August 23, 2023 • 39 mins
After City Council approved Cop City construction funds in early June, people in Atlanta seek new paths of resistance during another Week of Action.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
This summer has been a critical junction in the fight
against copp City, the Atlanta Police Foundation's massive proposed training
facility in de Cab County, which is slated to begin
construction later this very month. The last week of action
in March of twenty twenty three drew in over a
thousand people against cop City and saw hundreds of forest
(00:27):
defenders attack in mass the construction equipment and police infrastructure
stored on the site in a pretty successful action. The
police repression came down hard, but the militancy of the
force defenders left a pretty impressionable mark. Later that month,
to Cab County closed and barricaded in Trenchman Creek Park
(00:47):
citing public safety concerns and allegedly found booby traps. Police
did an exhaustive sweep of the forest and established a
relatively firm control of the territory. After a year and
a half of there being a nearly continuous presence in
the Mulani by forest vendors, now the police began a
forest occupation of their own. During the month that followed,
(01:11):
the Atlanta Police Foundation or the APF, rushed to clear
cut around ninety acres of the Mulani Forest, seemingly in
a ploy to show investors and the city that they
are committed to the project and to crush the spirits
of those who spent years opposing the facility and defending
the forest. People then set their sights on the Atlanta
(01:33):
City Council, who in early June was to vote on
whether or not to provide taxpayer funding for the APF's project.
Over twenty three hours of public comment across multiple days,
almost universally against copp City, culminated at the June fifth
City Council meeting, which lasted into the early hours of
(01:54):
the next morning. Despite the record breaking turnout opposing the
facility in the earth early morning of Tuesday, June sixth,
the Lanta City Council voted eleven to four in favor
of the sixty seven million dollar funding package to build
cop City. The next day, a group of community organizers
announced a referendum campaign to collect tens of thousands of
(02:17):
petition signatures from Atlanta voters to put the cop City
land lease on the upcoming ballot. City council approving public
funds for cop City was certainly disappointing, but not quite unexpected,
because another week of action to Stop Cop City was
already planned for later that same month. This is it
(02:39):
could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis. In this three part series,
I'll be talking about what's been happening in Atlanta this
summer to Stop cop City. If you want to hear
more about the background of this movement. In the month
of May, we put out a five part series on
the Week of Action from that spring, along with the
few other previous Defend the Forest, Stop Cup City mini
(03:01):
series published over the course of the last year and
a half. With much of the forest already destroyed and
no easy access to Entrenchmont Creek Park, this week of
Action in June was set to be very unlike any
that had come before. The kickoff rally was to begin
on Saturday, June twenty fourth at Brownwood Park in East Atlanta.
(03:22):
I made my way there and met up with Matt
from the Atlantic Community Press Collective. My first feeling walking
in is like it felt very society of the spectacle
in terms of like the ratio of cameras to participants
was the most extreme that I've really ever ever seen
for like, you know, a week of action.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I think there was there was outside of like a
press conference.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, and like it felt like there was so many
just cameras looming around, and it's like it's like there's
so many people trying to make a similar run of
the movements to sell back to other people at this
point in time, and like there's just a very like
that's just a very large, pervasive feeling, and that combined
with the more of the more liberalization of certain certain aspects.
(04:03):
Again compared to the last week of action, which felt
there was a strong militant continuent.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And like the liberals continued, was still there were still
if you.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Build it, we will burn it. And that's not the
vibe here. That's not the vibe here. There's definitely a
big separation in terms of what types of people at
what side of the park. Right now, there's a more
like more like forested section of the park with a
creek on the south side, which is where people are
setting up some camping sites had a kitchen, that's where
the well content is. And then there's the other side
(04:33):
of the park that has like the rec center and
the playground, which seems more like family friendly stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Yeah, there are kids there, there's the popcorn setup.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
It's more like house, So there is a Bounty House,
which is great return. They couldn't they couldn't keep this
moving down.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
I won't.
Speaker 5 (04:49):
I won't rest until is destroyed, until the story every
Mounty Castle is in Atlanta, till till every Bounty Castle
is to that.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Is, that is the new Movement's so good.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
In contrast to the last kickoff rally at Gresham Park,
which felt very unified, this time there was a noticeable
separation in terms of what types of people are on
the two sides of the park. People wearing camouflage and
masks were more situated on the south side of the
park where tents were being set up, versus people by
the playground who were going around with the referendum signup
(05:26):
sheet and where all the food was being handed out.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
It's so separated again, the two groups.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Cannot, cannot, cannot count see each other and even like
people like.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Turnout seemed to be a bit lower than some people expected,
and it was definitely much lower compared to the previous
few weeks of action, and overall the rally was very
muted and lacked a sense of energy or focus. Like
the rallies, was start at eleven, which kind of kind
of think nothing happened like it just it felt very directtionless.
I felt like people do not quite know why they
(06:03):
were there at this point in.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Times, almost Nune before anyone really spoke on the bullhorn,
and the music didn't start until noon, and then what
was it like a half hour ago, so like twelve
thirty probably when when the first like speaker said anything
from the Faith Coalition.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
So far, the rally kind of feels like a microcosmum
of the entire movement at this point, just not quite
sure where to direct the energy to.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
There's a feeling that like people should do.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Something, but they don't quite know how to. They haven't
decided how that should be directed yet. And there's some
people showing up, but it's just like it feels kind
of stagnant and like there's this there's this need to evolve.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Right now, and I don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I think maybe people got burnt out from the city
council things and there's a lot of energy being.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Pumped into that. Yeah, and then I guess some people
people like three weeks of pushing.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Energy and that that was only like two weeks ago,
like that that's still very recently three weeks it still
feels it still feels very raw. Walking down the pathway
on the south side of Brownwood you can see people
setting up tents, carrying camping supplies and big jugs of water.
Other people were assembling a makeshift kitchen in the tree line,
and all of that was physically reminiscent of the last
(07:19):
week of action. But being four miles away from the
forest at Brownwood Park instead of the Wailani impacted the
feeling on the ground. We're both were so far away
from the forest, but there's like that separation of space,
like it feels so distant.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
And distant, even more than than Gresham Park, even with
the Gresham Like if this were happening in Gresham Park,
I think that might even be a different feeling. Yeah,
because at least you're attached to the Leilani.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
There was more determination on like the south side of
of the park and you could feel like the people
want at least people want to do something physically, and
they were. But it's even still unclear how it's going
to get directed towards, like like what is this to.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Bring to stop prop city right now?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Like that is and that's the big thing is like
people are trying to figure that out and there's people here,
but like what are what are people actually going to
be doing?
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Like that's that's the question that is You're going to
be unanswered at least today.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I would say the last Week of Action in March
was very important in terms of setting the stage for
what the next few months would look like. The direct
action that happened on Sunday during the music festival was
very important and successful, but also carried large ramifications for
how the rest of the movement would be shaped in
(08:41):
terms of the police repression and increase police presence in
the forest. The weeks of Action definitely have this ability
to affect how the movement as a whole evolves in
the subsequent months. On Saturday, there were worries that if
things were simply going to continue to be like the
kickoff rally, that wouldn't be a positive direction and would
(09:03):
be a bad sign. It's just so, I mean, it's
hard not to compare this to the to the last
Week of Action kickoff rally at Gresham, which is felt
so different. Like that there was like almost ten times
as many people. There was like a feeling of like motion,
there was a feeling of like we can, we have
we have to go do a thing, and we're gonna
do it no matter what, Like we don't know it's
gonna be on the other side of the tunnel, but
(09:24):
we're going there to do it anyway.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We're gonna find it out together.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
And there was that was a lot of determination, and
then there was a lot of like there was like
a pointedness, like they knew where they were going, and
this does not It lacks that pointedness. It feels like
people aren't quite sure why they're here or what to
do at this point in time. And if the movement
wants to be able to continue in its goals, it
has to find some way to evolve in these next
(09:48):
two months as construction is going to ramp up.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
And I guess this this week will kind of will the.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Bell weather well, either a bell weather or a learning experience. Yeah,
it might not be any sort of death now, but it.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Will have to be a learning experience probably. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
That's that's kind of most of most of my thoughts
so far, based on walking through both places. There's just
not much else talks how much is happening like it
soon enough, however, other things did start happening thanks to
the Atlanta Police Department, but throughout that afternoon things remained
mostly low key, and as the day went on, the
(10:28):
gathering at Brownwood Park turned into a community barbecue and
people started to get a much more clear idea of
what the expectations for that day were. As people settled
into the park, there ceased to be any big anticipation
for what everyone was going to be doing that first day.
There wasn't supposed to be a vigil for Tortighita in
the park that evening, which was interrupted by Atlanta Police
(10:51):
officers who swept through the park issuing a quote unquote
friendly reminder that the park closed at eleven PM.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
All right, it's around eight thirty.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
How about forty police officers just walked through Brownwood Park
telling people that are gathered here that the park closes
at eleven and everyone's basically anticipating the police are going
to try to sweep the entirety of the park, including
the sections where people are trying to camp out. Around
eleven PM, the cops were walking south through the park
as the crowd was walking and chanting along the way
as well, cops left under the heels of like maybe
(11:27):
seventy five to two hundred people who were chanting along
the south side of Brownwood. They've been staging around Brownwood
Park and Portland Avenue for the past hour or so.
They had like twenty thirty cars, it's around forty fifty officers.
People decided they did not wish to stand their ground
and fight off a possible police raid at Brownwood Park,
(11:48):
so they spent the next few hours packing up all
the supplies and equipment that they just spent all day
setting up, and then evacuated from the area. Okay, it
is eleven ten pm. It seems like the cops essentially
just did what I'm referring to as advanced bluffing. So
they walk through it on eight thirty warning people, hey,
(12:08):
park closes at eleven, which very much, very much indicating that, hey, we're.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Going to sweep through and fuck with your shit if
you're still here.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
So the next few hours people spent time you know,
packing up, breaking down the tents of leaving, heading to
other locations. And then at eleven we kind of just
expected police to do a standard sweep through, you know,
destroy anything they find. If they find people, tell them
to leave or else get arrested standard stuff. At this point,
there's about seven or eight police cruisers staged around the
(12:34):
south side of the park, but they're not actually sweeping
through because it's pretty clear that there's like no one
actually in the park at this point. It's just very
clearly like empty and quiet, So I don't even I
don't even think cops are going to sweep through. It's
it's been already like ten to fifteen minutes. We expected
them to kind of sweep on the hour, but they
just like don't need to. It's very clear that no
(12:54):
one's in the park, so they just kind of like
successfully bluffed themselves into getting everyone to leave. I mean,
if there were people still here in invisible capacity, I'm
sure police would sweep through, but there's really there's no
invisible in the park for many of like the perimeters around,
so they're not even gonna bother sweeping through. But yeah,
it looks like this is the end of Brownwood Day
(13:15):
one and the very kind of low key kickoff rally. Still,
the week definitely is lacking a sense of direction. There's
been a cab swat doing perimeter sweeps around the Wailani
Forest and the round Greshian Park where there's some future
events planned.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
We will see how that plays out in these next
few days.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
It certainly seemed like police wanted to make some show
of force early on in the week to stifle the
week of action. The threat of array the very first
tonight was indeed disruptive to the logistics for the week,
but ultimately people were able to band together to keep
each other safe and cared for. During this current general
(14:05):
sense of directionlessness, there were a lot of questions on
how the movement will change during this turning point, With
little in the way of obvious answers or new paths
of resistance, The following Sunday and Monday of the week
continued to be mostly low key. People used those days
to facilitate workshops and discussions to work through the shift
(14:27):
the movement was going through. At the end of the week,
I sat down with Matt in East Atlanta Village to
talk about the week as a whole and compare notes.
Here's a bit of our conversation talking about the discussions
that started happening during those first few days. This was
a week of discussions, like it was, it really was.
There was a lot of meetings there was a lot
(14:48):
of discussions happening, people figuring out what do we do,
like if we actually want to stop cop City and
it's going to get built in these next few months,
like now is the time to figure out what the
fuck to do next. So people have been having those
discussions this week, and if anything, the Week of Action
has been useful in this in this sense that it's
brought a lot of people together so they can have
these generative conversations. And there was a lot more conversations
(15:12):
during this week than last week. There was one on
like what the state of the movement is now, especially
with the referendum taking up more visibility, how are like
radical is going to navigate this space and this movement
with a lot of things in flux, And I think
that that was definitely my first read. Even even on
the Cookoff rally, I felt like there's a lot of
people like not sure what to do, is very directionless.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
People were asking a lot.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Of questions and more questions were being asked all throughout
the week. There's a lot of discussions, a lot of
meetings about like what do we do now, like if
construction is going to start in the next two months,
Like what is this movement going to do like that
people can chant if you build it, we will burn it.
But chanting it and doing it two different things. And
the movement is it's going to go through a period
(15:53):
of evolution and in these next few months, and with
all those questions being asked, I feel like the answer
to those quiesequestions is going to be the actions people
do take in these next few months. In the aftermath
of the clear cutting, it felt like in some ways
that the window of possibility for this movement was closing
as options seemed to be getting smaller. More people started
(16:14):
pursuing the referendum as a potential means of stopping Copcity,
but those in the more militant anarchist wing of the
movement were left questioning, after two years of employing a
diversity of tactics largely led by direct action, if it's
the right and move to switch to an electoral strategy
now where the situation is approaching its most dire but
(16:35):
since it is happening whether they like it or not,
anarchists were wondering, what can people do so that the
referendum doesn't completely dominate the narrative of the movement or
disincentivize other evolutions of the struggle. Now, obviously, a group
of people pursuing a referendum does not prohibit other people
from engaging in direct action, but there still were worries
(16:55):
that the referendum could become a sort of release mechanism
for the movement, both in terms of new people's involvement
being pushed toward this more liberalized electoral strategy instead of
radical action, or if the petition or even potential ballot
vote fails, then that being used as an indicator that
most people in the city actually do want copcity. But
(17:18):
through all this, what anarchists can do, and what they
typically do, is to encourage radical autonomy and self determination
regardless of electoral strategies or outcomes. Whether or not a
petition gets sixty some thousand signatures does not affect a
burning construction vehicle. Just as these sort of discussions were happening.
(17:39):
It's kind of fitting that on Monday, June twenty sixth,
we saw the first communication in months claiming responsibility for
equipment sabotage. After the last week of action in March
and subsequent police raids on the forest, increased security, the
rapid clear cutting and big push for city Council public
comment followed by the start of the referendum, wrote that
(18:00):
series of events, there really hadn't been much in the
way of nocturnal direct action sabotage happening in Atlanta or
across the country in solidarity once a core component of
this movement was seriously lacking in the months leading up
to this summer, And then suddenly, after the June week
of action's mostly uneventful start, a post went up on
(18:22):
the sketchu web site scene stott no blogs dot org
claiming that a group of anonymous individuals snuck into a
subcontractor's machine storage lot and poured hydrochloric acid into the
oil tanks of three vehicles. The target was Brent Scarborough Company,
a Georgia based subcontractor who was hired to clear cut
the Waalani forest and was currently engaged in mass land
(18:44):
grading on the site. I drove by the site on
Monday and I saw like over twenty machines like actively
working on the land.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Very avatar much Yeah, yes, y.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Or for and Gully the Superior film. But no, like
it's like the site's being very actively worked on, Like
I've never seen that many machines doing active work, like
all moving at the same time. Early Monday morning, the
Stop Cop City Referendum put out a strong statement of
solidarity with quote all tactics on the road to collective
liberation unquote and openly rejected the state's framing of quote
(19:25):
unquote violent and nonviolent resistance. To briefly quote a few
of the last sentences of the statement, quote, the Cop
City Vote Referendum campaign is grounded in the values of
abolitionist organizing and racial and environmental justice. We also recognize
our chosen tactic is a single intervention in a wide
rainbow of fighting state repression. We seek to use the
(19:47):
Cop City Referendum to leverage local power, educate and activate
our communities, and build networks that can strengthen our city
and future mobilizations. The referendum is one piece of a vibrant,
multi faceted movement, one that defies respectable categorization as well
as its state violence and repression. The Cop City Vote
(20:08):
Referendum Coalition stands in solidarity and full support of the
Stop Cop City Week of Action, the larger movement and
abolitionist organizers and activists across this city.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Unintentionally, these two things coincided. There was the release of
the scenes like the first sabotage in months, and then
the referendum released that same day, the solidarity statement for
all Yes actions taken to stop Cop City. I just
think that needs the statement itself needs to be highlighted,
and yeah, I think it seems like they're going.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
To stick to that.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
The solidarity statement was widely applauded and seen as a
good sign regarding the referendum's place in the larger fight
against Cop City and how it was not intending to
take space away from other aspects of the movement. Tuesday morning,
there was a small protest outside the Cab County Border
Commisions Building to call for the reopening of Entrenchment Creek Park.
(21:04):
The park was a common gathering spot for the movement,
at where many people camped during previous weeks of action.
An executive order from DCAB CEO Michael Thurmond closed the
park late last March as the police geared up to
fortify Bolauni and speed run all of the tree felling.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
So I sat in the Board of Commissioner's meeting and
it's it's different than a city council meeting where like
anybody who signs up to do public comment can do
public comment. They only a lot thirty minutes of public comment,
so about that amounts to ten speakers, and I think
about six of them were actually there for.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You know, to talk about opening the park.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
And then the rally, I think it was something like
thirty thirty people was a student organized rally and they
did a couple speakers and then that was that was it.
Not much from the CAB, Like the CAB only came
out to make sure that they weren't blocking a pathway
and it was kind of hands off. I did get
(22:03):
a parking.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
Ticket, that was my fault, you did.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, I let my parking expire for twelve minutes.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
A legalist mascot at the ACPC wow.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
H And yeah. The minute I do something illegal, I
get a trapping ticket.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Previously in June that a CAB CEO proposed a one
point eight million dollar construction plan necessary to reopen the park,
but no clear date on when that would happen. One
county commissioner has been trying to fast track reopening the park,
but their resolution has repeatedly been deferred by the county board.
The Soonest it will be reconsidered is October tenth. Meanwhile,
(22:40):
the park will remain indefinitely closed. Throughout the first few
days of the Week of Action, there was something kind
of looming over everyone's heads. There was a march planned
(23:01):
from Gresham Park towards Blawney that was to take place
on the evening of Wednesday, June twenty eighth. The police
response to this action was primed to be the most
intense out of the week. The path to Entrenchment Creek
Park is a pretty closed in bike path with a
tunnel going under an overpass where police have been staging
to prevent people from entering the forest. No, I definitely
(23:23):
felt like on Monday and Tuesday everyone was still like
thinking about what would happen on Wednesday, What would happen
on the march from Gresham Park. That was the big unknown,
That was the big danger.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Like very palpable. Yeah, concern about how that was going
to play out. Yeah, that probably, I mean all the
way back to Saturday. That was probably like playing through
people's minds and causing some of that like, yeah, uncertainty.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Police were setting up perimeters around the forest in an
increased capacity than the usual detail. Pretty Early on in
the day, there was a DACAB County SWAT mobile command
center posted up in a school parking lot next to
the tunnel and bike path leading from Gresham to Wolani.
Kind Of as expected, this entire section of South Atlanta
was crawling with police before people even gathered at Gresham Park.
(24:15):
The day began with an unfortunately rocky start and the
first arrest of the week outside Cadence Bank in Midtown.
The protest was calling on the bank to cancel their
twenty million dollar construction loan given to the Atlanta Police Foundation.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
So there was this action at Cadence Bank that they
specifically didn't want media and so none of us were there. Yeah,
and that was early in the morning.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
I don't I think we found.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Out about it after renoon or something, so after I
woke up. Yeah, I think it was like they said,
thirty people, kind of like we saw the other day Friday.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Yeah, on Friday.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
But as they were walking away, somebody gets well multiple
they try or rest multiple people.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Please start chasing people.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Someone gets grabbed and arrested, another person gets detained and
then let go. Seemed like a pretty chaotic scene. That's
not a great way to start off the day where
you have your most stressful action plan for later. You
wake up, you get chased by cops, and you're expecting
to go do a march in a few hours in
the most heavily police area of Atlanta right now. The
(25:24):
march was to take place on the same bike path
from Gresham Park to Intrenchment Creek Park that people took
during the kickoff rally at the last Week of Action,
but much has changed on the ground since then. As
people started to gather at Gresham Park on Wednesday evening,
the numbers were quite small. As I progressed, around one
hundred and fifty people eventually amassed, but it was still
(25:46):
a small fraction of the number of people at the
previous Gresham Park march, and with a much greater police presence.
The exact plan for the night was heavily dependent on
a lot of factors that it was impossible to explicitly
know beforehand, like how many people would show up and
what they would feel comfortable doing based on the police response.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
All right, this is.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Wednesday, June twenty eighth.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Me and Matt from the Community.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Press Collective are gathered at Gresham Park. Overhead, you can
hear the Tacab helicopter circle at favorite sound, our favorite sound. Yes,
there's about I don't know, maybe seventy five or more,
close to one hundred, close to one hundred people gathered
here in Gresham Park and people have plans to march
(26:35):
towards Wolani or at least to the tunnel, and then
what happens after that's kind of a big mystery. Definitely
very different than the last time we were gathered in
Gresham Park with a crowd of people.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
We're missing the music, We're missing the duwali like paint clouds.
We're missing the kids, We're missing maybe the vibes just
in general.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Another eight hundred people or so, but I mean people
are setting out science and some banners. Police have a
decent presence around the around like the tunnel or like
the overpass over the tunnel, and around Wilani.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Right now, all around the Wilanni triangle there's there APD
and the Cab County Police just hanging out more than usual.
And at the fire station there was more cops than
I've seen since.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
March fifth, since the last week of action. Yeah, earlier
this morning I saw a da keb County swat Nobile
command unit at the school next to the tunnel overpass,
but I do not know where that is now. It was,
It was not parked there last time we drove by
about half an hour ago. So yeah, just that is.
That is the update as of as of six thirty.
(27:51):
So I'm guessing this crowd will start moving the next
thirty minutes to forty minutes, probably have hour. Yeah, all right, Right,
as the crowd was about to set off, someone made
an announcement that due to small numbers and large police presence,
there was to be a change of plans. Instead of
going all the way to Entrenchment Creek Park or even
the tunnel, they were going to march one third of
(28:12):
the way and stop on the bike path. All right,
it's around seven twenty pm, about one hundred and fifty
people are leaving Gresham Park and they announced they're going
to be going to hold a small vigil near one
of one of the felled trees on the bike path.
For a little while, the march was getting along fine,
(28:33):
there was music and chanting, when suddenly police made an
early appearance. Okay, so it's what seven seven forty seven
fifty seven forty one on Wednesday, June twenty eighth.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
We are walking on the bike path and staged.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Twenty five minutes into the walk and here we come
on our first police presence of the.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Day along our path.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
So too thinking to cap County, Yeah, two to cab
County SuDS part side by side along the path. But
they're not out of their vehicles.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
No, So.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
I think the crowd searsal order. They might try to
give it a spursal order because there's too many people.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I didn't think they would try to fuck with it
this soon. I thought they would wait to the tunnel.
A small number of police were posted up right before
the first bridge on the bike path, roughly about halfway
to the tunnel. If they wanted to, the crowd could
have marched past the police as they were not blocking
the path. The two cop cars couldn't even follow behind
(29:37):
because there was big metal bulgards preventing vehicles from going
on the wooden bridge, but the visible police caused the
group to pause.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
There was that one speech that we need to touch
on from that night, and that was the speaker said,
in order to win, we have to let go.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Of the idea of losing while looking good.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Yeah, and that I think is going to inform whatever
the direct action side of things are for the next
this next phase.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Of the movement.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
While paused in front of the police cruisers, the crowd
deliberated on what they wanted to do and what they
thought they could accomplish. After a few minutes of discussion,
they decided that they were not prepared to unnecessarily sacrifice themselves.
One of the people from the crowd spoke briefly not
only on this decision, but also how it fits into
(30:27):
the difficult situation the movement has found itself in. Right now,
I'm going to quote a little bit from this impromptu
speech quote. We shouldn't come away from this feeling demoralized.
We should feel clarity because we believe we set out
to participate in a movement to obstruct the construction of
a police militarization site, but that is not being allowed
(30:48):
to happen. The people we're fighting against believe we are
a domestic insurgency. They are treating us like an insurgency.
The state is using militaristic language like denying anarchists operating space,
and so we're going to great lengths to be safe
to play it safe and to go slow and to
proceed rationally and defend one another. But we're coming under
(31:10):
constant attack. Everything we do, we're under attack unquote. Just
earlier that morning, people were attacked by the state and
arrested as they stood on the sidewalk outside of a bank.
Those who work to bail activists out of jail are attacked.
People doing on the ground jail support are physically attacked
and face police intimidation.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
We don't want to be engaged in a failing struggle.
Our enemy is treating us like terrorists. That's what they're
calling us, and that's what they believe we are. It's
not just a rhetorical trick. That's how they're treating the movement.
And so we have to figure out how we're going
to win, because we intend to win. But you can't
just only defend yourself. The safest thing for us to
(31:54):
do is to never go to a protest about this movement. Again,
if our top priority is safety, everyone who is not
currently facing charges should move away, should not go to
events or actions. But if we have a higher priority
than safety alone, we're going to have to figure out
what we're going to do to achieve that, which is
going to require going on the offense when we're able
(32:15):
and how we're able. This movement has been very creative,
and we're going to have to continue to be more
and more creative, and we're going to have to continue
to deploy all available means in order to have this
kind of offensive, victorious, and strong movement that we all
deserve when we fight, when we attack the enemy, when
we have our offensive actions, we have to follow through
(32:37):
with them. We have to go all the way with them.
We have to be willing to believe in ourselves to
believe that we can win. And so I believe that
we are going to win this movement, and I think
you guys believe that we're going to win this movement.
But that's going to require us to abandon the idea
of looking good while losing. We can't look good losing.
(32:59):
So are we look good losing or are we going
to win?
Speaker 4 (33:04):
All right? It is eight o'clock.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
The crowd sat in the middle of the trail behind
the first bridge, where two.
Speaker 4 (33:11):
Decap County vehicles were parked.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
They deliberated for a little bit, and then a few
people spoke, And now the crowd has turned around and
a marching back to Greshiam.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Park, marching back, no arrests. We do have two helicopters
now hanging over us. That's my favorite thing.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
In the world.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Part and a lot of other decav on the ground
in other parts of the bike path, in the trails.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
Yeah, they would have walked directly into what looked like
a full swat team above the bridge.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
So they made the right choice.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Is what it seems like to me.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Yeah, And they talked about their intentionality of the decision,
and it's how it's important to not just keep losing
while trying to look cool and throw yourself out a
line of police.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Yeah, and that hopefully, I mean, what what does that
look like in practice? I guess we'll see you over
the next few months, three.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
Days, three days to two months, yeah, three.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Days, several months.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
But it does sound like there's some attempt now a
directionality that wasn't I wasn't sing yeah until this is.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
The exact same march people tried to do back in March,
and they did it, and they're trying to do it
here again in June.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
And it doesn't work. It didn't it doesn't work the
first time.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
It doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
It worked the first time, it doesn't mean a second time,
So now it's time to change something exact. Yeah, on
the walk back to Grushiam Park, we got clear photos
of the amount of riot police waiting for us at
the tunnel and it was a great many.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Oh yeah, there is a lot.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
That's a lot of of a riot.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
And that was when of the vans posted above the tunnel.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah, so that a trailer. Yeah, that's what they bring
all their riot shields in. Okay.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
Yeah, that that would have sucked.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
That would not have been fun.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
No, that would have gone very poorly.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Would have been tear gas though, And I do miss
being tear gas.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
I can like spray with pepper spray if you want.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
It's not the same as tear gas.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
I can spray right now if you want.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
Matt ultimately declined to be pepper sprayed. Torti Guita's mother,
Belkise Tearan, came to Gresham Park to also join the march.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
So what we had was one hundred and fifty people
in Belkis Tearran. And I think that that, yeah, plays
a role in how this goes on.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Nov Having bell Keise.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Very like visibly present, like walking up to everybody there
and greeting them. Just having her presence there affects what
people want to do, and it reminds you of what's
actually like the actual stakes at hand, so you're caring
for everyone around you in a much more like conscious capacity.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
Belcis spoke, a.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Few other people spoke, and then they turned around and
headed back to Greshia and that was the decision that
was made and no no one was hurt, no one
was arrested. People got back to Gresham Park. Some people
had ice cream.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Two people in particular had ice cream and they were
very happy about it. It definitely wasn't maybe it was us.
Speaker 4 (36:12):
Other people also had ice cream.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Other people did have ice cream. I don't think they
were quite as excited.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
It's like the overpriced ice.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Throughout the week, you could tell that people were really
wanting to be back in the forest and Wilani People's Park.
People made do gathering at Brownwood Park, but it wasn't
the same. There was an undeniable distance between where people
were gathered this week of action and the sight of
all the previous battles in the Wilani. The fact that
so much of the forest had already been destroyed, loomed
(36:41):
heavily over the week, and that's something that people are
still processing and are still comprehending. Another big aspect of
the week, like this is this is the first week
of action where people haven't gone gone in the willani Like, yeah,
there's no action, which feels weird.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Well, we should say in the triangle because you know,
the forest is obviously, but.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Like the site, Like this is the first time that
people haven't been like in the forest, and that's a
new thing to navigate, that's a new feeling to navigate,
Like there's there's a different there's a different.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Sense multiple chance.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
There's multiple chance being like not one lead, don't cut
down the trees and like the trees are gone, like
it's the site's been cleared, and I think people are
still catching up to that and like rel Like it's
still something that people are processing and they're gonna have
to process that if they want to like continue, like
they have to like look at the situation being like
this is we have to accept what has happened. Then
(37:35):
we can choose what's to do because you can't act as.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
You can't deny what the reality is.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
No, and you can't act as if the trees are
still there, because that's going to change the type of
the types of like actions you do. Like you can't
trace it in the in the trees. It's it's changing
the actual actions people are going to take to try
to stop copsitting. I think the Wednesday action almost needed
to happen. So many people still dream about what if
(38:00):
we could reoccupy Wollane. People are still caught in that
headspace because they got so used to that over the
course of almost two years, so inevitably there was going
to be an attempt where a few hundred people try
to re enter Willane People's park. They're almost needed to
be an attempt just to see what would happen, And
we saw what would happen. And now people can use
(38:23):
that action as reference when making future plans and decisions
about actions, because you can point back to this and
demonstrate what the police response will be when people march
to Wolani. Massive amounts of SWAT riot police waiting for you,
SWAT mobile command centers, heavily armed police estaged on roads, overpasses, entrances,
(38:43):
and all around the forest, specifically waiting for people to
try to cross over or through the tunnel, so now
people know what will happen if they try and do
the same thing again. In some ways, it kind of
needed to not just be theoretical speculation, but actually happen
so that people can now truly allow themselves to evolve,
(39:04):
so that you don't have this question in the back
of your head, because now that question has been answered,
you would be throwing yourself at a wall of swat
and riot gear. And now everyone can let themselves evolve
and start figuring out what new things can be fostered
and imagined. We'll hear more about those evolutions and conclude
(39:24):
my coverage of the Week of Action in the next episode.
See you on the other side. It Could Happen here
as a production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts
from cool Zone Media, visit our website coolzonemedia dot com,
or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources
(39:45):
for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot
com slash sources. Thanks for listening.
This summer has been a critical junction in the fight
against copp City, the Atlanta Police Foundation's massive proposed training
facility in de Cab County, which is slated to begin
construction later this very month. The last week of action
in March of twenty twenty three drew in over a
thousand people against cop City and saw hundreds of forest
(00:27):
defenders attack in mass the construction equipment and police infrastructure
stored on the site in a pretty successful action. The
police repression came down hard, but the militancy of the
force defenders left a pretty impressionable mark. Later that month,
to Cab County closed and barricaded in Trenchman Creek Park
(00:47):
citing public safety concerns and allegedly found booby traps. Police
did an exhaustive sweep of the forest and established a
relatively firm control of the territory. After a year and
a half of there being a nearly continuous presence in
the Mulani by forest vendors, now the police began a
forest occupation of their own. During the month that followed,
(01:11):
the Atlanta Police Foundation or the APF, rushed to clear
cut around ninety acres of the Mulani Forest, seemingly in
a ploy to show investors and the city that they
are committed to the project and to crush the spirits
of those who spent years opposing the facility and defending
the forest. People then set their sights on the Atlanta
(01:33):
City Council, who in early June was to vote on
whether or not to provide taxpayer funding for the APF's project.
Over twenty three hours of public comment across multiple days,
almost universally against copp City, culminated at the June fifth
City Council meeting, which lasted into the early hours of
(01:54):
the next morning. Despite the record breaking turnout opposing the
facility in the earth early morning of Tuesday, June sixth,
the Lanta City Council voted eleven to four in favor
of the sixty seven million dollar funding package to build
cop City. The next day, a group of community organizers
announced a referendum campaign to collect tens of thousands of
(02:17):
petition signatures from Atlanta voters to put the cop City
land lease on the upcoming ballot. City council approving public
funds for cop City was certainly disappointing, but not quite unexpected,
because another week of action to Stop Cop City was
already planned for later that same month. This is it
(02:39):
could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis. In this three part series,
I'll be talking about what's been happening in Atlanta this
summer to Stop cop City. If you want to hear
more about the background of this movement. In the month
of May, we put out a five part series on
the Week of Action from that spring, along with the
few other previous Defend the Forest, Stop Cup City mini
(03:01):
series published over the course of the last year and
a half. With much of the forest already destroyed and
no easy access to Entrenchmont Creek Park, this week of
Action in June was set to be very unlike any
that had come before. The kickoff rally was to begin
on Saturday, June twenty fourth at Brownwood Park in East Atlanta.
(03:22):
I made my way there and met up with Matt
from the Atlantic Community Press Collective. My first feeling walking
in is like it felt very society of the spectacle
in terms of like the ratio of cameras to participants
was the most extreme that I've really ever ever seen
for like, you know, a week of action.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I think there was there was outside of like a
press conference.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, and like it felt like there was so many
just cameras looming around, and it's like it's like there's
so many people trying to make a similar run of
the movements to sell back to other people at this
point in time, and like there's just a very like
that's just a very large, pervasive feeling, and that combined
with the more of the more liberalization of certain certain aspects.
(04:03):
Again compared to the last week of action, which felt
there was a strong militant continuent.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And like the liberals continued, was still there were still
if you.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Build it, we will burn it. And that's not the
vibe here. That's not the vibe here. There's definitely a
big separation in terms of what types of people at
what side of the park. Right now, there's a more
like more like forested section of the park with a
creek on the south side, which is where people are
setting up some camping sites had a kitchen, that's where
the well content is. And then there's the other side
(04:33):
of the park that has like the rec center and
the playground, which seems more like family friendly stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Yeah, there are kids there, there's the popcorn setup.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
It's more like house, So there is a Bounty House,
which is great return. They couldn't they couldn't keep this
moving down.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
I won't.
Speaker 5 (04:49):
I won't rest until is destroyed, until the story every
Mounty Castle is in Atlanta, till till every Bounty Castle
is to that.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Is, that is the new Movement's so good.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
In contrast to the last kickoff rally at Gresham Park,
which felt very unified, this time there was a noticeable
separation in terms of what types of people are on
the two sides of the park. People wearing camouflage and
masks were more situated on the south side of the
park where tents were being set up, versus people by
the playground who were going around with the referendum signup
(05:26):
sheet and where all the food was being handed out.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
It's so separated again, the two groups.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Cannot, cannot, cannot count see each other and even like
people like.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Turnout seemed to be a bit lower than some people expected,
and it was definitely much lower compared to the previous
few weeks of action, and overall the rally was very
muted and lacked a sense of energy or focus. Like
the rallies, was start at eleven, which kind of kind
of think nothing happened like it just it felt very directtionless.
I felt like people do not quite know why they
(06:03):
were there at this point in.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Times, almost Nune before anyone really spoke on the bullhorn,
and the music didn't start until noon, and then what
was it like a half hour ago, so like twelve
thirty probably when when the first like speaker said anything
from the Faith Coalition.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
So far, the rally kind of feels like a microcosmum
of the entire movement at this point, just not quite
sure where to direct the energy to.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
There's a feeling that like people should do.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Something, but they don't quite know how to. They haven't
decided how that should be directed yet. And there's some
people showing up, but it's just like it feels kind
of stagnant and like there's this there's this need to evolve.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Right now, and I don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I think maybe people got burnt out from the city
council things and there's a lot of energy being.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Pumped into that. Yeah, and then I guess some people
people like three weeks of pushing.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Energy and that that was only like two weeks ago,
like that that's still very recently three weeks it still
feels it still feels very raw. Walking down the pathway
on the south side of Brownwood you can see people
setting up tents, carrying camping supplies and big jugs of water.
Other people were assembling a makeshift kitchen in the tree line,
and all of that was physically reminiscent of the last
(07:19):
week of action. But being four miles away from the
forest at Brownwood Park instead of the Wailani impacted the
feeling on the ground. We're both were so far away
from the forest, but there's like that separation of space,
like it feels so distant.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
And distant, even more than than Gresham Park, even with
the Gresham Like if this were happening in Gresham Park,
I think that might even be a different feeling. Yeah,
because at least you're attached to the Leilani.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
There was more determination on like the south side of
of the park and you could feel like the people
want at least people want to do something physically, and
they were. But it's even still unclear how it's going
to get directed towards, like like what is this to.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Bring to stop prop city right now?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Like that is and that's the big thing is like
people are trying to figure that out and there's people here,
but like what are what are people actually going to
be doing?
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Like that's that's the question that is You're going to
be unanswered at least today.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I would say the last Week of Action in March
was very important in terms of setting the stage for
what the next few months would look like. The direct
action that happened on Sunday during the music festival was
very important and successful, but also carried large ramifications for
how the rest of the movement would be shaped in
(08:41):
terms of the police repression and increase police presence in
the forest. The weeks of Action definitely have this ability
to affect how the movement as a whole evolves in
the subsequent months. On Saturday, there were worries that if
things were simply going to continue to be like the
kickoff rally, that wouldn't be a positive direction and would
(09:03):
be a bad sign. It's just so, I mean, it's
hard not to compare this to the to the last
Week of Action kickoff rally at Gresham, which is felt
so different. Like that there was like almost ten times
as many people. There was like a feeling of like motion,
there was a feeling of like we can, we have
we have to go do a thing, and we're gonna
do it no matter what, Like we don't know it's
gonna be on the other side of the tunnel, but
(09:24):
we're going there to do it anyway.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We're gonna find it out together.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
And there was that was a lot of determination, and
then there was a lot of like there was like
a pointedness, like they knew where they were going, and
this does not It lacks that pointedness. It feels like
people aren't quite sure why they're here or what to
do at this point in time. And if the movement
wants to be able to continue in its goals, it
has to find some way to evolve in these next
(09:48):
two months as construction is going to ramp up.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
And I guess this this week will kind of will the.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Bell weather well, either a bell weather or a learning experience. Yeah,
it might not be any sort of death now, but it.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Will have to be a learning experience probably. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
That's that's kind of most of most of my thoughts
so far, based on walking through both places. There's just
not much else talks how much is happening like it
soon enough, however, other things did start happening thanks to
the Atlanta Police Department, but throughout that afternoon things remained
mostly low key, and as the day went on, the
(10:28):
gathering at Brownwood Park turned into a community barbecue and
people started to get a much more clear idea of
what the expectations for that day were. As people settled
into the park, there ceased to be any big anticipation
for what everyone was going to be doing that first day.
There wasn't supposed to be a vigil for Tortighita in
the park that evening, which was interrupted by Atlanta Police
(10:51):
officers who swept through the park issuing a quote unquote
friendly reminder that the park closed at eleven PM.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
All right, it's around eight thirty.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
How about forty police officers just walked through Brownwood Park
telling people that are gathered here that the park closes
at eleven and everyone's basically anticipating the police are going
to try to sweep the entirety of the park, including
the sections where people are trying to camp out. Around
eleven PM, the cops were walking south through the park
as the crowd was walking and chanting along the way
as well, cops left under the heels of like maybe
(11:27):
seventy five to two hundred people who were chanting along
the south side of Brownwood. They've been staging around Brownwood
Park and Portland Avenue for the past hour or so.
They had like twenty thirty cars, it's around forty fifty officers.
People decided they did not wish to stand their ground
and fight off a possible police raid at Brownwood Park,
(11:48):
so they spent the next few hours packing up all
the supplies and equipment that they just spent all day
setting up, and then evacuated from the area. Okay, it
is eleven ten pm. It seems like the cops essentially
just did what I'm referring to as advanced bluffing. So
they walk through it on eight thirty warning people, hey,
(12:08):
park closes at eleven, which very much, very much indicating that, hey, we're.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Going to sweep through and fuck with your shit if
you're still here.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
So the next few hours people spent time you know,
packing up, breaking down the tents of leaving, heading to
other locations. And then at eleven we kind of just
expected police to do a standard sweep through, you know,
destroy anything they find. If they find people, tell them
to leave or else get arrested standard stuff. At this point,
there's about seven or eight police cruisers staged around the
(12:34):
south side of the park, but they're not actually sweeping
through because it's pretty clear that there's like no one
actually in the park at this point. It's just very
clearly like empty and quiet, So I don't even I
don't even think cops are going to sweep through. It's
it's been already like ten to fifteen minutes. We expected
them to kind of sweep on the hour, but they
just like don't need to. It's very clear that no
(12:54):
one's in the park, so they just kind of like
successfully bluffed themselves into getting everyone to leave. I mean,
if there were people still here in invisible capacity, I'm
sure police would sweep through, but there's really there's no
invisible in the park for many of like the perimeters around,
so they're not even gonna bother sweeping through. But yeah,
it looks like this is the end of Brownwood Day
(13:15):
one and the very kind of low key kickoff rally. Still,
the week definitely is lacking a sense of direction. There's
been a cab swat doing perimeter sweeps around the Wailani
Forest and the round Greshian Park where there's some future
events planned.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
We will see how that plays out in these next
few days.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
It certainly seemed like police wanted to make some show
of force early on in the week to stifle the
week of action. The threat of array the very first
tonight was indeed disruptive to the logistics for the week,
but ultimately people were able to band together to keep
each other safe and cared for. During this current general
(14:05):
sense of directionlessness, there were a lot of questions on
how the movement will change during this turning point, With
little in the way of obvious answers or new paths
of resistance, The following Sunday and Monday of the week
continued to be mostly low key. People used those days
to facilitate workshops and discussions to work through the shift
(14:27):
the movement was going through. At the end of the week,
I sat down with Matt in East Atlanta Village to
talk about the week as a whole and compare notes.
Here's a bit of our conversation talking about the discussions
that started happening during those first few days. This was
a week of discussions, like it was, it really was.
There was a lot of meetings there was a lot
(14:48):
of discussions happening, people figuring out what do we do,
like if we actually want to stop cop City and
it's going to get built in these next few months,
like now is the time to figure out what the
fuck to do next. So people have been having those
discussions this week, and if anything, the Week of Action
has been useful in this in this sense that it's
brought a lot of people together so they can have
these generative conversations. And there was a lot more conversations
(15:12):
during this week than last week. There was one on
like what the state of the movement is now, especially
with the referendum taking up more visibility, how are like
radical is going to navigate this space and this movement
with a lot of things in flux, And I think
that that was definitely my first read. Even even on
the Cookoff rally, I felt like there's a lot of
people like not sure what to do, is very directionless.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
People were asking a lot.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Of questions and more questions were being asked all throughout
the week. There's a lot of discussions, a lot of
meetings about like what do we do now, like if
construction is going to start in the next two months,
Like what is this movement going to do like that
people can chant if you build it, we will burn it.
But chanting it and doing it two different things. And
the movement is it's going to go through a period
(15:53):
of evolution and in these next few months, and with
all those questions being asked, I feel like the answer
to those quiesequestions is going to be the actions people
do take in these next few months. In the aftermath
of the clear cutting, it felt like in some ways
that the window of possibility for this movement was closing
as options seemed to be getting smaller. More people started
(16:14):
pursuing the referendum as a potential means of stopping Copcity,
but those in the more militant anarchist wing of the
movement were left questioning, after two years of employing a
diversity of tactics largely led by direct action, if it's
the right and move to switch to an electoral strategy
now where the situation is approaching its most dire but
(16:35):
since it is happening whether they like it or not,
anarchists were wondering, what can people do so that the
referendum doesn't completely dominate the narrative of the movement or
disincentivize other evolutions of the struggle. Now, obviously, a group
of people pursuing a referendum does not prohibit other people
from engaging in direct action, but there still were worries
(16:55):
that the referendum could become a sort of release mechanism
for the movement, both in terms of new people's involvement
being pushed toward this more liberalized electoral strategy instead of
radical action, or if the petition or even potential ballot
vote fails, then that being used as an indicator that
most people in the city actually do want copcity. But
(17:18):
through all this, what anarchists can do, and what they
typically do, is to encourage radical autonomy and self determination
regardless of electoral strategies or outcomes. Whether or not a
petition gets sixty some thousand signatures does not affect a
burning construction vehicle. Just as these sort of discussions were happening.
(17:39):
It's kind of fitting that on Monday, June twenty sixth,
we saw the first communication in months claiming responsibility for
equipment sabotage. After the last week of action in March
and subsequent police raids on the forest, increased security, the
rapid clear cutting and big push for city Council public
comment followed by the start of the referendum, wrote that
(18:00):
series of events, there really hadn't been much in the
way of nocturnal direct action sabotage happening in Atlanta or
across the country in solidarity once a core component of
this movement was seriously lacking in the months leading up
to this summer, And then suddenly, after the June week
of action's mostly uneventful start, a post went up on
(18:22):
the sketchu web site scene stott no blogs dot org
claiming that a group of anonymous individuals snuck into a
subcontractor's machine storage lot and poured hydrochloric acid into the
oil tanks of three vehicles. The target was Brent Scarborough Company,
a Georgia based subcontractor who was hired to clear cut
the Waalani forest and was currently engaged in mass land
(18:44):
grading on the site. I drove by the site on
Monday and I saw like over twenty machines like actively
working on the land.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Very avatar much Yeah, yes, y.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Or for and Gully the Superior film. But no, like
it's like the site's being very actively worked on, Like
I've never seen that many machines doing active work, like
all moving at the same time. Early Monday morning, the
Stop Cop City Referendum put out a strong statement of
solidarity with quote all tactics on the road to collective
liberation unquote and openly rejected the state's framing of quote
(19:25):
unquote violent and nonviolent resistance. To briefly quote a few
of the last sentences of the statement, quote, the Cop
City Vote Referendum campaign is grounded in the values of
abolitionist organizing and racial and environmental justice. We also recognize
our chosen tactic is a single intervention in a wide
rainbow of fighting state repression. We seek to use the
(19:47):
Cop City Referendum to leverage local power, educate and activate
our communities, and build networks that can strengthen our city
and future mobilizations. The referendum is one piece of a vibrant,
multi faceted movement, one that defies respectable categorization as well
as its state violence and repression. The Cop City Vote
(20:08):
Referendum Coalition stands in solidarity and full support of the
Stop Cop City Week of Action, the larger movement and
abolitionist organizers and activists across this city.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Unintentionally, these two things coincided. There was the release of
the scenes like the first sabotage in months, and then
the referendum released that same day, the solidarity statement for
all Yes actions taken to stop Cop City. I just
think that needs the statement itself needs to be highlighted,
and yeah, I think it seems like they're going.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
To stick to that.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
The solidarity statement was widely applauded and seen as a
good sign regarding the referendum's place in the larger fight
against Cop City and how it was not intending to
take space away from other aspects of the movement. Tuesday morning,
there was a small protest outside the Cab County Border
Commisions Building to call for the reopening of Entrenchment Creek Park.
(21:04):
The park was a common gathering spot for the movement,
at where many people camped during previous weeks of action.
An executive order from DCAB CEO Michael Thurmond closed the
park late last March as the police geared up to
fortify Bolauni and speed run all of the tree felling.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
So I sat in the Board of Commissioner's meeting and
it's it's different than a city council meeting where like
anybody who signs up to do public comment can do
public comment. They only a lot thirty minutes of public comment,
so about that amounts to ten speakers, and I think
about six of them were actually there for.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You know, to talk about opening the park.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
And then the rally, I think it was something like
thirty thirty people was a student organized rally and they
did a couple speakers and then that was that was it.
Not much from the CAB, Like the CAB only came
out to make sure that they weren't blocking a pathway
and it was kind of hands off. I did get
(22:03):
a parking.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
Ticket, that was my fault, you did.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, I let my parking expire for twelve minutes.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
A legalist mascot at the ACPC wow.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
H And yeah. The minute I do something illegal, I
get a trapping ticket.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Previously in June that a CAB CEO proposed a one
point eight million dollar construction plan necessary to reopen the park,
but no clear date on when that would happen. One
county commissioner has been trying to fast track reopening the park,
but their resolution has repeatedly been deferred by the county board.
The Soonest it will be reconsidered is October tenth. Meanwhile,
(22:40):
the park will remain indefinitely closed. Throughout the first few
days of the Week of Action, there was something kind
of looming over everyone's heads. There was a march planned
(23:01):
from Gresham Park towards Blawney that was to take place
on the evening of Wednesday, June twenty eighth. The police
response to this action was primed to be the most
intense out of the week. The path to Entrenchment Creek
Park is a pretty closed in bike path with a
tunnel going under an overpass where police have been staging
to prevent people from entering the forest. No, I definitely
(23:23):
felt like on Monday and Tuesday everyone was still like
thinking about what would happen on Wednesday, What would happen
on the march from Gresham Park. That was the big unknown,
That was the big danger.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Like very palpable. Yeah, concern about how that was going
to play out. Yeah, that probably, I mean all the
way back to Saturday. That was probably like playing through
people's minds and causing some of that like, yeah, uncertainty.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Police were setting up perimeters around the forest in an
increased capacity than the usual detail. Pretty Early on in
the day, there was a DACAB County SWAT mobile command
center posted up in a school parking lot next to
the tunnel and bike path leading from Gresham to Wolani.
Kind Of as expected, this entire section of South Atlanta
was crawling with police before people even gathered at Gresham Park.
(24:15):
The day began with an unfortunately rocky start and the
first arrest of the week outside Cadence Bank in Midtown.
The protest was calling on the bank to cancel their
twenty million dollar construction loan given to the Atlanta Police Foundation.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
So there was this action at Cadence Bank that they
specifically didn't want media and so none of us were there. Yeah,
and that was early in the morning.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
I don't I think we found.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Out about it after renoon or something, so after I
woke up. Yeah, I think it was like they said,
thirty people, kind of like we saw the other day Friday.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Yeah, on Friday.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
But as they were walking away, somebody gets well multiple
they try or rest multiple people.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Please start chasing people.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Someone gets grabbed and arrested, another person gets detained and
then let go. Seemed like a pretty chaotic scene. That's
not a great way to start off the day where
you have your most stressful action plan for later. You
wake up, you get chased by cops, and you're expecting
to go do a march in a few hours in
the most heavily police area of Atlanta right now. The
(25:24):
march was to take place on the same bike path
from Gresham Park to Intrenchment Creek Park that people took
during the kickoff rally at the last Week of Action,
but much has changed on the ground since then. As
people started to gather at Gresham Park on Wednesday evening,
the numbers were quite small. As I progressed, around one
hundred and fifty people eventually amassed, but it was still
(25:46):
a small fraction of the number of people at the
previous Gresham Park march, and with a much greater police presence.
The exact plan for the night was heavily dependent on
a lot of factors that it was impossible to explicitly
know beforehand, like how many people would show up and
what they would feel comfortable doing based on the police response.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
All right, this is.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Wednesday, June twenty eighth.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Me and Matt from the Community.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Press Collective are gathered at Gresham Park. Overhead, you can
hear the Tacab helicopter circle at favorite sound, our favorite sound. Yes,
there's about I don't know, maybe seventy five or more,
close to one hundred, close to one hundred people gathered
here in Gresham Park and people have plans to march
(26:35):
towards Wolani or at least to the tunnel, and then
what happens after that's kind of a big mystery. Definitely
very different than the last time we were gathered in
Gresham Park with a crowd of people.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
We're missing the music, We're missing the duwali like paint clouds.
We're missing the kids, We're missing maybe the vibes just
in general.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Another eight hundred people or so, but I mean people
are setting out science and some banners. Police have a
decent presence around the around like the tunnel or like
the overpass over the tunnel, and around Wilani.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Right now, all around the Wilanni triangle there's there APD
and the Cab County Police just hanging out more than usual.
And at the fire station there was more cops than
I've seen since.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
March fifth, since the last week of action. Yeah, earlier
this morning I saw a da keb County swat Nobile
command unit at the school next to the tunnel overpass,
but I do not know where that is now. It was,
It was not parked there last time we drove by
about half an hour ago. So yeah, just that is.
That is the update as of as of six thirty.
(27:51):
So I'm guessing this crowd will start moving the next
thirty minutes to forty minutes, probably have hour. Yeah, all right, Right,
as the crowd was about to set off, someone made
an announcement that due to small numbers and large police presence,
there was to be a change of plans. Instead of
going all the way to Entrenchment Creek Park or even
the tunnel, they were going to march one third of
(28:12):
the way and stop on the bike path. All right,
it's around seven twenty pm, about one hundred and fifty
people are leaving Gresham Park and they announced they're going
to be going to hold a small vigil near one
of one of the felled trees on the bike path.
For a little while, the march was getting along fine,
(28:33):
there was music and chanting, when suddenly police made an
early appearance. Okay, so it's what seven seven forty seven
fifty seven forty one on Wednesday, June twenty eighth.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
We are walking on the bike path and staged.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Twenty five minutes into the walk and here we come
on our first police presence of the.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Day along our path.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
So too thinking to cap County, Yeah, two to cab
County SuDS part side by side along the path. But
they're not out of their vehicles.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
No, So.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
I think the crowd searsal order. They might try to
give it a spursal order because there's too many people.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I didn't think they would try to fuck with it
this soon. I thought they would wait to the tunnel.
A small number of police were posted up right before
the first bridge on the bike path, roughly about halfway
to the tunnel. If they wanted to, the crowd could
have marched past the police as they were not blocking
the path. The two cop cars couldn't even follow behind
(29:37):
because there was big metal bulgards preventing vehicles from going
on the wooden bridge, but the visible police caused the
group to pause.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
There was that one speech that we need to touch
on from that night, and that was the speaker said,
in order to win, we have to let go.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Of the idea of losing while looking good.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Yeah, and that I think is going to inform whatever
the direct action side of things are for the next
this next phase.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Of the movement.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
While paused in front of the police cruisers, the crowd
deliberated on what they wanted to do and what they
thought they could accomplish. After a few minutes of discussion,
they decided that they were not prepared to unnecessarily sacrifice themselves.
One of the people from the crowd spoke briefly not
only on this decision, but also how it fits into
(30:27):
the difficult situation the movement has found itself in. Right now,
I'm going to quote a little bit from this impromptu
speech quote. We shouldn't come away from this feeling demoralized.
We should feel clarity because we believe we set out
to participate in a movement to obstruct the construction of
a police militarization site, but that is not being allowed
(30:48):
to happen. The people we're fighting against believe we are
a domestic insurgency. They are treating us like an insurgency.
The state is using militaristic language like denying anarchists operating space,
and so we're going to great lengths to be safe
to play it safe and to go slow and to
proceed rationally and defend one another. But we're coming under
(31:10):
constant attack. Everything we do, we're under attack unquote. Just
earlier that morning, people were attacked by the state and
arrested as they stood on the sidewalk outside of a bank.
Those who work to bail activists out of jail are attacked.
People doing on the ground jail support are physically attacked
and face police intimidation.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
We don't want to be engaged in a failing struggle.
Our enemy is treating us like terrorists. That's what they're
calling us, and that's what they believe we are. It's
not just a rhetorical trick. That's how they're treating the movement.
And so we have to figure out how we're going
to win, because we intend to win. But you can't
just only defend yourself. The safest thing for us to
(31:54):
do is to never go to a protest about this movement. Again,
if our top priority is safety, everyone who is not
currently facing charges should move away, should not go to
events or actions. But if we have a higher priority
than safety alone, we're going to have to figure out
what we're going to do to achieve that, which is
going to require going on the offense when we're able
(32:15):
and how we're able. This movement has been very creative,
and we're going to have to continue to be more
and more creative, and we're going to have to continue
to deploy all available means in order to have this
kind of offensive, victorious, and strong movement that we all
deserve when we fight, when we attack the enemy, when
we have our offensive actions, we have to follow through
(32:37):
with them. We have to go all the way with them.
We have to be willing to believe in ourselves to
believe that we can win. And so I believe that
we are going to win this movement, and I think
you guys believe that we're going to win this movement.
But that's going to require us to abandon the idea
of looking good while losing. We can't look good losing.
(32:59):
So are we look good losing or are we going
to win?
Speaker 4 (33:04):
All right? It is eight o'clock.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
The crowd sat in the middle of the trail behind
the first bridge, where two.
Speaker 4 (33:11):
Decap County vehicles were parked.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
They deliberated for a little bit, and then a few
people spoke, And now the crowd has turned around and
a marching back to Greshiam.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Park, marching back, no arrests. We do have two helicopters
now hanging over us. That's my favorite thing.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
In the world.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Part and a lot of other decav on the ground
in other parts of the bike path, in the trails.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
Yeah, they would have walked directly into what looked like
a full swat team above the bridge.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
So they made the right choice.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Is what it seems like to me.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Yeah, And they talked about their intentionality of the decision,
and it's how it's important to not just keep losing
while trying to look cool and throw yourself out a
line of police.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Yeah, and that hopefully, I mean, what what does that
look like in practice? I guess we'll see you over
the next few months, three.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
Days, three days to two months, yeah, three.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Days, several months.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
But it does sound like there's some attempt now a
directionality that wasn't I wasn't sing yeah until this is.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
The exact same march people tried to do back in March,
and they did it, and they're trying to do it
here again in June.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
And it doesn't work. It didn't it doesn't work the
first time.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
It doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
It worked the first time, it doesn't mean a second time,
So now it's time to change something exact. Yeah, on
the walk back to Grushiam Park, we got clear photos
of the amount of riot police waiting for us at
the tunnel and it was a great many.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Oh yeah, there is a lot.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
That's a lot of of a riot.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
And that was when of the vans posted above the tunnel.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah, so that a trailer. Yeah, that's what they bring
all their riot shields in. Okay.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
Yeah, that that would have sucked.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
That would not have been fun.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
No, that would have gone very poorly.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Would have been tear gas though, And I do miss
being tear gas.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
I can like spray with pepper spray if you want.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
It's not the same as tear gas.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
I can spray right now if you want.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
Matt ultimately declined to be pepper sprayed. Torti Guita's mother,
Belkise Tearan, came to Gresham Park to also join the march.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
So what we had was one hundred and fifty people
in Belkis Tearran. And I think that that, yeah, plays
a role in how this goes on.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Nov Having bell Keise.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Very like visibly present, like walking up to everybody there
and greeting them. Just having her presence there affects what
people want to do, and it reminds you of what's
actually like the actual stakes at hand, so you're caring
for everyone around you in a much more like conscious capacity.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
Belcis spoke, a.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Few other people spoke, and then they turned around and
headed back to Greshia and that was the decision that
was made and no no one was hurt, no one
was arrested. People got back to Gresham Park. Some people
had ice cream.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Two people in particular had ice cream and they were
very happy about it. It definitely wasn't maybe it was us.
Speaker 4 (36:12):
Other people also had ice cream.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Other people did have ice cream. I don't think they
were quite as excited.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
It's like the overpriced ice.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Throughout the week, you could tell that people were really
wanting to be back in the forest and Wilani People's Park.
People made do gathering at Brownwood Park, but it wasn't
the same. There was an undeniable distance between where people
were gathered this week of action and the sight of
all the previous battles in the Wilani. The fact that
so much of the forest had already been destroyed, loomed
(36:41):
heavily over the week, and that's something that people are
still processing and are still comprehending. Another big aspect of
the week, like this is this is the first week
of action where people haven't gone gone in the willani Like, yeah,
there's no action, which feels weird.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Well, we should say in the triangle because you know,
the forest is obviously, but.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Like the site, Like this is the first time that
people haven't been like in the forest, and that's a
new thing to navigate, that's a new feeling to navigate,
Like there's there's a different there's a different.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Sense multiple chance.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
There's multiple chance being like not one lead, don't cut
down the trees and like the trees are gone, like
it's the site's been cleared, and I think people are
still catching up to that and like rel Like it's
still something that people are processing and they're gonna have
to process that if they want to like continue, like
they have to like look at the situation being like
this is we have to accept what has happened. Then
(37:35):
we can choose what's to do because you can't act as.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
You can't deny what the reality is.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
No, and you can't act as if the trees are
still there, because that's going to change the type of
the types of like actions you do. Like you can't
trace it in the in the trees. It's it's changing
the actual actions people are going to take to try
to stop copsitting. I think the Wednesday action almost needed
to happen. So many people still dream about what if
(38:00):
we could reoccupy Wollane. People are still caught in that
headspace because they got so used to that over the
course of almost two years, so inevitably there was going
to be an attempt where a few hundred people try
to re enter Willane People's park. They're almost needed to
be an attempt just to see what would happen, And
we saw what would happen. And now people can use
(38:23):
that action as reference when making future plans and decisions
about actions, because you can point back to this and
demonstrate what the police response will be when people march
to Wolani. Massive amounts of SWAT riot police waiting for you,
SWAT mobile command centers, heavily armed police estaged on roads, overpasses, entrances,
(38:43):
and all around the forest, specifically waiting for people to
try to cross over or through the tunnel, so now
people know what will happen if they try and do
the same thing again. In some ways, it kind of
needed to not just be theoretical speculation, but actually happen
so that people can now truly allow themselves to evolve,
(39:04):
so that you don't have this question in the back
of your head, because now that question has been answered,
you would be throwing yourself at a wall of swat
and riot gear. And now everyone can let themselves evolve
and start figuring out what new things can be fostered
and imagined. We'll hear more about those evolutions and conclude
(39:24):
my coverage of the Week of Action in the next episode.
See you on the other side. It Could Happen here
as a production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts
from cool Zone Media, visit our website coolzonemedia dot com,
or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources
(39:45):
for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot
com slash sources. Thanks for listening.
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