February 14, 2023 • 54 mins
Friends, loved ones, and comrades of Tortuguita share memories and stories of them. The Friday after the police killing, a vigil for Tort is held at Weelaunee People's Park.
https://stopcop.city/memories-of-tort/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M M. A lot of things have changed in the
(00:24):
woods since I visited last year. The Entrenchment Creek Park
trailhead at Wilani People's Park is now basically a massive
mud pit, the trees cut down and all the grass gone.
Sidewalks and bike paths have all been turned into rubble.
As we talked about in the last episode, the police
(00:47):
have been increasingly destructive during There are more and more
frequent raids on the forest. In the past year, the
cops have demolished dozens of treehouses and targeted protesters with
escalatory tactics. The last thirteen people who have been arrested
near the forest have all been charged with domestic terrorism
for their mere association with the Stop Cops City movement.
(01:11):
As hard as the cops are making it to continue
being in the woods, there is still something undeniably special
about being in community in the forest, or else people
wouldn't be risking life and legal consequences. Living in the
woods for me was like a dream. I came to
the woods because I was homeless and unemployed and was
(01:31):
actually living in different woods by myself, and Tore actually
came to the woods for similar reasons towards lost their
housing in Tallahassee and decided to give this place a
try as a place to live in for overtime. Just
developed like people built coffee shops and like a kitchen
(01:54):
and places for people just like hang and that continued,
will never stopped, and they never stopped making life out.
It's comfortable. It's comfortable Langage welcoming image community. That's really
the best I can speak to, no matter what was
(02:14):
going on, and people were always working to make the
forests welcome up a spetch towards many people as possible.
The night of the December police raid, Tortuguita went back
to the camp in Wilani People's Park to start rebuilding
after police tore down the encampments and protest infrastructure just
(02:35):
hours prior. I've never experienced such emotional and material security
as I have living in the Wilani Forest because there
are a community of people that are dedicated to taking
care of each other and making sure that we all
have our needs met. And that was something that tort
and I did for each other often making sure that
we had enough water and food and rides to places.
(02:57):
It's really a wonderful place to live. And I've also
deep in my relationship to the earth. Being there, like
living with the same trees for over a year, is
a really profound experience. And also it's a really stressful
place and people are always butting heads in really interesting ways,
but we're committed to remaining in relationship with each other.
As part of the magic, too, is that if you
(03:19):
get into a fight with someone at camp, you don't
just you know, like move to a different apartment and
stop talking to them, like they're still around and there's
still a comrade. So we're committed to each other in
a way that's it's rare to find the society. Here
is Cricket talking about the type of support everyone has
for each other in the movement and how Towart really
(03:39):
embodied that. I think one of the things I've seen
in my experience with the movement is just the tremendous
amount of care that everyone has for one another. You
don't have to know one another, we don't have to
be on a legal name basis, and we still fight
for one another, we still protect one another, we still
try to save one another, and that is something I
saw tort embody regularly and I'm um, I'm grateful to
(04:02):
everyone who has helped keep me safe, and I always yeah,
I'm always trying to keep everyone else safe in any
capacity that I can. So we've done a lot of
safety trainings. Something that toward was a really big part
of was medic medic trainings, making sure that people have
access to life saving techniques and skills that are often
kept away from really vulnerable folks. So that is something
(04:25):
we've been trying to contribute and and that we're trying
to continue now that toward us no longer with us
we were. We were supposed to meet yesterday to put
together a curriculum move marginalized vulnerable people who face gun
violence both from the state and from right wing new
and Nazi fascists. You name it um and we'll be
(04:45):
continuing that work in their in their name. When spending
time in the Wulani forest, and even for the many
peripheral aspects of the movement, people will choose a forest name.
It's like a nickname that helps figer legal identity and
Norman de plume. Many chose Tortu guita, which is Spanish
(05:07):
for little turtle. But it wasn't just chosen for its
cute animal association I'll read from bitter Southerner. Quote. It
was a nod to the colonial era indigenous military commander
of the same name, who led Native American forces to
one of their most decisive victories against the then nascent
U s Army in seventeen now. Toward was allegedly apprehensive
(05:34):
to share the meaning behind their chosen name with a
journalist who was interviewing them, because quote, that does not
make us look like peaceful protesters. We are very peaceful people,
I promise unquote. There are's a few other quotes attributed
to Toward across various articles that seemed to espouse a
belief in non violence as a tactical strategy. Quote, It's
(05:58):
incredibly important to continue having popular support. Cops. City is
incredibly unpopular already. We're very popular. We're cool. We get
a lot of support from people who live here, and
that's important because we win through non violence. We're not
going to beat them at violence, but we can beat
them in public opinion in the courts, even unquote. Based
(06:22):
on frequent phone calls with Towards about forced defense, Tortoguita's
own mother has shared similar sentiments about Towards politics, saying
they quote carry no malice unquote. I'm going to read
one more quote from Tortuguita about this topic. The right
kind of resistance is peaceful, because that's where we win.
(06:44):
We're not going to beat them at violence. They're very,
very good at violence. We're not. We win through non violence.
That's really the only way we can win. We don't
want more people to die. We don't want Atlanta to
turn into a war zone. During my time in Atlanta,
(07:23):
I wanted to learn as much as possible about tortu Guita,
about who they were as a person, what kind of
stuff they enjoyed doing, what they were to the movement,
but mostly just listened to people's stories and memories of
tort Peter met toward just shortly after they moved to Atlanta.
So I met tord in Mayo around the time when
(07:46):
they first got to the forest from Tallahassee. I met
them during that week of action, and they were like
insanely enthusiastic about being there. We met around a fire
and talked about how our enthusiasm for life sometimes offended people.
That was something that we had in common. They talked
about their mom a lot. I won't say I was
(08:07):
a close friend of Torts, but I was a dear
comrade to them, and being in relationship with them really
sharpened my conflict skills. I was in a few different
conflict with tort and also on the sidelines for some
conflicts that they had with other people, and I learned
a lot about how to be more gentle with my
comrades and how to give people more grace in times
(08:30):
of high stress. This is a snippet from my conversation
with Cricket on what Tortu Guita brought to the movement
and how they really lived their politics tour. It was hilarious.
They were someone who always brought fund to whatever they
were doing. And I'm sure through the folks that you're seeing,
the folks that people can see on social media with
like the outpour and of support for tourt that they
(08:52):
were involved in so many different groups, like so many
different causes. Um, And they were. They were an incredibly
dedicated activists, but someone who really felt that resistance could
be fun, could be joyful, could be celebratory. It was
always an opportunity to meet new people, to hug new people. Um.
They were a big hugger. They were someone who was
always checking in on other people. They were someone who
was always there to lend a hand, either literally or
(09:16):
or or metaphorically, and they really inspired I think a
lot of people, and I think that that was something
huge that they contributed to the movement, not just as
a person, but also bringing that joyfulness, bringing that that energy,
that passion and excitement really inspired me and inspired a
lot of people. It's it's funny a lot of the
people I've I've talked to you were like have have
like mentioned just because of the different like you know,
(09:38):
affinity groups they've been in and stuff. There's like all
the people I've talked to you talked have mentioned a
lot like that. They would not like regularly, but like
everyone's in a while, like get into conflicts with tort
Like there was there was someone who would you would
sometimes um who there would be just happened to be
disagreements with. But despite disagreements, they were like one of
the kindest people that they vet even when they're you know,
(10:02):
arguing about about something. It's like they would go so
far to make sure that other people knew that they
were cared for and would would go just be be
very open towards like everybody they meet. Yeah, I think
they really tried to live into and walk the walk
of abolition and noncarstol conflict of it's okay to disagree,
and disagreement doesn't mean that you've got to get kicked out.
(10:26):
It does not mean that you're a bad person. They
allowed for complexity and a law for processes of working
through things, of talking through things, and that's a a
huge gift. I I mean, I think anyone, regardless of
their level of activism, can relate to the idea that
it's hard to disagree. It's it's hard to be in
conflict sometimes. But I do think that they were really
(10:47):
committed to building relationships of trust where you could disagree,
where you could have different opinions, but that there was
still so much love and still so much care, and
that those things were not themselves in conflict. Those things
were actually very very much related, and you know it
was there. They're special and yeah, I'm just I'm just sorry.
(11:08):
I'm just heartbroken. Tortuguita's partner and a close friend of
theirs recorded a video shortly after the shooting, just talking
about who Tortuguita was and how they lived in community.
I got permission from their partner to use clips from
that video in this episode. Tour It was always a
very welcoming presence there. Always one of the greatest organizers
(11:33):
we had out there. They took care of everyone who
came through. We always want to make sure everyone was
taken care of. They were the ones who would welcome
you into the forest and they would make sure you
have a sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, a tent, whatever
you could possibly mean. Always making sure people are getting
fed and just like Transparent You've never had one of
(11:59):
the people I work with. Noah also talked about how
Tortuguito was quick to welcome people into the movement and
you to work through various actions and around the forest
and doing medical work with them. Um. I think I
think a lot of people have good remember them as
being the kind of stuff much welcoming people that I
(12:20):
ever met working on the forest, kind of a new
people come in tourish, very like very often kind of
like one of the first people to greet them, and
was always very like open to letting people come and
see and be a part of the community that had
been established on the woods. It was a very um.
It was an extremely welcome in place. They're a very
welcome in person. I was always willing to help somebody
(12:44):
out and do the work I trk to make sure
that the community was safe out there and that it
could continue. So much of the stuff around the forest,
it's all about like the militants in the woods and
towards kind of fell into that category, you know, people
who are wearing bala lava's camping out in the forest.
Most of the people I've interviewed are also more on
(13:06):
that side of things, but not everyone feels like they
have the ability to put on a ski mask and
live in the woods. One of the people I spoke
with was a mother named Karen, who started doing local
neighborhood organizing after connecting with Tortuguita last summer. So I
met tort Less summer and there was like lots of
(13:26):
things happening in the park, and you know, I'm a
neighbor and so I was the who really fought for
you know, tried to get the city council to vote
against it, and so I was interested, you know, curious
and interested about all of these events happening at the park.
They were all like mostly at night time, and I
have a toddler, and so I'm like boring and have
(13:49):
a strict bedtime, so I don't, you know, go out
at nighttime. Um. So I was like trying to find
a place for me and like people like me and
they're boring, you know, parents, And so I got connected
them with Tort and we start and we started, I
guess going during the daytime and I'm I'm taking my
toddler over there to the park to explore. And you know,
(14:13):
we Tort and I talked a lot about well, first
they were really excited about all the the idea like
children being at the park. They really wanted it the
park to be for everyone, and very much like a
neighborhood mom. Like I was new to activism and I
didn't even know. I was like, um, you know, I
thought we were just like visiting a park, but you know,
(14:34):
there's like a whole lot of different things about being
in it that really kind of helped me navigate and
showed me around. In my experience, it takes a special
kind of person to onboard somebody new to this sort
of thing. Some anarchists can come off as a bit
pompous sometimes or at least hesitant to welcome new people in.
(14:56):
Karen spoke on how Tortuguita kind of showed them the
rope and helped educate on everything from local organizing to
security culture. Well, I didn't have signal before. I was like, okay,
I want to reach out to try and make my
neighborhood aware. I made flyers and just like put like
the environmental effects, you know, and I send it to
(15:17):
tort and they were like, okay, yeah, this looks good.
And then I was like, should it just be like
anonymous or should I you know, like make like Instagram
or should I put my name on it and you
know all those things? Should I put my number on it?
And they're like, okay, well get a Google Voice number
and you can set up like an email for it,
(15:39):
maybe use Proton. Then I was like, should I just
like I don't have to put any information on it,
but like what if you know there's people like me
in the neighborhood. I guess, like, how do you balance that?
And they said no, I think if you've got to
like organize a neighborhood group, it would be sick. So yeah,
you know, they were conscious of all those things. But
(15:59):
also knew where when and where it was like appropriate,
and we just like bounced ideas back and forth. They
really helped me like navigate that. I really think it
just shows how inclusive they were that they like how
they were engaged with me and like you know, an
older neighborhood mom, but they were really supportive and you know,
(16:20):
I guess made me feel valued, never made me feel
embarrassed at anything. I think it was just like if
it wasn't about like the party or I don't know,
like being cool or anything. They just really wanted the
forest to be for everyone, and just how they were
like willing to engage with the community. My conversations with
Karen and others in Atlanta really showed toward as a
(16:41):
person who was always thinking about others and how to
support the people around them, not even just focusing on
themselves while living in the forest, but working to expand
that care outwards. So yeah, I made this flyer and
called a bunch of other I don't even know if
they were people that were thing in the forest or
(17:01):
just people and you know, friends or whatever, but and
was like, hey, we're all going to go canvas and
and I think they slept in that day we met
at the park, but me and a couple of neighbors met,
like you know, and I was like, I had zero expectations,
and in they texted me later and I was like,
I'm so sorry, but we'll do it again. But yeah,
(17:23):
just that you know, like they were willing to come
fut flyers door to door and yeah, just like support
me in that way. Karen has continued to do neighborhood
organizing since meeting towards last summer, and it is a
great example of the variety of people involved in the
Defend the Atlanta Forest movement. Based on the many local
(17:45):
people she's spoken with, Karen says the stop co Op
City proposal is pretty unpopular in the area. So yeah,
we've just been like dropping flyers off and just letting
them know the environmental effects. And everyone we've talked to like,
you know, no one wants it, and I think lots
of people, lots of them called in, you know, to
(18:05):
city council. But yeah, I guess Tort and I and
our kind of idea was like if we can make
a space. It's like, you know, they may not want
to go to the forest, but if we can kind
of create a space for them in the movement. Cricket
talked about the many projects that Tort had a hand
in and it's willingness to just go out there and
(18:26):
do things, not just sit around and wait for the
world to get better. They lived anarchism in a very
active way. I don't know if anyone mentioned the Transanctuary
that Tort built and helped built and and helped organize.
I just want to uplift that as just another sort
of amazing project that they were involved with. I remember
hearing about it to talked about it and they were like, oh, yeah,
(18:49):
you know, we're gonna have a volunteer day. And then
two weeks later we had like another little check in
and they were like, oh yeah, no, we we like
did it. And I was like, excuse me, Like I
just just I don't know, they were just like this
this Tasmanian devil of social justice. Like I felt like
they were just constantly on the move getting stuff done,
supporting people. It's just it was I don't know, like
that's just another memory that I keep revisiting of just
(19:12):
being like, oh my god, they are not paralyzed like
they are living. They were living day to day right,
like they knew that tomorrow could bring another raid. Like
they Yeah, they weren't stupid, they were really actually brilliant
and they could just they just lived every day so
fully and brought everything they had. A friend of Tortuguitas
that goes by the name Levitate the Pentagon, which is
(19:34):
definitely in the top three force names that I've heard.
But they gave a statement to Rolling Stone where they said, quote,
Tortuguita was a proud and fierce anarchist. The struggle for
a total liberation came as their first commitment in life.
We must honor that commitment from a like together. They're
(19:59):
really fun. They to make people have be like a
very common presence during stressful times. Um. And they could
make like a joke really out of like an a situation,
but a lot of remember like a lot of conversations
just about what we were doing in the forest, and
there are like reasons for being out there, um and
(20:22):
there you know, just kind of they going these ideas
of combating there you know, the state and then then
the states pushed for you know, destroying the forest for
the effects that would have on the climate, for the
increasing ability of the place to militarize and to suppress
not just people have round, but law enforced agencies across
(20:44):
the country come into training at the facility to better
clamp down our in a presence. Yeah, they were just
they're really kind, very tenacious. That's left the two things
I can always kind of come back to. So there
as a person towards capacity for wit under high stress
situations is something I heard from a lot of different people,
(21:06):
including towards friends and their partner just really really like
always like had a joke, had like a really like
good sharp commentary, or would like give you like a
cigarette professional ship poster. Yeah, yeah, I mean their meme
game on point um Yeah, and just always like doing
(21:35):
a lot of things. And so they were running around
a lot, like getting things for people and then handing
it off to them, and so like, yeah, I think
a lot of the times when we would run into
like for like often times we run into each other
and be like oh hey, hi, hi, okay, we're doing
a thing, and then like okay, I gotta go by,
you know, and there's always like yeah, man, sure you're
(22:00):
super into that. Oh that smile. They love fruit snacks,
loved them, couldn't get enough of them, and they always
helped do the dishes. Can I just say, like that's
a big deal. Yeah, Like no one likes doing the dishes.
It's like they were always there doing the dishes. They
were like, oh my god, running water, hot water, Like
I mean like like they're like like, oh my god,
(22:22):
and just like yeah, that's that's what I want people
to know. Fruit snacks and dishes. Fruit snacks have come
up a lot throughout my conversations with people. Tortoquita's partner
and friend also talked about how tort tried to balance
helping other people with their own self care. They were
(22:42):
always so passionate too, because they want to help people
so bad that they would put their all into it.
And it took a toll on on them in a
lot of ways. But they always were so fucking strong
and took on so much more than I ever could.
They they are an inspiration to us all. They also
(23:05):
need to like disappear for like hours or days at
a time, and just like rechart, they read a lot.
Oh yeah, I were one of the like one of
the things sitting in their hammock near their tent and
just just we were eating and whatever. It was they
were doing them shipping post and whatever. They're good to distress.
(23:26):
They were good about taking care of themselves, but they
did get into some conundrums where they get stressed out
and then you just see them like go off on
their own and then come back in a few days
and then they're all good again. I'm gonnappy, go lucky.
I've heard them described as kind, and they definitely were.
(23:46):
I think the word that comes to mind the most
is earnest. They were just like incredibly earnest. I think
like their earnestness I'm talking about is like they truly
live their politics like anyone can talk about like conclude
civility and love and fighting for the future, but they actually,
you know, just in how they carried themselves and interacted
(24:06):
with me. They really did that, and lots of people
might be like cynical about it or maybe call them
like optimistic or naive, but they actually lived. I feel
like love sounds corny, but yeah, just like a love
for people in nature in the forest. What was that
peace we were talking about? Revolutionary death? Yes, yes, yeah,
(24:29):
they read that this last summer and it really had
a strong impact upon them and they I think you
were sharing as well that they had spoken about how
they knew it was very possible that they were going
to have this revolutionary death, and that back to them
(24:54):
kind of giving their all. They were prepared and they
unfortunately paid the ultimate prices. As said, as we all are,
I'm sure Tortugato, wherever they are now, is happy to
know that they gave their all all the way until
(25:15):
the end. They were always they were a true revolutionary
and gave their all to this movement. And I think
now it's our job to take up that banner and
carry on his name, their name in multiple ways. Escalatory
actions of police last December lad to the current fatal scenario,
(25:37):
not just with the domestic terror framing as a pretext
for using increased force, but also the physical destruction of
treehouses resulting in people being out in more vulnerable positions.
They were very calculated in in their risks and they
would never have had to be put in this situation
(25:58):
if their home in trees hadn't been destroyed. They lived
in a treehouse, and the treehouse that they were really
holding down and staying in was bulldozed in the mid
December raids. M On November one, two thousand six, undercover
(26:35):
Atlanta Police Department officers executed a no knock warrant on
the home of ninety two year old Katherine Johnston in
the Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Police claim to have evidence
that crack cocaine was being sold out of the house.
Officers in plain clothes cut off the burglar bars to
Johnston's home of seventeen years and broke down her door.
(26:59):
According to police, the ninety two year old woman shot
several officers. Multiple cops were treated for a gunshot wounds.
Katherine Johnston was shot and killed by the police in
her own home, where police then claimed to have found
marijuana thanks to an informant who said that they bought
drugs at the house, except every single thing the police
(27:19):
claimed was a lie. Earlier that day, an officer had
found bags of marijuana in the woods. The drugs were
planted on a suspected dealer who didn't have any drugs
on him. The officer threatened to arrest the suspected dealer
if he didn't give up information, leading to an arrest.
The man gave the police an address on a Neil
(27:40):
Street and a fake name to buy cocaine. With the
ap D claimed the police were raiding the house because
an informant had bought crack at Johnston's home. It turns
out all of the injuries to officers came from friendly fire.
They fucked up their own guys. The cops fired a
total of thirty nine shots, five or six of which
(28:03):
hit Johnston. As a ninety two year old woman living alone,
she owned a rusty revolver for self defense. As these
unannounced strangers in plain clothes kicked down her door. Johnston
did fire once and missed. Three police officers in Atlanta
executed Katherine Johnston as they shot each other with friendly fire.
(28:25):
To cover this up, they lied and planted evidence. They
ran a smear campaign against Johnston, further victimizing the old
woman that they killed and who the cops knew was innocent.
The police in Atlanta have a track record of shooting
each other, killing civilians, and lying about it. With that
history in mind, this next part might get a little complicated,
(28:47):
but I think it's important. A lot of the people
who knew towards have talked about how they often advocated
for non violence in direct action. Many have said the
sequence of events it forth by police just doesn't sound
like something tort would do, And I very much understand
this reaction. Police lie all the time, especially when it
(29:09):
comes to people the cops have killed. It is very
likely that Towart really was just murdered by the cops.
But I also think there's part of this reaction that's
almost like a self preservation mechanism, stemming from a worry
that if a certain Pandora's box gets opened, what that
would mean for the movement and for the struggle against
(29:31):
militarized police and ecological collapse. More broadly, there's also many
scenarios that can lead to a brief exchange of gunfire,
especially with the Georgia State patrols relative inexperience conducting raids
in the forest. You can spend days just thinking of
various possibilities for what could have happened, as I'm sure
(29:53):
many people in Atlanta have. The recently released bodycam makes
some things more clear, but also opened up many possibilities
to endlessly ruminate about, especially with on the ground chatter
indicating cops shot each other. This next person is one
of the original forest defenders I interviewed for my previous
(30:15):
defend the Atlanta Forest series from last May as their
partners sated as it's from stated that be moved peace,
they did not from the idea that they could for
(30:40):
the things that I believe, from the idea that they
could be murdered, from the ideas that we should not
dismiss the possibility. Yeah, people can and maybe even should.
(31:02):
Look at this world, look at the police murdering three
or four people a day, of a climate catastrophe that
they live in, of the rising tide of fascism, of
the absolute fucking hell that we fucking live in, and
think this can't go on. And I'm willing to do
(31:24):
any of them and pay any of them to make
a stop. We can't dismiss if that is a very
feel possible grievance, that is a very real impossible instead
of mind and now, if that was towards falls toward
(31:47):
to wait us, if those cares, if that was it's position,
that is not roun that, and I undoubtedly to die.
(32:08):
Tortu Gita both privately and publicly talked about an appreciation
for non violence as a long term strategy, and the
flip side of that is toward has also been described
to me as somebody who acts with intention, acts with
great thought, and if they did decide to do something,
(32:29):
they would have had a good reason to and they
would not have chosen to do something if it had
the potential to put fellow forced defenders in unnecessary danger.
Based on some of my conversations, while Toward advocated for
the potential of non violence as a political strategy, they
itself were not solely non violent. The Atlanta Police Foundation
(32:52):
have lied about every single aspect of this project's development
since the start. The g b I said that there
was no bodycam footage, and the police have that the
last year fine tuning their propaganda to frame the Defend
the Force movement as a criminal enterprise and anyone protesting
against cops city as a dangerous terrorists and threat to
public safety. But there is a difference between mindlessly believing
(33:16):
the police narrative and trying to not retroactively take away
somebody's agency, especially if they did make a decision that
they thought was the right choice given the circumstance around
the idea. A lot of people have I've been talking
a lot about trying to you know, there's a there's
(33:38):
there's narrative flaws, and the police of story about what
happened on that right, and there's inconsistencies. We just now
die of the gun that their agend elegend was used
just like a couple of days ago, and it was
days after the GPS initial Evidence final report. It does
all suspicious that I think. I think that's bothered me
is that I would never want to take away agency
(34:01):
from someone who cannot speak for themselves for an act
that they may have committed. If towards shot that cop,
there was a shot fired in liberation against the state
that murders thousands of people and destroys millions more for
the car solar system, the same state that seeks to
help the South River flood and to make the soil
(34:21):
tony degrees honor, and to make Atlanta's air quality go down.
I would never want to take agency away from my
comrade to have done that when they cannot speak for themselves.
And I don't think anybody should try and make it
seem like make it seem like it would have been
unjustified at a shot fired at the police and defense
of the forest as a shot fired in self defense.
(34:42):
Cops shoot each other all the time on the accidently,
they're terrible with arms. They're just not good at their jobs.
G SP. I think as a as a specific agency
is UM sometimes be focused on I'm more here. I
see a lot of people kind of wrap up GESP
and ap D and like the cab p D as
things like very like just as one agency UM GESP
(35:04):
as A as Georgia Stay Patrol is under the direct
command of our and do not learn body camps as
a as an agency policy, UM, they were the Governor's
star troopers when he went something done violently and without accountability,
that is who he sends. And you know my reaction
all of this, whether or not what the events transpired,
(35:27):
is that our comrade is that our comrade was murdered
by the state, whether or not they allegedly fired on
an officer. I think the solidarity enraged that people should
show should be the same either way, if they were
to come out that that there was in fact shot,
I would be so disheartened if people turned their back
(35:48):
on our comrade who was slain by the police for
when I see as an act of self defense. With
all of the unknown around what happened the day of
the shooting, what we do know for sure, I've heard
boiled down to two simple points. Tort was killed defending
the forest, and they died doing what it loved. The
(36:12):
first event type thing I went to in Atlanta was
a noised demo outside the Cab County Jail Thursday night
for the seven people arrested as a part of the
deadly raid, all seven of whom are now facing domestic
terrorism charges for being in the forest. The next day, Friday,
there was a large public vigil in Wolani People's Park.
(36:37):
Last time I was there, it was for the Muskogee
Creek Summit near the end of last spring. It was sunny.
I was hanging out in the gazebo listening to ecological presentations.
There was a large tent kitchen in the grass, and
I got to sit around a table and eat food
with people. When I arrived Friday evening for the vigil,
(36:59):
the first thing I saw was the destroyed remains of
the gazebo, almost on display by the entrance of the
torn up parking lot. It was such a clear visual
indicator for how things have changed since the start of
last summer. Near the tree line, a few hundred people
were gathered around a sort of outdoor shrine a few
(37:22):
large stone slabs, overturned candles, flowers, forest plants, little turtles, pictures, art, cigarettes,
and yes fruit snacks forming an orange glowing mound. People
gathered and shared memories of Tortuguita. Many spoke of its
kindness and solidarity with struggles across the South, from the
(37:45):
defense of drag shows in Tennessee to mutual aid work
in Florida where they helped build housing in low income
communities hit hardest by hurricanes. I feel like Tortuguita's compassion
was something that really shifted the culture in the forest
and touched all of the lives of the people that
(38:06):
they met. Um. They lived what they believed, which is
something that I hope we can all be inspired by. UM.
There are so many stories of people who were just
mentioning to tort like, oh, I'm in this situation, or
this happened to my friend, and they would just immediately
be thinking of ways that community could help them or
(38:27):
that they could help them. And someone just shared a
story with me that the last time that they saw TOWRT,
they were telling them about how uh the on house
folks in their community were getting their tents and sleeping
bags like swept and then Tort gave them two hundred
dollars to um like replace the sleeping bags and tents.
(38:48):
And I feel like they were just they had such
a sense of kinship with people, even people that they
didn't know. They were so connected to like the ways
that we are all a part of this web of life, UM,
and so committed to living in a way that can
bring us all into a better community with each other,
(39:11):
whether it be us and our fellow human beings or
us in our forests UM. And they loved these woods,
and I feel like the fact that these woods were
where they departed from this realm into the next just
makes it that much more important that we protect them
and that we make sure that this forest remains intact UM.
I know that that's what Tort would have wanted, That's
(39:32):
what they died doing. And I think that in all
of the chaos and desperation and devastation that this loss
is bringing our community, I think that one of the
things that has been keeping me going is remembering the
love that Tort had for people and for all living
beings and just feeling really connected to their compassion UM.
(39:54):
And I hope that that's something I know that that's
something that is touching, has touched all of us, and
the ripples of it are continuing. The love that tort
brought to this world is still here and it's continuing
to grow. So I think that they're I think that
they're here with us, and I think that they always
will be because they brought so much joy and goodness
(40:15):
and love into this world, and that's something that never
goes away, it only grows. I've gotten permission from a
few of the people that spoke that night to share
some of their stories of Tortu Gita. One of the
small things that stuck with me was how someone described
Tort as possessing a playful, rebellious energy. Tort and I
(40:37):
watched this UH yugoslav film together called My Father Is
a Socialist cool Lock, which was this joyful Yugoslavian film
from the eighties about the transition after World War FEW
in Yugoslavia, the autonomous self rule and breaking apart with
the Soviet sphere, and in it UH early on in
(41:04):
the film, they're they're changing their social customs, have adopted
a new way of greeting each other in Yugoslavia where
they they say good morning death to fascism. And from
that time when I would see towards always they would
(41:26):
that's the fascism, comrade, that's the fascism, and um toward towards.
When I first met them, uh invited me to teach
aikido in the forest, which is called it's a martial art,
that's called the art of peace. And so while we
(41:48):
train as warriors, we train as peaceful warriors. But as
many people have said, we for instance, did defenses of
drag shows in Tennessee from assemblies of Nazis and proud
boys who showed up in body armor with assault rifles
and towar. It was militant, but joyful sort took all
(42:15):
of the always it was. It was with the utmost
gravity and yet with the utmost lightness. And you know,
uh we we we as well arranged a weekend of
conflict resolution training here where toward rallied and and was
(42:40):
the one that brought you know, a half a dozen people.
Was was always rallying people, brought people to the drag defense,
brought people to the trainings, brought people to my i
Kedo class. Maybe it brought two dozen different people through
over the course of several dozen classes. They were a
(43:00):
peaceful warrior and they were my Gladney, and they got
shot dead. And I'd like to I'd like to lead
a chance in that spirit to honor some of torts
warrior spirit tonight. And I know one that they liked
(43:20):
is ah Auntie Antique Capitalista. And we could start together,
slow and quiet and build together a powerful voice and
pierce the night. Auntie Antique Capitalista, antiphank you. Throughout the night,
(44:39):
many songs were sung alongside screams of rage. Tortuguita actually
left a tag with a little red sharpie on the
guitar being played at the vigil. It's a little doodle
of a cat face next to the words all cats
are beautiful. Somebody at the vigil read out a few
(45:00):
of the messages sent in to the Remember tort at
proton mail dot com email address, many of which you
can now find collected at stop cop dot city. That's
stop cop period city. One of the things about tour
It that was really inspirational is that they weren't just
against capitalism, they weren't just against the police. They made
(45:23):
abolition about what they were fighting for, and on the
we Remember Tort uh proton mail. A lot of people
have been sending in stories about how they contributed so
much to each community that they were in, and I
want to read this one that came in from someone
in Tallahassee. Everyone in Tallahassee knew Manny. I'm not even exaggerating.
(45:45):
They were a part of almost every single organization they
could get their hands on in town. Food Not Bombs,
the Plant, Live Oak, Radical Ecology, International Workers of the World,
Tallahassee Community Action Committee, Free Dan Baker, Stopping HB One, etc.
With every person who was lucky enough to be graced
with their presence, they felt safe and free to do
whatever they could for the community. They ran a cold
(46:08):
night shelter for the homeless practically on their own when
the Kearney Center couldn't do it. They helped do grocery
deliveries for those in the south side of town for free.
They showed up to almost every single meal share the
F and B hosted. And this is only a fraction
of the work that they did for the Bond community
here in Tallahassee and beyond. Manny, I always watched you
from the periphery with awe. I always wanted to be
(46:30):
your close friend. I wish you could have seen the
vigil that we had. You would have been proud. The
large overturned stone by the flowers, candles and fruit snacks
at the Wolani vigil had a message written on it
that I read when I returned to the park a
few days later. The big boulder reads erected in memory
(46:52):
of all whose lives were lived and unjustly lost in
Wolani Forest. You live on in the trees, and I
remember by the land. You will never be forgotten until
every prison is empty, until every slave is free, until
all live without fear, until earth has healed. Our work
is not done. If it's okay, I'll share another of
(47:15):
the message Bat sent. Manny was a close friend, comrade,
and above all constant fighter for working people. I knew
them in tallahassee through the IWW food not bonds and
live oak radical ecology, and I will never cease to
be amazed by their tireless activism, their extreme empathy, and
their ability to make everyone feel welcomed and radical spaces.
(47:36):
They died as they lived, fighting for a better world
and defending the forest from destruction in the name of
a fascist militarized police force. I hope their name will
not be forgotten and that their killer is brought to justice.
But more than anything, I hope the cause that they
fought for is victorious. Now we mourn this great loss
to the Tallahassee and Atlantic communities, but tomorrow we will
(47:58):
fight back twice as hard against cap balism in the state,
so that Tortuguita did not die in vain. This is
another one. They were kind and fierce. They were sweet,
extraordinarily funny, conscientious, tender, silly, loving and one of the
most generous people I have met. And that contagious smile
(48:18):
and laugh three exclamation points. I went to bed last
night hearing their laughter in my head, loud and beautiful.
They somehow were still there to add levity and joy
as I screamed, cried, and choked on my own spit
all night, and they killed you. You are gone, comrade.
I missed you. I miss you. They had a deep
(48:39):
understanding of solidarity and struggle. When the cops swept an
encampment in my neighborhood without hesitation, they shared their forest
funds to get more tense and sleeping bags because they
knew that these are not individual battles, but that these
struggles are inherently tied to one another, that they are
part of the same struggle. This is a lesson for
the movement that must be carried forward, for them, for
(48:59):
all of us, for the strength of the fight to
stop cops City. I will miss how we greeted one
another and our meager attempts to make it a thing.
Death's to fascism, Liberation to all people. One of the
people playing the tortuguita tag guitar at the vigil played
a version of bella Chow and I'm just gonna read
(49:19):
out the way that they described the song. Bella Chow
means goodbye beautiful in Italian. The song was originally about
an Italian partisan who goes out to fight the fascists
in the mountains during World War Two. And I like
to dedicate this version to somebody who laid their life
(49:40):
down to fight against fascism, militarism, and against the expansion
of the police, and against the destruction of nature. Somebody
who lifted up all of the people they were around,
knew so many people, was involved in so many communities,
and was just so funny, so loving, so friendly, and
(50:00):
they laid their life down for their community and to
stop cops city and to stop militarism and the destruction
of nature. They really believed in what they were doing,
and the way we can honor them is by continuing
their fight death to fascism. See you on the other side.
The world is wicking outside my window. Bella chow bela
(50:27):
chow bella chow chow chow drags my senses into the sunlight.
For there are things that I must do. Wish me luck.
Now I have to leave you Bella chow bela chow
bela chow chow chow with my friends. Now in the
(50:51):
farest We're gonna shake the gates off how and we
will tell them. You will tell them your bellow chow
bella chow bella chow chow chowd that we Lonni's not
for the franchise and which the bastards dropped dune dead.
(51:14):
Next time you see me, I may be smiling Obella
chow bella chown bella chow chow shall I'll be in
prison or on the chev I'll say, the forest called me.
(51:36):
The world is wickham. I sign my window, bella chowd
bella child, bella chow chow child, Try my senses into
the sunlight. For their things that I must do, wish me.
Now I have to leave you. Obella chowd, bella child,
(51:58):
bella chow chow chow. Out my French, that in the
forest we're gonna shake the gates of hell, and we
will tell him, you know, we will tell him a
bella chow, bella chow, bella chow chow chow. That we
love is not for the freshies which the bastards drop
(52:18):
done dead. Next time you see me, I may be smiling.
Bellichi belichower, bella chow chow chow. I'll be in prison
or on the TV. I'll say, the forest called me here.
(52:57):
The world is waken. I'll sign my and no bella chowda,
bella chowd, bella chow chow chown. Dry my senses into
the sunlight, for there are things that I must do.
Almost I gotta leave you. O bella chow, bella chowd,
bella chow chow chow with my friends. Now in the
forest we're gonna shake the gates off Hell, and we
(53:22):
will tell him. We will tell them bella chow, bella
chow bella chow chow chow, that we Lonnie's not for
the franchise, and wish the bastards dropped dun down. Next
time you see me, I might be smiling bella chow
(53:46):
bella chow, bella chow chow Chow. I'll be in prison
or on the TV. I'll say the forest called me here.
Next time you see me, I'm maybe smiling bella chow
bella chow, bella chow chow Chow. I'll be in prison
(54:09):
or on the TV, I'll say the forest called me here.
Music by The Narcissist Cookbook and Propaganda. It Could Happen
Here is a production of cool Zone Media. For more
podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zone
media dot com, or check us out on the I
(54:29):
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
You can find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated
monthly at cool zone Media dot com slash sources. Thanks
for listening.
M M. A lot of things have changed in the
(00:24):
woods since I visited last year. The Entrenchment Creek Park
trailhead at Wilani People's Park is now basically a massive
mud pit, the trees cut down and all the grass gone.
Sidewalks and bike paths have all been turned into rubble.
As we talked about in the last episode, the police
(00:47):
have been increasingly destructive during There are more and more
frequent raids on the forest. In the past year, the
cops have demolished dozens of treehouses and targeted protesters with
escalatory tactics. The last thirteen people who have been arrested
near the forest have all been charged with domestic terrorism
for their mere association with the Stop Cops City movement.
(01:11):
As hard as the cops are making it to continue
being in the woods, there is still something undeniably special
about being in community in the forest, or else people
wouldn't be risking life and legal consequences. Living in the
woods for me was like a dream. I came to
the woods because I was homeless and unemployed and was
(01:31):
actually living in different woods by myself, and Tore actually
came to the woods for similar reasons towards lost their
housing in Tallahassee and decided to give this place a
try as a place to live in for overtime. Just
developed like people built coffee shops and like a kitchen
(01:54):
and places for people just like hang and that continued,
will never stopped, and they never stopped making life out.
It's comfortable. It's comfortable Langage welcoming image community. That's really
the best I can speak to, no matter what was
(02:14):
going on, and people were always working to make the
forests welcome up a spetch towards many people as possible.
The night of the December police raid, Tortuguita went back
to the camp in Wilani People's Park to start rebuilding
after police tore down the encampments and protest infrastructure just
(02:35):
hours prior. I've never experienced such emotional and material security
as I have living in the Wilani Forest because there
are a community of people that are dedicated to taking
care of each other and making sure that we all
have our needs met. And that was something that tort
and I did for each other often making sure that
we had enough water and food and rides to places.
(02:57):
It's really a wonderful place to live. And I've also
deep in my relationship to the earth. Being there, like
living with the same trees for over a year, is
a really profound experience. And also it's a really stressful
place and people are always butting heads in really interesting ways,
but we're committed to remaining in relationship with each other.
As part of the magic, too, is that if you
(03:19):
get into a fight with someone at camp, you don't
just you know, like move to a different apartment and
stop talking to them, like they're still around and there's
still a comrade. So we're committed to each other in
a way that's it's rare to find the society. Here
is Cricket talking about the type of support everyone has
for each other in the movement and how Towart really
(03:39):
embodied that. I think one of the things I've seen
in my experience with the movement is just the tremendous
amount of care that everyone has for one another. You
don't have to know one another, we don't have to
be on a legal name basis, and we still fight
for one another, we still protect one another, we still
try to save one another, and that is something I
saw tort embody regularly and I'm um, I'm grateful to
(04:02):
everyone who has helped keep me safe, and I always yeah,
I'm always trying to keep everyone else safe in any
capacity that I can. So we've done a lot of
safety trainings. Something that toward was a really big part
of was medic medic trainings, making sure that people have
access to life saving techniques and skills that are often
kept away from really vulnerable folks. So that is something
(04:25):
we've been trying to contribute and and that we're trying
to continue now that toward us no longer with us
we were. We were supposed to meet yesterday to put
together a curriculum move marginalized vulnerable people who face gun
violence both from the state and from right wing new
and Nazi fascists. You name it um and we'll be
(04:45):
continuing that work in their in their name. When spending
time in the Wulani forest, and even for the many
peripheral aspects of the movement, people will choose a forest name.
It's like a nickname that helps figer legal identity and
Norman de plume. Many chose Tortu guita, which is Spanish
(05:07):
for little turtle. But it wasn't just chosen for its
cute animal association I'll read from bitter Southerner. Quote. It
was a nod to the colonial era indigenous military commander
of the same name, who led Native American forces to
one of their most decisive victories against the then nascent
U s Army in seventeen now. Toward was allegedly apprehensive
(05:34):
to share the meaning behind their chosen name with a
journalist who was interviewing them, because quote, that does not
make us look like peaceful protesters. We are very peaceful people,
I promise unquote. There are's a few other quotes attributed
to Toward across various articles that seemed to espouse a
belief in non violence as a tactical strategy. Quote, It's
(05:58):
incredibly important to continue having popular support. Cops. City is
incredibly unpopular already. We're very popular. We're cool. We get
a lot of support from people who live here, and
that's important because we win through non violence. We're not
going to beat them at violence, but we can beat
them in public opinion in the courts, even unquote. Based
(06:22):
on frequent phone calls with Towards about forced defense, Tortoguita's
own mother has shared similar sentiments about Towards politics, saying
they quote carry no malice unquote. I'm going to read
one more quote from Tortuguita about this topic. The right
kind of resistance is peaceful, because that's where we win.
(06:44):
We're not going to beat them at violence. They're very,
very good at violence. We're not. We win through non violence.
That's really the only way we can win. We don't
want more people to die. We don't want Atlanta to
turn into a war zone. During my time in Atlanta,
(07:23):
I wanted to learn as much as possible about tortu Guita,
about who they were as a person, what kind of
stuff they enjoyed doing, what they were to the movement,
but mostly just listened to people's stories and memories of
tort Peter met toward just shortly after they moved to Atlanta.
So I met tord in Mayo around the time when
(07:46):
they first got to the forest from Tallahassee. I met
them during that week of action, and they were like
insanely enthusiastic about being there. We met around a fire
and talked about how our enthusiasm for life sometimes offended people.
That was something that we had in common. They talked
about their mom a lot. I won't say I was
(08:07):
a close friend of Torts, but I was a dear
comrade to them, and being in relationship with them really
sharpened my conflict skills. I was in a few different
conflict with tort and also on the sidelines for some
conflicts that they had with other people, and I learned
a lot about how to be more gentle with my
comrades and how to give people more grace in times
(08:30):
of high stress. This is a snippet from my conversation
with Cricket on what Tortu Guita brought to the movement
and how they really lived their politics tour. It was hilarious.
They were someone who always brought fund to whatever they
were doing. And I'm sure through the folks that you're seeing,
the folks that people can see on social media with
like the outpour and of support for tourt that they
(08:52):
were involved in so many different groups, like so many
different causes. Um, And they were. They were an incredibly
dedicated activists, but someone who really felt that resistance could
be fun, could be joyful, could be celebratory. It was
always an opportunity to meet new people, to hug new people. Um.
They were a big hugger. They were someone who was
always checking in on other people. They were someone who
was always there to lend a hand, either literally or
(09:16):
or or metaphorically, and they really inspired I think a
lot of people, and I think that that was something
huge that they contributed to the movement, not just as
a person, but also bringing that joyfulness, bringing that that energy,
that passion and excitement really inspired me and inspired a
lot of people. It's it's funny a lot of the
people I've I've talked to you were like have have
like mentioned just because of the different like you know,
(09:38):
affinity groups they've been in and stuff. There's like all
the people I've talked to you talked have mentioned a
lot like that. They would not like regularly, but like
everyone's in a while, like get into conflicts with tort
Like there was there was someone who would you would
sometimes um who there would be just happened to be
disagreements with. But despite disagreements, they were like one of
the kindest people that they vet even when they're you know,
(10:02):
arguing about about something. It's like they would go so
far to make sure that other people knew that they
were cared for and would would go just be be
very open towards like everybody they meet. Yeah, I think
they really tried to live into and walk the walk
of abolition and noncarstol conflict of it's okay to disagree,
and disagreement doesn't mean that you've got to get kicked out.
(10:26):
It does not mean that you're a bad person. They
allowed for complexity and a law for processes of working
through things, of talking through things, and that's a a
huge gift. I I mean, I think anyone, regardless of
their level of activism, can relate to the idea that
it's hard to disagree. It's it's hard to be in
conflict sometimes. But I do think that they were really
(10:47):
committed to building relationships of trust where you could disagree,
where you could have different opinions, but that there was
still so much love and still so much care, and
that those things were not themselves in conflict. Those things
were actually very very much related, and you know it
was there. They're special and yeah, I'm just I'm just sorry.
(11:08):
I'm just heartbroken. Tortuguita's partner and a close friend of
theirs recorded a video shortly after the shooting, just talking
about who Tortuguita was and how they lived in community.
I got permission from their partner to use clips from
that video in this episode. Tour It was always a
very welcoming presence there. Always one of the greatest organizers
(11:33):
we had out there. They took care of everyone who
came through. We always want to make sure everyone was
taken care of. They were the ones who would welcome
you into the forest and they would make sure you
have a sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, a tent, whatever
you could possibly mean. Always making sure people are getting
fed and just like Transparent You've never had one of
(11:59):
the people I work with. Noah also talked about how
Tortuguito was quick to welcome people into the movement and
you to work through various actions and around the forest
and doing medical work with them. Um. I think I
think a lot of people have good remember them as
being the kind of stuff much welcoming people that I
(12:20):
ever met working on the forest, kind of a new
people come in tourish, very like very often kind of
like one of the first people to greet them, and
was always very like open to letting people come and
see and be a part of the community that had
been established on the woods. It was a very um.
It was an extremely welcome in place. They're a very
welcome in person. I was always willing to help somebody
(12:44):
out and do the work I trk to make sure
that the community was safe out there and that it
could continue. So much of the stuff around the forest,
it's all about like the militants in the woods and
towards kind of fell into that category, you know, people
who are wearing bala lava's camping out in the forest.
Most of the people I've interviewed are also more on
(13:06):
that side of things, but not everyone feels like they
have the ability to put on a ski mask and
live in the woods. One of the people I spoke
with was a mother named Karen, who started doing local
neighborhood organizing after connecting with Tortuguita last summer. So I
met tort Less summer and there was like lots of
(13:26):
things happening in the park, and you know, I'm a
neighbor and so I was the who really fought for
you know, tried to get the city council to vote
against it, and so I was interested, you know, curious
and interested about all of these events happening at the park.
They were all like mostly at night time, and I
have a toddler, and so I'm like boring and have
(13:49):
a strict bedtime, so I don't, you know, go out
at nighttime. Um. So I was like trying to find
a place for me and like people like me and
they're boring, you know, parents, And so I got connected
them with Tort and we start and we started, I
guess going during the daytime and I'm I'm taking my
toddler over there to the park to explore. And you know,
(14:13):
we Tort and I talked a lot about well, first
they were really excited about all the the idea like
children being at the park. They really wanted it the
park to be for everyone, and very much like a
neighborhood mom. Like I was new to activism and I
didn't even know. I was like, um, you know, I
thought we were just like visiting a park, but you know,
(14:34):
there's like a whole lot of different things about being
in it that really kind of helped me navigate and
showed me around. In my experience, it takes a special
kind of person to onboard somebody new to this sort
of thing. Some anarchists can come off as a bit
pompous sometimes or at least hesitant to welcome new people in.
(14:56):
Karen spoke on how Tortuguita kind of showed them the
rope and helped educate on everything from local organizing to
security culture. Well, I didn't have signal before. I was like, okay,
I want to reach out to try and make my
neighborhood aware. I made flyers and just like put like
the environmental effects, you know, and I send it to
(15:17):
tort and they were like, okay, yeah, this looks good.
And then I was like, should it just be like
anonymous or should I you know, like make like Instagram
or should I put my name on it and you
know all those things? Should I put my number on it?
And they're like, okay, well get a Google Voice number
and you can set up like an email for it,
(15:39):
maybe use Proton. Then I was like, should I just
like I don't have to put any information on it,
but like what if you know there's people like me
in the neighborhood. I guess, like, how do you balance that?
And they said no, I think if you've got to
like organize a neighborhood group, it would be sick. So yeah,
you know, they were conscious of all those things. But
(15:59):
also knew where when and where it was like appropriate,
and we just like bounced ideas back and forth. They
really helped me like navigate that. I really think it
just shows how inclusive they were that they like how
they were engaged with me and like you know, an
older neighborhood mom, but they were really supportive and you know,
(16:20):
I guess made me feel valued, never made me feel
embarrassed at anything. I think it was just like if
it wasn't about like the party or I don't know,
like being cool or anything. They just really wanted the
forest to be for everyone, and just how they were
like willing to engage with the community. My conversations with
Karen and others in Atlanta really showed toward as a
(16:41):
person who was always thinking about others and how to
support the people around them, not even just focusing on
themselves while living in the forest, but working to expand
that care outwards. So yeah, I made this flyer and
called a bunch of other I don't even know if
they were people that were thing in the forest or
(17:01):
just people and you know, friends or whatever, but and
was like, hey, we're all going to go canvas and
and I think they slept in that day we met
at the park, but me and a couple of neighbors met,
like you know, and I was like, I had zero expectations,
and in they texted me later and I was like,
I'm so sorry, but we'll do it again. But yeah,
(17:23):
just that you know, like they were willing to come
fut flyers door to door and yeah, just like support
me in that way. Karen has continued to do neighborhood
organizing since meeting towards last summer, and it is a
great example of the variety of people involved in the
Defend the Atlanta Forest movement. Based on the many local
(17:45):
people she's spoken with, Karen says the stop co Op
City proposal is pretty unpopular in the area. So yeah,
we've just been like dropping flyers off and just letting
them know the environmental effects. And everyone we've talked to like,
you know, no one wants it, and I think lots
of people, lots of them called in, you know, to
(18:05):
city council. But yeah, I guess Tort and I and
our kind of idea was like if we can make
a space. It's like, you know, they may not want
to go to the forest, but if we can kind
of create a space for them in the movement. Cricket
talked about the many projects that Tort had a hand
in and it's willingness to just go out there and
(18:26):
do things, not just sit around and wait for the
world to get better. They lived anarchism in a very
active way. I don't know if anyone mentioned the Transanctuary
that Tort built and helped built and and helped organize.
I just want to uplift that as just another sort
of amazing project that they were involved with. I remember
hearing about it to talked about it and they were like, oh, yeah,
(18:49):
you know, we're gonna have a volunteer day. And then
two weeks later we had like another little check in
and they were like, oh yeah, no, we we like
did it. And I was like, excuse me, Like I
just just I don't know, they were just like this
this Tasmanian devil of social justice. Like I felt like
they were just constantly on the move getting stuff done,
supporting people. It's just it was I don't know, like
that's just another memory that I keep revisiting of just
(19:12):
being like, oh my god, they are not paralyzed like
they are living. They were living day to day right,
like they knew that tomorrow could bring another raid. Like
they Yeah, they weren't stupid, they were really actually brilliant
and they could just they just lived every day so
fully and brought everything they had. A friend of Tortuguitas
that goes by the name Levitate the Pentagon, which is
(19:34):
definitely in the top three force names that I've heard.
But they gave a statement to Rolling Stone where they said, quote,
Tortuguita was a proud and fierce anarchist. The struggle for
a total liberation came as their first commitment in life.
We must honor that commitment from a like together. They're
(19:59):
really fun. They to make people have be like a
very common presence during stressful times. Um. And they could
make like a joke really out of like an a situation,
but a lot of remember like a lot of conversations
just about what we were doing in the forest, and
there are like reasons for being out there, um and
(20:22):
there you know, just kind of they going these ideas
of combating there you know, the state and then then
the states pushed for you know, destroying the forest for
the effects that would have on the climate, for the
increasing ability of the place to militarize and to suppress
not just people have round, but law enforced agencies across
(20:44):
the country come into training at the facility to better
clamp down our in a presence. Yeah, they were just
they're really kind, very tenacious. That's left the two things
I can always kind of come back to. So there
as a person towards capacity for wit under high stress
situations is something I heard from a lot of different people,
(21:06):
including towards friends and their partner just really really like
always like had a joke, had like a really like
good sharp commentary, or would like give you like a
cigarette professional ship poster. Yeah, yeah, I mean their meme
game on point um Yeah, and just always like doing
(21:35):
a lot of things. And so they were running around
a lot, like getting things for people and then handing
it off to them, and so like, yeah, I think
a lot of the times when we would run into
like for like often times we run into each other
and be like oh hey, hi, hi, okay, we're doing
a thing, and then like okay, I gotta go by,
you know, and there's always like yeah, man, sure you're
(22:00):
super into that. Oh that smile. They love fruit snacks,
loved them, couldn't get enough of them, and they always
helped do the dishes. Can I just say, like that's
a big deal. Yeah, Like no one likes doing the dishes.
It's like they were always there doing the dishes. They
were like, oh my god, running water, hot water, Like
I mean like like they're like like, oh my god,
(22:22):
and just like yeah, that's that's what I want people
to know. Fruit snacks and dishes. Fruit snacks have come
up a lot throughout my conversations with people. Tortoquita's partner
and friend also talked about how tort tried to balance
helping other people with their own self care. They were
(22:42):
always so passionate too, because they want to help people
so bad that they would put their all into it.
And it took a toll on on them in a
lot of ways. But they always were so fucking strong
and took on so much more than I ever could.
They they are an inspiration to us all. They also
(23:05):
need to like disappear for like hours or days at
a time, and just like rechart, they read a lot.
Oh yeah, I were one of the like one of
the things sitting in their hammock near their tent and
just just we were eating and whatever. It was they
were doing them shipping post and whatever. They're good to distress.
(23:26):
They were good about taking care of themselves, but they
did get into some conundrums where they get stressed out
and then you just see them like go off on
their own and then come back in a few days
and then they're all good again. I'm gonnappy, go lucky.
I've heard them described as kind, and they definitely were.
(23:46):
I think the word that comes to mind the most
is earnest. They were just like incredibly earnest. I think
like their earnestness I'm talking about is like they truly
live their politics like anyone can talk about like conclude
civility and love and fighting for the future, but they actually,
you know, just in how they carried themselves and interacted
(24:06):
with me. They really did that, and lots of people
might be like cynical about it or maybe call them
like optimistic or naive, but they actually lived. I feel
like love sounds corny, but yeah, just like a love
for people in nature in the forest. What was that
peace we were talking about? Revolutionary death? Yes, yes, yeah,
(24:29):
they read that this last summer and it really had
a strong impact upon them and they I think you
were sharing as well that they had spoken about how
they knew it was very possible that they were going
to have this revolutionary death, and that back to them
(24:54):
kind of giving their all. They were prepared and they
unfortunately paid the ultimate prices. As said, as we all are,
I'm sure Tortugato, wherever they are now, is happy to
know that they gave their all all the way until
(25:15):
the end. They were always they were a true revolutionary
and gave their all to this movement. And I think
now it's our job to take up that banner and
carry on his name, their name in multiple ways. Escalatory
actions of police last December lad to the current fatal scenario,
(25:37):
not just with the domestic terror framing as a pretext
for using increased force, but also the physical destruction of
treehouses resulting in people being out in more vulnerable positions.
They were very calculated in in their risks and they
would never have had to be put in this situation
(25:58):
if their home in trees hadn't been destroyed. They lived
in a treehouse, and the treehouse that they were really
holding down and staying in was bulldozed in the mid
December raids. M On November one, two thousand six, undercover
(26:35):
Atlanta Police Department officers executed a no knock warrant on
the home of ninety two year old Katherine Johnston in
the Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Police claim to have evidence
that crack cocaine was being sold out of the house.
Officers in plain clothes cut off the burglar bars to
Johnston's home of seventeen years and broke down her door.
(26:59):
According to police, the ninety two year old woman shot
several officers. Multiple cops were treated for a gunshot wounds.
Katherine Johnston was shot and killed by the police in
her own home, where police then claimed to have found
marijuana thanks to an informant who said that they bought
drugs at the house, except every single thing the police
(27:19):
claimed was a lie. Earlier that day, an officer had
found bags of marijuana in the woods. The drugs were
planted on a suspected dealer who didn't have any drugs
on him. The officer threatened to arrest the suspected dealer
if he didn't give up information, leading to an arrest.
The man gave the police an address on a Neil
(27:40):
Street and a fake name to buy cocaine. With the
ap D claimed the police were raiding the house because
an informant had bought crack at Johnston's home. It turns
out all of the injuries to officers came from friendly fire.
They fucked up their own guys. The cops fired a
total of thirty nine shots, five or six of which
(28:03):
hit Johnston. As a ninety two year old woman living alone,
she owned a rusty revolver for self defense. As these
unannounced strangers in plain clothes kicked down her door. Johnston
did fire once and missed. Three police officers in Atlanta
executed Katherine Johnston as they shot each other with friendly fire.
(28:25):
To cover this up, they lied and planted evidence. They
ran a smear campaign against Johnston, further victimizing the old
woman that they killed and who the cops knew was innocent.
The police in Atlanta have a track record of shooting
each other, killing civilians, and lying about it. With that
history in mind, this next part might get a little complicated,
(28:47):
but I think it's important. A lot of the people
who knew towards have talked about how they often advocated
for non violence in direct action. Many have said the
sequence of events it forth by police just doesn't sound
like something tort would do, And I very much understand
this reaction. Police lie all the time, especially when it
(29:09):
comes to people the cops have killed. It is very
likely that Towart really was just murdered by the cops.
But I also think there's part of this reaction that's
almost like a self preservation mechanism, stemming from a worry
that if a certain Pandora's box gets opened, what that
would mean for the movement and for the struggle against
(29:31):
militarized police and ecological collapse. More broadly, there's also many
scenarios that can lead to a brief exchange of gunfire,
especially with the Georgia State patrols relative inexperience conducting raids
in the forest. You can spend days just thinking of
various possibilities for what could have happened, as I'm sure
(29:53):
many people in Atlanta have. The recently released bodycam makes
some things more clear, but also opened up many possibilities
to endlessly ruminate about, especially with on the ground chatter
indicating cops shot each other. This next person is one
of the original forest defenders I interviewed for my previous
(30:15):
defend the Atlanta Forest series from last May as their
partners sated as it's from stated that be moved peace,
they did not from the idea that they could for
(30:40):
the things that I believe, from the idea that they
could be murdered, from the ideas that we should not
dismiss the possibility. Yeah, people can and maybe even should.
(31:02):
Look at this world, look at the police murdering three
or four people a day, of a climate catastrophe that
they live in, of the rising tide of fascism, of
the absolute fucking hell that we fucking live in, and
think this can't go on. And I'm willing to do
(31:24):
any of them and pay any of them to make
a stop. We can't dismiss if that is a very
feel possible grievance, that is a very real impossible instead
of mind and now, if that was towards falls toward
(31:47):
to wait us, if those cares, if that was it's position,
that is not roun that, and I undoubtedly to die.
(32:08):
Tortu Gita both privately and publicly talked about an appreciation
for non violence as a long term strategy, and the
flip side of that is toward has also been described
to me as somebody who acts with intention, acts with
great thought, and if they did decide to do something,
(32:29):
they would have had a good reason to and they
would not have chosen to do something if it had
the potential to put fellow forced defenders in unnecessary danger.
Based on some of my conversations, while Toward advocated for
the potential of non violence as a political strategy, they
itself were not solely non violent. The Atlanta Police Foundation
(32:52):
have lied about every single aspect of this project's development
since the start. The g b I said that there
was no bodycam footage, and the police have that the
last year fine tuning their propaganda to frame the Defend
the Force movement as a criminal enterprise and anyone protesting
against cops city as a dangerous terrorists and threat to
public safety. But there is a difference between mindlessly believing
(33:16):
the police narrative and trying to not retroactively take away
somebody's agency, especially if they did make a decision that
they thought was the right choice given the circumstance around
the idea. A lot of people have I've been talking
a lot about trying to you know, there's a there's
(33:38):
there's narrative flaws, and the police of story about what
happened on that right, and there's inconsistencies. We just now
die of the gun that their agend elegend was used
just like a couple of days ago, and it was
days after the GPS initial Evidence final report. It does
all suspicious that I think. I think that's bothered me
is that I would never want to take away agency
(34:01):
from someone who cannot speak for themselves for an act
that they may have committed. If towards shot that cop,
there was a shot fired in liberation against the state
that murders thousands of people and destroys millions more for
the car solar system, the same state that seeks to
help the South River flood and to make the soil
(34:21):
tony degrees honor, and to make Atlanta's air quality go down.
I would never want to take agency away from my
comrade to have done that when they cannot speak for themselves.
And I don't think anybody should try and make it
seem like make it seem like it would have been
unjustified at a shot fired at the police and defense
of the forest as a shot fired in self defense.
(34:42):
Cops shoot each other all the time on the accidently,
they're terrible with arms. They're just not good at their jobs.
G SP. I think as a as a specific agency
is UM sometimes be focused on I'm more here. I
see a lot of people kind of wrap up GESP
and ap D and like the cab p D as
things like very like just as one agency UM GESP
(35:04):
as A as Georgia Stay Patrol is under the direct
command of our and do not learn body camps as
a as an agency policy, UM, they were the Governor's
star troopers when he went something done violently and without accountability,
that is who he sends. And you know my reaction
all of this, whether or not what the events transpired,
(35:27):
is that our comrade is that our comrade was murdered
by the state, whether or not they allegedly fired on
an officer. I think the solidarity enraged that people should
show should be the same either way, if they were
to come out that that there was in fact shot,
I would be so disheartened if people turned their back
(35:48):
on our comrade who was slain by the police for
when I see as an act of self defense. With
all of the unknown around what happened the day of
the shooting, what we do know for sure, I've heard
boiled down to two simple points. Tort was killed defending
the forest, and they died doing what it loved. The
(36:12):
first event type thing I went to in Atlanta was
a noised demo outside the Cab County Jail Thursday night
for the seven people arrested as a part of the
deadly raid, all seven of whom are now facing domestic
terrorism charges for being in the forest. The next day, Friday,
there was a large public vigil in Wolani People's Park.
(36:37):
Last time I was there, it was for the Muskogee
Creek Summit near the end of last spring. It was sunny.
I was hanging out in the gazebo listening to ecological presentations.
There was a large tent kitchen in the grass, and
I got to sit around a table and eat food
with people. When I arrived Friday evening for the vigil,
(36:59):
the first thing I saw was the destroyed remains of
the gazebo, almost on display by the entrance of the
torn up parking lot. It was such a clear visual
indicator for how things have changed since the start of
last summer. Near the tree line, a few hundred people
were gathered around a sort of outdoor shrine a few
(37:22):
large stone slabs, overturned candles, flowers, forest plants, little turtles, pictures, art, cigarettes,
and yes fruit snacks forming an orange glowing mound. People
gathered and shared memories of Tortuguita. Many spoke of its
kindness and solidarity with struggles across the South, from the
(37:45):
defense of drag shows in Tennessee to mutual aid work
in Florida where they helped build housing in low income
communities hit hardest by hurricanes. I feel like Tortuguita's compassion
was something that really shifted the culture in the forest
and touched all of the lives of the people that
(38:06):
they met. Um. They lived what they believed, which is
something that I hope we can all be inspired by. UM.
There are so many stories of people who were just
mentioning to tort like, oh, I'm in this situation, or
this happened to my friend, and they would just immediately
be thinking of ways that community could help them or
(38:27):
that they could help them. And someone just shared a
story with me that the last time that they saw TOWRT,
they were telling them about how uh the on house
folks in their community were getting their tents and sleeping
bags like swept and then Tort gave them two hundred
dollars to um like replace the sleeping bags and tents.
(38:48):
And I feel like they were just they had such
a sense of kinship with people, even people that they
didn't know. They were so connected to like the ways
that we are all a part of this web of life, UM,
and so committed to living in a way that can
bring us all into a better community with each other,
(39:11):
whether it be us and our fellow human beings or
us in our forests UM. And they loved these woods,
and I feel like the fact that these woods were
where they departed from this realm into the next just
makes it that much more important that we protect them
and that we make sure that this forest remains intact UM.
I know that that's what Tort would have wanted, That's
(39:32):
what they died doing. And I think that in all
of the chaos and desperation and devastation that this loss
is bringing our community, I think that one of the
things that has been keeping me going is remembering the
love that Tort had for people and for all living
beings and just feeling really connected to their compassion UM.
(39:54):
And I hope that that's something I know that that's
something that is touching, has touched all of us, and
the ripples of it are continuing. The love that tort
brought to this world is still here and it's continuing
to grow. So I think that they're I think that
they're here with us, and I think that they always
will be because they brought so much joy and goodness
(40:15):
and love into this world, and that's something that never
goes away, it only grows. I've gotten permission from a
few of the people that spoke that night to share
some of their stories of Tortu Gita. One of the
small things that stuck with me was how someone described
Tort as possessing a playful, rebellious energy. Tort and I
(40:37):
watched this UH yugoslav film together called My Father Is
a Socialist cool Lock, which was this joyful Yugoslavian film
from the eighties about the transition after World War FEW
in Yugoslavia, the autonomous self rule and breaking apart with
the Soviet sphere, and in it UH early on in
(41:04):
the film, they're they're changing their social customs, have adopted
a new way of greeting each other in Yugoslavia where
they they say good morning death to fascism. And from
that time when I would see towards always they would
(41:26):
that's the fascism, comrade, that's the fascism, and um toward towards.
When I first met them, uh invited me to teach
aikido in the forest, which is called it's a martial art,
that's called the art of peace. And so while we
(41:48):
train as warriors, we train as peaceful warriors. But as
many people have said, we for instance, did defenses of
drag shows in Tennessee from assemblies of Nazis and proud
boys who showed up in body armor with assault rifles
and towar. It was militant, but joyful sort took all
(42:15):
of the always it was. It was with the utmost
gravity and yet with the utmost lightness. And you know,
uh we we we as well arranged a weekend of
conflict resolution training here where toward rallied and and was
(42:40):
the one that brought you know, a half a dozen people.
Was was always rallying people, brought people to the drag defense,
brought people to the trainings, brought people to my i
Kedo class. Maybe it brought two dozen different people through
over the course of several dozen classes. They were a
(43:00):
peaceful warrior and they were my Gladney, and they got
shot dead. And I'd like to I'd like to lead
a chance in that spirit to honor some of torts
warrior spirit tonight. And I know one that they liked
(43:20):
is ah Auntie Antique Capitalista. And we could start together,
slow and quiet and build together a powerful voice and
pierce the night. Auntie Antique Capitalista, antiphank you. Throughout the night,
(44:39):
many songs were sung alongside screams of rage. Tortuguita actually
left a tag with a little red sharpie on the
guitar being played at the vigil. It's a little doodle
of a cat face next to the words all cats
are beautiful. Somebody at the vigil read out a few
(45:00):
of the messages sent in to the Remember tort at
proton mail dot com email address, many of which you
can now find collected at stop cop dot city. That's
stop cop period city. One of the things about tour
It that was really inspirational is that they weren't just
against capitalism, they weren't just against the police. They made
(45:23):
abolition about what they were fighting for, and on the
we Remember Tort uh proton mail. A lot of people
have been sending in stories about how they contributed so
much to each community that they were in, and I
want to read this one that came in from someone
in Tallahassee. Everyone in Tallahassee knew Manny. I'm not even exaggerating.
(45:45):
They were a part of almost every single organization they
could get their hands on in town. Food Not Bombs,
the Plant, Live Oak, Radical Ecology, International Workers of the World,
Tallahassee Community Action Committee, Free Dan Baker, Stopping HB One, etc.
With every person who was lucky enough to be graced
with their presence, they felt safe and free to do
whatever they could for the community. They ran a cold
(46:08):
night shelter for the homeless practically on their own when
the Kearney Center couldn't do it. They helped do grocery
deliveries for those in the south side of town for free.
They showed up to almost every single meal share the
F and B hosted. And this is only a fraction
of the work that they did for the Bond community
here in Tallahassee and beyond. Manny, I always watched you
from the periphery with awe. I always wanted to be
(46:30):
your close friend. I wish you could have seen the
vigil that we had. You would have been proud. The
large overturned stone by the flowers, candles and fruit snacks
at the Wolani vigil had a message written on it
that I read when I returned to the park a
few days later. The big boulder reads erected in memory
(46:52):
of all whose lives were lived and unjustly lost in
Wolani Forest. You live on in the trees, and I
remember by the land. You will never be forgotten until
every prison is empty, until every slave is free, until
all live without fear, until earth has healed. Our work
is not done. If it's okay, I'll share another of
(47:15):
the message Bat sent. Manny was a close friend, comrade,
and above all constant fighter for working people. I knew
them in tallahassee through the IWW food not bonds and
live oak radical ecology, and I will never cease to
be amazed by their tireless activism, their extreme empathy, and
their ability to make everyone feel welcomed and radical spaces.
(47:36):
They died as they lived, fighting for a better world
and defending the forest from destruction in the name of
a fascist militarized police force. I hope their name will
not be forgotten and that their killer is brought to justice.
But more than anything, I hope the cause that they
fought for is victorious. Now we mourn this great loss
to the Tallahassee and Atlantic communities, but tomorrow we will
(47:58):
fight back twice as hard against cap balism in the state,
so that Tortuguita did not die in vain. This is
another one. They were kind and fierce. They were sweet,
extraordinarily funny, conscientious, tender, silly, loving and one of the
most generous people I have met. And that contagious smile
(48:18):
and laugh three exclamation points. I went to bed last
night hearing their laughter in my head, loud and beautiful.
They somehow were still there to add levity and joy
as I screamed, cried, and choked on my own spit
all night, and they killed you. You are gone, comrade.
I missed you. I miss you. They had a deep
(48:39):
understanding of solidarity and struggle. When the cops swept an
encampment in my neighborhood without hesitation, they shared their forest
funds to get more tense and sleeping bags because they
knew that these are not individual battles, but that these
struggles are inherently tied to one another, that they are
part of the same struggle. This is a lesson for
the movement that must be carried forward, for them, for
(48:59):
all of us, for the strength of the fight to
stop cops City. I will miss how we greeted one
another and our meager attempts to make it a thing.
Death's to fascism, Liberation to all people. One of the
people playing the tortuguita tag guitar at the vigil played
a version of bella Chow and I'm just gonna read
(49:19):
out the way that they described the song. Bella Chow
means goodbye beautiful in Italian. The song was originally about
an Italian partisan who goes out to fight the fascists
in the mountains during World War Two. And I like
to dedicate this version to somebody who laid their life
(49:40):
down to fight against fascism, militarism, and against the expansion
of the police, and against the destruction of nature. Somebody
who lifted up all of the people they were around,
knew so many people, was involved in so many communities,
and was just so funny, so loving, so friendly, and
(50:00):
they laid their life down for their community and to
stop cops city and to stop militarism and the destruction
of nature. They really believed in what they were doing,
and the way we can honor them is by continuing
their fight death to fascism. See you on the other side.
The world is wicking outside my window. Bella chow bela
(50:27):
chow bella chow chow chow drags my senses into the sunlight.
For there are things that I must do. Wish me luck.
Now I have to leave you Bella chow bela chow
bela chow chow chow with my friends. Now in the
(50:51):
farest We're gonna shake the gates off how and we
will tell them. You will tell them your bellow chow
bella chow bella chow chow chowd that we Lonni's not
for the franchise and which the bastards dropped dune dead.
(51:14):
Next time you see me, I may be smiling Obella
chow bella chown bella chow chow shall I'll be in
prison or on the chev I'll say, the forest called me.
(51:36):
The world is wickham. I sign my window, bella chowd
bella child, bella chow chow child, Try my senses into
the sunlight. For their things that I must do, wish me.
Now I have to leave you. Obella chowd, bella child,
(51:58):
bella chow chow chow. Out my French, that in the
forest we're gonna shake the gates of hell, and we
will tell him, you know, we will tell him a
bella chow, bella chow, bella chow chow chow. That we
love is not for the freshies which the bastards drop
(52:18):
done dead. Next time you see me, I may be smiling.
Bellichi belichower, bella chow chow chow. I'll be in prison
or on the TV. I'll say, the forest called me here.
(52:57):
The world is waken. I'll sign my and no bella chowda,
bella chowd, bella chow chow chown. Dry my senses into
the sunlight, for there are things that I must do.
Almost I gotta leave you. O bella chow, bella chowd,
bella chow chow chow with my friends. Now in the
forest we're gonna shake the gates off Hell, and we
(53:22):
will tell him. We will tell them bella chow, bella
chow bella chow chow chow, that we Lonnie's not for
the franchise, and wish the bastards dropped dun down. Next
time you see me, I might be smiling bella chow
(53:46):
bella chow, bella chow chow Chow. I'll be in prison
or on the TV. I'll say the forest called me here.
Next time you see me, I'm maybe smiling bella chow
bella chow, bella chow chow Chow. I'll be in prison
(54:09):
or on the TV, I'll say the forest called me here.
Music by The Narcissist Cookbook and Propaganda. It Could Happen
Here is a production of cool Zone Media. For more
podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zone
media dot com, or check us out on the I
(54:29):
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
You can find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated
monthly at cool zone Media dot com slash sources. Thanks
for listening.
It Could Happen Here News
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Robert Evans
Garrison Davis
James Stout
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