left wing of things. And so
you you've blown this issue into another sphere of awareness.
You know, You've got Chris Hayes now on MSNBC doing
an entire segment on some tops city, which is not
something you know, we had before, even the domestic cares
(31:52):
and charges. And I think this was just tactically a
terrible decision by the Attorney General of Office to go
through with this, because the pr side of it is
a nightmare, and rightfully so, like this is an insane escalation.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Is the bail fund still being operated by the National
Bail Organization at this point.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yes, so the bail fund is still being run out
of the National Network at this point in time. So
secure dot act, blue dot com, Slash donate slash Atlanta
Solidarity will get you a donate page. Continue to support
bail you know in Atlanta, which again we've got a
(32:38):
week of action coming up. Bail funds are highly probable
in terms of being used.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah, I mean as they were used to bail out
the three people who are the veil, who are part
of the bail fund organizers, because I think, I think
they all got a fifteen thousand dollars spaale, which is
a relatively low amount in terms of what we've seen
in relation to this movement.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
And I was looking through the December warrants and bail
hearings a minute ago for another story, and like then
there were like ten thousand dollars. The cost has ballooned
dramatically in the last months, So to go back down
to fifteen thousand dollars fail is terrible and awful, But
that seems way more in line with expectations.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Yeah, well so that is that is just a small
glimpse that the many things that have been happening the
past month, things do not seem to be slowing down.
Things just seem to be changing in ways that makes
h makes everything certainly, certainly a tricky and not very
not very clear, but that's kind of the way that
(33:42):
these things go. People are still going to be showing up.
There's the Week of Action happening on us starting on
the twenty fourth, so that's that's going to be this month.
So it's going to be an interesting lead up to
July first. Yeah, the movement continues. Uh where can Where
(34:03):
can people find your work?
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Matt? Yeah, you can follow a c PC uh at
Atlanta otherscore Press on Twitter. You can follow me at
Matt a c PC on Twitter, and our website is
at L Press.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Collective dot com. I assume yeah, I said, oh did
I cut out? You did cut out? I could not
hear it at all. I said, I heard it. I
heard at L Press Collective.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Yeah. Just you know atl Press Collector dot.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Com dot com. Fantastic, Yeah you can. Uh. I'll put
a link for the for the new for the new
solidarity fund, uh secure dot ActBlue dot com. Slash don't
slash a L and a solidarity because that is a
long thing to type out, So I'll put a link
for that in the description for the new for the
new bail fund link and uh, yeah, you can. You can,
(34:52):
uh if you want to keep updated on plans for
the week of action, I suppose you can look at
stop cup City on Instagram and the Defend the Line
of Forest account on Twitter, along with the many many
websites that exists at this point. But yeah, so that's
gonna be happening later. I don't know what will happen
(35:13):
because I because I don't know, because I really because
I really have no idea what's going to happen. Because
what happened to the last one was also quite quite surprising.
So who who knows? Who knows what will what will
what will go down? But thank you Matt for joining
me to give me, give me and the listeners a
(35:35):
bit of an update on the again, many many things
that have been happening in Atlanta. I'll see you all
on the other side. It could happen here as a
production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool
Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com, or
check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(35:56):
wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for
It could Happen here, updated monthly at Coolzonemedia dot com
slash sources. Thanks for listening.
Hello, Welcome to week it happened here. This is Garrison.
We're going to be doing a little bit of an
update on some of the things that have been happening
in Atlanta, Georgia the past few weeks in relation to
the Stop Cop City movement. With me today to help
help go through the many, many happenings of the past
of the past past few weeks is a Matt from
(00:25):
the Atlantic Community Press Collective.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello, Hello, my friend, good to see you.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yes, last time, last time we talked on the show,
it was during our our very very critically acclaimed comedy episode,
So nice to.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Highlight lighted.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I'm glad you approve. As someone who was on the episode.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I might have been like the target audience for that.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
But yeah, there was like there was like four jokes
that only like three people get. But that's all right.
So this is going to be a bit of a
bit of a looser episode because people are preparing for
the week of Action. Uh, there's a lot of a
lot of things in play. It's kind of a lot
of stuff still up in the air. So I don't
(01:11):
I don't have time to put something super super superscripted together.
But many things have happened that are worth talking about,
especially before the week of action. I guess would the
first thing on the docket be to kind of go
over the stuff regarding the extra funding that that the
city seems to be uh be giving towards the Copsity project,
(01:34):
even beyond the thirty three million dollars that was the
that was the target of the city council vote a
few a few days ago. But there's a whole bunch
of extra extra money floating around, as discovered by you
guys at the Atlantic, a Lantic community press collective and
then UH who had had their journalism pretty much by
every other outlet.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
They put our name, they put our name in there,
and you know, they get paid and you get paid
in the spotlight, right, that's how that worked.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I'm only paying you an exposure for these episodes exactly,
which isn't true FAI.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
But anyway, so yeah, okay, So going back to twenty
twenty one, this conversation started a couple of months after
the lease legislation was sucked. Back then, it was a
conversation about like a fifty five million dollar funding package
between the Atlanta Police Foundation and chief operating officer at
(02:38):
the time John Keene, So that conversation has morerphed over
the last two years, but that the key part of
it was the extra money was going to come from
this lease back agreement. So originally it was going to
be a twenty year, one million dollar a year. We
found out that that is actually a thirty year, one
(02:58):
point two million dollars a year paid for thirty six
million dollars going to the Atlanta Police Foundation. And part
of what they were what they had talked about using
it for in twenty twenty one, was to pay down
this twenty million dollar loan construction loan that the Atlanta
Police Foundation was planning on taking out to build the facility.
So when they were talking about that like sixty million
(03:21):
dollar philanthropic donation, they really they meant or twenty of
that was going to come from from a loan that
the city was going to pay back. So immediately, like
these numbers were skewed from the get go and have
been misleading for the last year and a half.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
And I mean part of the original plans for the
cop City project that people are unaware included what like
thirty million dollars of public funds being contributed and the
other sixty million for the first phase was supposed to
come via like private funds, with the Land Place Findation
doing like fundraising with via all their big corporate backers,
(04:06):
and then what's happened in the past few months of
them trying to trying to down downscale some of like
the more expensive parts of the plan and like cutting
cutting some of the fat in terms of like the
stables aren't going to be in the same same spot
that they they wanted there to be stables, and other
other small kind of money saving cuts, and then all
(04:29):
this increase in the amount of the project that's just
being funded by taxpayers. It seems like the APS been
not as successful and being able to fund their project
privately as they initially hoped. That's at least my read
from what's from what's going on here.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So maybe not from what they originally hoped, but from
what they originally shows or told us that they were
going to do. According to the chief financial operator of
the City of Atlanta, Mohammed Bala, he said that the
Atlantic Police Foundation has raised thirty three point four million
dollars in film graphic funds for this which their goal.
(05:12):
Apparently this whole time was only thirty million dollars in
actual funds from corporations and film graphic organizations.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Including the streamer Destiny, who donated I think twenty thousand
dollars to the Atlantic Philly Station, which is a fight,
which is a reference to all of you Internet cells
out there who are also who are also cursed with
this knowledge. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So the other interesting thing is is originally ten million
dollars was supposed to come in new market credits, and
we're getting like really into the.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, this is finances, and I'm as soon as you
said new market tacks credits part of my raid, just
like shut off, but continue, continue to continue.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Like thirty found and put overview that money is supposed
to go to like revitalizing impowers or like underserved communities.
It's supposed to go to like businesses that want to
like open grocery stores and food deserts and things like that.
So it's not ten million dollars anymore now it's five
million dollars. But it's still going to build a police
training center. And you know, predominantly black neighborhood that is
(06:24):
under the average monthly income. So things got twisted here
that this doesn't seem like a revitalization project that that
is supposed to improve the lives of the neighbors around it.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
So yeah, it's it seems like the the the amount
of funding that they actually are going to end up
receiving from public funds is balloons to be much bigger
than they initially promised. And then project was initially sold on,
which is just another another another thing in the long
line of of of APF moments.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So this entire time, the deputy Chief Operating Officer for
the City of Atlanta, le Chandra Burks, she has been
playing quarterback for the finance conversation, and she was part
of the finance conversation the way back in, so somebody
she's she's in the mayor's cabinet and like she's privy
(07:22):
to these conversations. So the entire time like this is happening,
Andre Dickens is still like out in the press repeating
this thirty million dollar number, like tells it to Rose Scott,
who's a basically our our NPR like person here. He
tells it to the AJAC, the paper of record, and
says that it's gonna be thirty million dollars if it
(07:45):
goes over it's gonna it's gonna come out of the
Atlanta Police Foundation. And then of course you know his
his cabinet is having conversations about way more money.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
This entire well, do you know who else cares a
lot about money?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
The products, since services, services, the pros, the products.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Services really really do want your money. And now also
the the Sophie is poking me to tell you the
apthel premium subscription option. Also, here's a lot about your money. Uh,
and Android version launching shortly. Anyway, here's some ads. Okay,
(08:28):
we are back. We're gonna talk about another another another
good uh. Staying on the topic of of of stealing
your money and using it for purposes that it's probably
not very good. Let's talk about let's talk about the
the the two Atlanta City Council meetings that happened. One
was during late May, right, that was the first one
(08:49):
with public comment. That was like people were being public
comment for like seven hours. That lasted quite a while.
It was it was a pretty pretty long day. And
then on the then during the meeting on June fifth,
was even longer.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Like, how.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Late were you at city Council on June fifth?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
All right, Well, on May fifteenth, the first city council
meeting one where we kind of like we're like, hey,
this this is going to come up for vote, so
and then organizers you know, got everyone to show up. Yeah,
so about seven and a half hours of public comments
that night city council meeting ended up like like eleven o'clock,
and then there was a meeting, the Finance Executive Committee
(09:31):
meeting in between that had about two hours of public comment,
which for a subcommittee meeting is a lot. And then
all of that, every like record was blown out of
the water on June fifth, where we had just just
over fourteen hours of public comment. That includes like breaks
(09:53):
for disruption and like a ten minute break that the
city Council took, and then a lot of arguing between
Doug Ship and the city couple of president trying to
help people down. But you know, overall, it was fourteen
and a half hours of just public comment, which is
the largest public com in person public comment session that
is in modern history. Yeah, and it was basically unanimous.
(10:19):
There were there were four speakers who got up pretty
early who were in favor of the training center, and
then everyone else was anti cop city.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yeah, did I remember remember seeing some things about like
APF police departments trying to like trying to push people
through to give public comment.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, so there was a rumor going around that the
Atlanta Police Foundation and the Mayor's office were trying to
get fifty people. There was like this number, it was
like fifty people. I never saw anything to back them up,
but they did seem like the four people who showed
up were kind of coordinated and you know, like one
of them brought their kids, which the stop op city
(11:03):
side does the same thing. So sure did seem to
be some like intentional.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Parallels, but what was not parallel was just the sheer
number of people on the different sides. It was.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I don't think anybody who's in favor of the facility
is like going to wait fourteen hours to talk for
two minutes. Yeah, that's just not going to happen. And
you know, the Atlanta Police Foundation hasn't shown up to
defend the facility in since twenty twenty one, and like
they're the most invested.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah it is. It is striking the amount of which
their work on it is just so much like backdoor lobbying,
and they really have never had to defend the project,
like publicly and openly. It's it's all, it's all just
these these these back backer meetings between city council members,
between people, people in the air's office, between people and
(11:57):
the police department.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, the Atlantic Foundation lobbyist was actually running around uh
city Hall on juth it.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, not surprising. So I feel like most if people
are online, they probably heard the result of the vote
after fourteen hours of public common which was almost like
unanimously against the facility. What was it of four to eleven.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Yeah, four votes against eleven in favor.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
So they they passed the funding package, allocating at least
the thirty three million plus the future loans.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
The least back agreement.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, yes, the.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Thirty one million plus the least back. Okay, we're not
going to get more deep than.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That, Okay, but yes, it was it was like what
what time was? That was like four am? At thirty
Jesus As.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
I got there, there was a Young Democrat like thing
against There was a press conference with the Young Democrats
of the already coming out against cup City at eight am.
So I was there at seven thirty. I left City
Hall at six thirty. That was the wildest game.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
So so after probably the longest city council meeting day
in quite a while.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
They in history, in history, for sure, in history. They
single day.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
They voted to approve the funding, which I mean, I
don't know, I think I wasn't I was not surprised.
I wasn't surprised, but I was disappointed as as a
as a as a parent would say.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I want to point out a couple of things that
they did in preparation, So I think city council was
prepared for like an action or a Hegler's veto, and
they had two moves to kind of neutralize them. The
first is they moved the actual vote on this to
the very last thing, So the vote on the funding
(14:00):
came at the end of the meeting, so if you
know there was an attempt to stop the vote itself,
it wouldn't have affected any city business before that. And
then they also prepared a committee room so that if
you know, things got rowdy or there was some sort
of direct action in the chambers itself, they were just
going to take the council and physically move them to
a different room and let people continue to demonstrate in
(14:23):
city councils. So I think they were they they made
some wise moves on bare ends to prepare.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah, and they loaded the chamber with the cops before
the vote. I know, back like during the afternoon, they
were setting up kind of barricades and staging around city Hall.
I mean, it just seemed to be a lot of
like eretic euretic stuff happening around, did not. I mean, yeah,
I mean I was unsure what was going to happen myself.
(14:55):
I didn't know how how it would play out, what
what tax people will try to employ. It seemed like
people mostly tried to kind of like go buy the
book there and see how far that would get. And
then if the result was like what we got, then
other other things will happen in these next few months,
especially with a week of action coming up. So, yeah,
(15:16):
do you think people on that like what did people
on the ground think, Like, did did they think that
that the vote would go through? Do they think the
vote would be stopped?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I met?
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I am, I am kind of It's it's been it's
been it's been a little little over a month since
I've been in Atlanta, And I think that the mood
on the ground fluctuates so quickly often.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, And I think it's you know, kind of dependent
upon which segment of the movement we're talking about. There's
there's obviously full sections of the movement that that are
opposed to electoralism. They still showed up, like they still
you know, came and gave public comment, and I feel
like they they didn't expect that this would go any
(15:57):
other way. There's more like electorally plugged in groups that there.
You know, there was a slim chance of this thing
getting sent back to committee, and that was the closest
that uh, this had to not going through city council.
You know, the kind of the whip count that that
(16:19):
we learned was if it if it came to a
straight up or downvote, it was always going to go through.
It's never the numbers to do anything else. Yeah, So
there was some lobbying happening behind the scenes that uh,
with student organizers and various other organizers who are more
prone to having these these discussions, especially with elected officials.
(16:43):
So there was bobbying for the tickets sent back to
community to committee where it would be held and hopefully
delay the actual funding and mess up if you have
slumming mechanism. But that didn't happen. So there are people
who are hopeful, Like even I was, you know, I
(17:03):
said that this was the closest electorally that we'd never
come to stopping it. I you know, just kind of
knowing how the whip count changed over the course of
like forty eight hours. It got close, and then then
it got taken away.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Adrey Dickens called city council members into his office Monday
morning and started feeling them all.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, well, I mean and this was never going to
be the end of the movement by any means. There
was already plans for things afterwards, like the Week of
Action at the end of June here, and I guess
we can we can talk about how some of the
ways the movement might continue going forward after after these
these these messages from our our lovely sponsors who endorse
(17:50):
everything we're saying. Thank you, Ronald Reagan, I know you
agree with me on this, So we're back.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Like ghost it's crazy, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Mean most people don't. So as if you're part of
like gold, yeah, exactly, if you're part of the ghost
on the community, there is there is a few types
of ghosts who actually really like bargaining material possessions. If
they're able to give away enough of their stuff, their
souls able to actually transcend to the next level and
go to a more safe, like a more RESTful place.
(18:30):
So these are people who've been too materially driven on Earth.
Their soul gets trapped in that. So they have to
have to make sure that they get rid of their
gold in orders to them to go to their next place,
whether that's like, that's like a safer version of Limbo, Paradise, Heaven, hell, whatever.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So yeah, I waiting for you to move here so
I can learn more about this.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
I was just making all of that up on the fly.
So let's talk about what's gonna happen next. Obviously, there
was a week of action planned for June twenty fourth
to July first, which is going to be a very
hot week. So there's that. To my understanding, in Trench
(19:08):
Creek and Trenchman Creek Park is still closed.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Correct, So in Trench Creek Park is still closed. There
is there is a motion or there's some legislation in
the Thecab County Border Commissioners that is supposed to come
up again on Tuesday. The CEO's office asked for like
thirty days to finish cleaning up the park. So the
thirty days will expire Monday, and then there's a Border
(19:34):
Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. After that, they hopefully the park
is open, but we'll see.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
So it may or may not be open. That is
still park that is still to be determined. I've heard
there will be another music festival of some sort, not
many details as of the time of recording, so we
we knew that was going to happen. I talked about
this during during the Week of Action retrospective episode, which
(20:03):
honestly is still pretty applicable here in terms of the
amount of destruction that's happened in the forest and how
people are thinking about ways to continue resistance in the
face of not again. I'm against the binary of like
victory and defeat. I think that's not a useful way
of looking at this situation at this point. But you're
(20:23):
they're kind of looking down like the barrel of something now,
being like a lot of the land's been cleared, a
lot of the trees have been cut. Preconstruction is ongoing.
Construction is scheduled for this summer. They just got approved
for all the city funding, right like things are in motion.
So the ways that people are going to choose to
resist now might be different in the ways that they
(20:44):
chose to resist like a year or two ago, because
it's just a very different, very different situation. There's a
different risk level, there's a lot of more surveillance around
the forest, there's a lot more surveillance outside the forest.
It's just it's just a very different scenario. So I
think if uh, the retrospective episode still contains a few
things about how how sistance might might take forms during
(21:06):
these next few weeks. But there's this this this other
thing that came up after the city council meeting, which
is the referendum that some people are planning. Uh, do
you want to go over a little bit of those details.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, So a lot of people or I've seen kind
of on Twitter where a lot of people are like, oh,
the referendum is just coming out and rise to the
city council vote, and like, no, this has been in
the works for a little while. Okay, to my knowledge,
it dates I mean I know it dates back to
before even the funding question was was in place, so
it's been in the works for a minute. And then
(21:40):
they decided to hold off until after the city, so
we're probably going to do it regardless of the city.
But the referendum there there is there's a spaceport that
was supposed to be built in South Georgia and basically
this one woman like started at random question and got
(22:02):
this spaceboard canceled. Of course, we're talking very different like municipalities.
That was a much smaller one. She only had to
collect fourteen hundred signatures or something like that. But there's
a referendum question that is in front of the municipal
clerk to kind of sign off on it and make
sure that it is properly worded and all these things
(22:25):
like just to administrate issue at this Once the clerk
signs off on it, then these organizers have sixty days
to collect seventy five thousand. The number they actually need
is just over seventy thousand, but they're collecting a little
extra because these signatures will be challenged, you know, things
like that with a vote. If they're successful in doing so,
(22:49):
it goes to city council who again as in the
administrative position, has to all the signatures, make sure everything
you know is official and then and if once that passes,
then it goes automatically on the November seventh, and then
it will be a straight up or down question of
(23:10):
do we cancel this twenty twenty one, least to the
Atlanta Police. But there are a couple where this comes in.
I think most interestingly is the organizers of this believe
that they can get an injunction to stop construction both
(23:32):
now once the referendum campaign kicks off, and then if
they collect the seventy thousand signatures again until November seventh,
So this could significantly delay the Beneflete Foundation's ability to
continue destruction on the land. And like, right now we
are in the mass grating days of this project, which
is the most environmentally damaging part of it. Now we're
(23:55):
we're screwing with the contours of the land. So you know,
they're going to have to prove that they're serious about
the referendum, and the judge is going to have to
believe that the referendum is at least likely to succeed
in order to get this injunction. But it does look
like they should be able to prove at least that
(24:16):
they are serious and there is a good chance of
the succeeding.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
How soon do people have to start like doing stuff
for that.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So the referendum once the clerk signs off on the paperwork,
and that the clerk has seven days to validate, and
then once that spends, you have the sixty days. So
we're in this kind of interim period where they can't
start collecting signatures, but as soon as the clerk signs
off on it, they will start collecting signatures. So they
(24:45):
anticipate the clerk to like kind of try to hold
off as long as possible. So they're looking at Wednesday,
which I'm going to look at my calendar because you
know exactly what that. So they're looking at Wednesday the
fourteenth as the kickoff for the signature collecting camp. So
(25:07):
for more information about the referendum campaign or to find
ways to volunteer, or if you are an Atlanta resident
who was registered to vote in the last election, you
can sign the referendum. So copsity vote dot.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
That's copsityvote dot com.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Let's see, there's one other thing that happened of Note
the past few weeks.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
One thing, one little thing.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
There's one other thing that happened of note the past
few weeks, and that's when police rated the home of
three people and this this home kind of serves as
like a legal defense hub in Atlanta and arrested three
people associated with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund and are charging
(25:57):
them with a variety of of quote unquote charity fraud
and like another other quite nonsensical financial crimes. As the
bail hearing judge admitted himself, so do you wanna do
you want to go over some of some of those details,
because this is something that was honest. People have been
(26:20):
expecting this to happen, Like the alne of solid Already
Fund themselves has said, hey, we will probably be the
target of something like this in the future. During during
other hearings, the prosecutors have have talked about how they're
investigating the Solidarity Fund as a part of this like
conspiracy they're trying to weave. So it's definitely something that's
(26:41):
been on on people's minds of of this type of
legal this type of like state repression targeting all of
like the bail funds and like legal support structures that
have been set up. So, yeah, this happened like late
late May, I believe. Yeah, last day, they were still asleep.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
In their beds. They got swat broke down their door.
You know, I'm sure everyone's seen the video, broke down
their door, armored vehicle and pulled them all out of
their beds in their pajamas and took them to jail
in their pajamas. Just you know, utterly insane for a
bail fund or a nonprofit to have this go down.
(27:25):
But yeah, they had been prepared for this for quite
some time. Marlin, one of the organizers, had sent a
CPP you know, a statement in preparation for this, and
you know, you saw how quickly they transitioned the actual
running of the bail from the Atlanta Solidary fun to
(27:48):
the National Bail Network been seamlessly that day. So they
were prepared. And then you know, someone who was talking
to Marlin while he was in jail said, Mark, pretty
chill about the whole thing, which if you've ever interacted
or seen Marlin, uh, that is that's that's pretty apt
to describe him. But the actual charges are are insane.
(28:13):
You know, the the charity fraud part of it. They're
they're saying things like buying a cell phone, uh for
for the bail fund is charity broad or reimbursing yourself
or gas is charity broad or buying COVID test is
charity broad like all these things that that are just
(28:34):
like overhead.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Yeah, it was very very very standard like overhead costs
for running an organization of this scale. Yeah, and as is,
this was all on the website when people dot it
anyway to talk to the various uses that these funds
were going to have. All the charges are truly flin flimsy.
There was a veil hearing a few few days later
(28:57):
which I watched the whole thing, and the judge there
did not think the charges had much much merit, which
is the first time really during any kind of bail
hearing associated with top coupstandy stuff. For the judge was like, okay,
so this just seems very clearly fake. And and I
told the prosecution that they'll have to put put a
(29:19):
much much stronger, stronger case together if they want this
to go forward and at at at any at any
further stage. So all three got out on bail. It's
it's pretty scary though we like it's it's it fucking sucks.
During the bail hearing, uh, the I believe, I believe
it was it was it was the assistant attorney general
(29:40):
who was there. Of Valler, I believe he was talking
about how police were going through the trash of solidarity
fund how they're monitoring phone calls, uh other other communications.
So just another another good reason to have a have
a paper shutter and to have to have a burn
(30:01):
pile in your backyard, because yeah, they're they're they're gonna,
they're gonna go through your trash if they want to
find things out about you. They they they they stole
a journal from somebody. They were someone's someone's personal journal
was was taken. And so yeah, a lot of a
(30:22):
lot of kind of very very standard, like very standard
of this type of like shady investigation police stuff, which
is just it's always good to have a reminder for
people about what what the police are willing to do.
But still, even even with all that, it seems like
they were not able to get much at all, because
the most they can put together is, oh, you you
(30:46):
you use these funds in a way that you explicitly
said that you could be used on your website, which
is not probably not going to be a crime, So
not compelling long term, but certainly a pretty large inconvenience
in the short term, and still a very like chilling
like display of police repression, saying that we'll we'll, well,
we'll make your life incredibly difficult if if we don't
(31:09):
like you.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
But you know, and as has happened every time there's
been like this massive display of police repression, it utterly backfired,
right like we national media is now just harping on
the fact that these charges are overblown and they're attacking
(31:31):
bail buds, which is inconceivable to let's say, like the
liberal or the liberal left wing of things. And so
you you've blown this issue into another sphere of awareness.
You know, You've got Chris Hayes now on MSNBC doing
an entire segment on some tops city, which is not
something you know, we had before, even the domestic cares
(31:52):
and charges. And I think this was just tactically a
terrible decision by the Attorney General of Office to go
through with this, because the pr side of it is
a nightmare, and rightfully so, like this is an insane escalation.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Is the bail fund still being operated by the National
Bail Organization at this point.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yes, so the bail fund is still being run out
of the National Network at this point in time. So
secure dot act, blue dot com, Slash donate slash Atlanta
Solidarity will get you a donate page. Continue to support
bail you know in Atlanta, which again we've got a
(32:38):
week of action coming up. Bail funds are highly probable
in terms of being used.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah, I mean as they were used to bail out
the three people who are the veil, who are part
of the bail fund organizers, because I think, I think
they all got a fifteen thousand dollars spaale, which is
a relatively low amount in terms of what we've seen
in relation to this movement.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
And I was looking through the December warrants and bail
hearings a minute ago for another story, and like then
there were like ten thousand dollars. The cost has ballooned
dramatically in the last months, So to go back down
to fifteen thousand dollars fail is terrible and awful, But
that seems way more in line with expectations.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Yeah, well so that is that is just a small
glimpse that the many things that have been happening the
past month, things do not seem to be slowing down.
Things just seem to be changing in ways that makes
h makes everything certainly, certainly a tricky and not very
not very clear, but that's kind of the way that
(33:42):
these things go. People are still going to be showing up.
There's the Week of Action happening on us starting on
the twenty fourth, so that's that's going to be this month.
So it's going to be an interesting lead up to
July first. Yeah, the movement continues. Uh where can Where
(34:03):
can people find your work?
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Matt? Yeah, you can follow a c PC uh at
Atlanta otherscore Press on Twitter. You can follow me at
Matt a c PC on Twitter, and our website is
at L Press.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Collective dot com. I assume yeah, I said, oh did
I cut out? You did cut out? I could not
hear it at all. I said, I heard it. I
heard at L Press Collective.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Yeah. Just you know atl Press Collector dot.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Com dot com. Fantastic, Yeah you can. Uh. I'll put
a link for the for the new for the new
solidarity fund, uh secure dot ActBlue dot com. Slash don't
slash a L and a solidarity because that is a
long thing to type out, So I'll put a link
for that in the description for the new for the
new bail fund link and uh, yeah, you can. You can,
(34:52):
uh if you want to keep updated on plans for
the week of action, I suppose you can look at
stop cup City on Instagram and the Defend the Line
of Forest account on Twitter, along with the many many
websites that exists at this point. But yeah, so that's
gonna be happening later. I don't know what will happen
(35:13):
because I because I don't know, because I really because
I really have no idea what's going to happen. Because
what happened to the last one was also quite quite surprising.
So who who knows? Who knows what will what will
what will go down? But thank you Matt for joining
me to give me, give me and the listeners a
(35:35):
bit of an update on the again, many many things
that have been happening in Atlanta. I'll see you all
on the other side. It could happen here as a
production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool
Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com, or
check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(35:56):
wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for
It could Happen here, updated monthly at Coolzonemedia dot com
slash sources. Thanks for listening.
It Could Happen Here News
Hosts And Creators
Robert Evans
Garrison Davis
James Stout
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