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
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
A lot of things have changed in the woods since
I visited last year. The entrenchment Creek Park trailhead at
Wallani 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
(00:44):
we talked about in the last episode, the police have
been increasingly destructive during their 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
(01:07):
mere association with the stop Coop City movement. 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.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Living in the woods for me was like a dream.
I came to the woods because I was homeless and
unemployed and was actually living in different woods by myself,
and to actually came to the woods for similar reasons.
Tort lost their housing in Tallahassee and decided to give
this place a try as a place to live.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
In the forest, there was always over time just developed
like you know, people built coffee shops and like a
kitchen people used and places for people to just like
I know, and that continued build time. I never stopped,
will never stop better and they never stopped making life
(02:03):
out better as as comfortable, as comfortable and as welcoming
and as a community best as possible. And that's really
the best thing I feel like I could I could
speak to one.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
It is that no matter what was going on, and.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
People were always working to make the forest as as
welcoming out a spaceh to as many people as possible
as they could.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
The night of the December thirteenth police raid, Tortuguito went
back to the camp in Willani People's Park to start
rebuilding after police tore down the encampments and protest infrastructure
just hours prior.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I've never experienced such emotional and material security as I
have living in the Willauni 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. It's really
(02:57):
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 get
(03:19):
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 in this society.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Here is Cricket talking about the type of support everyone
has for each other in the movement and how Torte
really embodied that.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
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 grateful to everyone who has helped keep me safe.
(04:04):
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 Tort 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 we've been trying to contribute and
(04:27):
that we're trying to continue now that tort is no
longer with us. We were supposed to meet yesterday to
put together a curriculum of marginalized, vulnerable people who face
gun violence both from the state and from right wing
neo Nazi fascists, you name it, and will be continuing
that work in their name.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
When spending time in the Wilani Forest and even for
the many peripheral aspects of the movement, people will choose
a forest name. It's like a nickname that helps your
legal identity and nom de plume. Many chose Tortigita, which
is Spanish for little turtle. But it wasn't just chosen
(05:10):
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 US army in seventeen ninety one. Now, Tort was
(05:32):
allegedly apprehensive 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 is a few
other quotes attributed to Tort across various articles that seem
(05:53):
to espouse a belief in nonviolence as a tactical strategy. Quote,
it's incredibly important to continue having popular support. Copcity 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
(06:14):
going to beat them at violence, but we can beat
them in public opinion in the courts. Even unquote. Based
on frequent phone calls with Tort about forced defense Tortighita's
own mother has shared similar sentiments about Towrt's politics, saying
they quote carry no malice quote. I'm gonna read one
(06:36):
more quote from Torti Ghita about this topic. The right
kind of resistance is peaceful, because that's where we win.
We're not going to beat them at violence. They're very,
very good at violence. We're not. We win through nonviolence.
That's really the only way we can win. We don't
(06:56):
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 Torta Gita,
about who they were as a person, what kind of
stuff they enjoyed doing, what they were to the movement,
but mostly just listen to people's stories and memories of Torte.
Peter met Torte just shortly after they moved to Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So I met tort in May of twenty two, around
the time when 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.
(08:04):
They talked about their mom a lot. I won't say
I was a close friend of Tort's, 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
(08:25):
I learned a lot about how to be more gentle
with my comrades and how to give people more grace
in times of high stress.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
This is a snippet from my conversation with Cricket on
what TORTI Ghita brought to the movement and how they
really lived their politics.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
Tort was hilarious. They were someone who always brought fun
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 Tort, that they were involved in so many different groups,
like so many different causes, and they were an incredibly
dedicated activists, but someone who really felt that resistance could
be fun, could be joyful, could be celebratory. Uh, it
(09:04):
was always an opportunity to meet new people, to hug
new people. 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 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
(09:26):
that that energy, that passion and excitement. Uh really inspired
me and inspired a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's funny, a lot of the people I've talked to
were like have have like mentioned just because of the
different like you know, affinity groups that they've been in
and stuff. There's like a lot of people I've talked
to you have talked have mentioned a lot like that
they would not like regularly, but like everyone you know,
like get into conflicts with toar it like there was
there was someone who you would you would sometimes who
(09:51):
there would be just happened to be disagreements with. But
despite disagreements, they were like one of the kindest people
that they met. Even when they're you know, arguing about something.
It's like they would go so far to make sure
that other people knew that they were like cared for
and would would got just be very open towards like
(10:14):
everybody they meet.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Yeah, I think they really tried to live into and
walk the walk of abolition and noncarceral conflict of it's
okay to disagree, and disagreement doesn't mean that you got
to get kicked out. It does not mean that you're
a bad person. They allowed for complexity and allowed for
processes of working through things, of talking through things, and
that's a huge gift. I mean, I think anyone, regardless
(10:37):
of their level of activism, can relate to the idea
that it's hard to disagree, it's hard to be in
conflicts sometimes. But I do think that they were really
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
(10:59):
were actually very very much related. And yeah, no, it
was They're special and yeah, I'm just I'm just sorry,
I'm just heartbroken.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Tortighita's partner and a close friend of theirs, recorded a
video shortly after the shooting, just talking about who Torteghita
was and how they lived in community. I got permission
from their partner to use clips from that video in
this episode. Tour was always a.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
Very welcoming presence. They're always one of the greatest organizers
we had out there. They took care of everyone who
came through. They 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, attent, whatever you
could possibly need. Always making sure people are getting fed,
(11:50):
and just kind of like transparent you've ever had.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
One of the people I spent with. Noah also talked
about how Tortigito was quick to welcome people into the
movement a new.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Tour through various actions, center in the forest and doing
medical work with them.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I think I think a lot of people have ever
good this, but I remember them as being one of.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
The kindest and most welcoming people that I ever met
working on the forest.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Kind of whenever new people comment, was very like.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
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 out in the woods.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
It was a very it was an extremely welcome in person.
They were a very welcome in person.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
I was always willing to put there to help somebody
out and to do the work it took to make
sure that the community was safe out there and that
it could continue.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So much of the stuff around the forest, it's all
about like the militants in the woods, and toward kind
of fell into that category, you know, people who are
wearing black lavas camping out in the forest. Most of
the people I've interviewed are also more on that side
of things, but not everyone feels like they have the
ability to put on a ski mask and live in
(13:12):
the woods. One of the people I spoke with was
a mother named Karen, who started doing local neighborhood organizing
after connecting with Torti Ghita last summer.
Speaker 7 (13:23):
So I met tort Less summer and there was like
lots of 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,
(13:45):
and I have a toddler, and so I'm like boring
and have a strict bedtime, so I don't, you know,
go out at night time. So I was like trying
to find a place for me and like people like me,
and oh they're boring, you know, parents. And so I
got connected with Tort and we start We started, I
(14:05):
guess going during the daytime and I'm taking my toddler
over there to the park to explore, and you know,
we Tort and I talked a lot about well, at 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. I'm very much like a
neighborhood mom. I was new to activism and I.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Didn't even know.
Speaker 7 (14:29):
I was like, you know, I thought we were just
like visiting a park, but you know, there's like a
whole lot of different things about being in it that
Tort really kind of helped me navigate and showed me around.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
In my experience, it takes a special kind of person
to on board 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. Karen
spoke on how Tortighita kind of showed them the rope
and helped educate on everything from local organizing to security culture.
Speaker 7 (15:05):
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
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
(15:29):
or should I put my name on it and you
know all those things? Should I put my number on it?
And they were like, okay, well, get a Google Voice
number and you can set up like an email for it,
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?
(15:51):
And they said no, I think if you got to
like organize a neighborhood group, it would be sick. So yeah,
you know, they were conscious of all those things, but
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
(16:13):
they were engaged with me and like you know, an
older neighborhood mom. But they were really supportive and you know,
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
(16:33):
like willing to engage with the community.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
My conversations with Karen and others in Atlanta really showed
Tort as a 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.
Speaker 7 (16:52):
So, yeah, I made this flyer and Tort called a
bunch of other I know if they were people that
were in the forest or just people and you know,
friends or whatever, but and was like, hey, we're all
going to go canvas and I think they slept in
that day we met at the park, but me and
(17:13):
a couple of neighbors met, like you know, and I
was like, I had zero expectations. And they texted me
later and was like, I'm so sorry, but we'll do
it again. But yeah, just that, you know, like they
were willing to come put flyers door to door and yeah,
just like support me in that way.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Karen has continued to do neighborhood organizing since meeting Tort
last summer and is a great example of the variety
of people involved in the Defend the Atlanta Forest movement.
Based on the many local people she's spoken with, Karen
says the stop Coppacity proposal is pretty unpopular in the area.
Speaker 7 (17:51):
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 city council. But yeah, I guess Tort
and I in our kind of idea was like if
we can make a space. It's like, you know, they
(18:13):
may not want to go to the forest, but if
we can kind of create a space for them in
the movement.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Cricket talked about the many projects that Tort had a
hand in and it's willingness to just go out there
and do things, not just sit around and wait for
the world to get better. They lived anarchism in a
very active way.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
I don't know if anyone mentioned the trans Sanctuary that
Tort built and helped built and helped organize. I just
wanted to uplift that as just another sort of amazing
project that they were involved with. I remember hearing about it.
Tort talked about it and they were like, oh, yeah,
you know, we're going to have a volunteer day. And
then two weeks later we had like another little check
in and they were like, oh yeah, no, we like
(18:56):
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
being like, oh my god, they are not paralyzed like
they are living. They were living day to day right,
(19:18):
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.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
They had a friend of Tortighita's that goes by the
name Levitate the Pentagon, which is definitely in the top
three force names that I've heard. But they gave a
statement to Rolling Stone where they said, quote Tortighita was
a proud and fierce anarchist. The struggle for a total
liberation came as their first commitment in life. We must
(19:50):
honor that commitment.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
From a lot of the like none other trends that
we did together times out there, they were just really fun,
very to make.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
People have be like a very common presence during stressful times,
and they could make like a jerk really out of
like a any situation.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
But a lot of I remember like a lot of.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Conversations just about what we were doing in the forest,
and there are like reasons for being out there, and
they're you know, just kind of outgoing these ideas of
combating the you know, the state, and then then the
states pushed.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
For you know, destroying the forest.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
For the effects that would have on the climate, for
the increasing ability of the place to militarize and to
suppress not just people in Atlanta, but law enforcement agencies
across the country.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Coming to train at the facility to better climp down
on a presence. Yeah, they were just they're really kind,
very tenacious. That's like the two things I can always
kind of come back to.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
So there was a person towards capacity for wit under
high stress situations is something I heard from a lot
of different people, including towards friends and their partner.
Speaker 8 (21:09):
Just really really like always like had a joke, had
like a really like good sharp commentary.
Speaker 9 (21:18):
Or would like give you like a cigarette professional ship poster. Yeah, yeah,
I mean their mean game on point.
Speaker 10 (21:31):
Yeah, and.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
Just always like doing a lot of things.
Speaker 9 (21:36):
And so they were running around a lot, like getting
things for people and then hanging it off to them,
and so like, yeah, I think a lot of the
times when we would run into like for like oftentimes
we run into each other, it'd be like, oh, hey, hi, Hi, Okay,
we're doing a thing, and then like okay, I gotta
go buy you know, and there's always like.
Speaker 11 (21:58):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Sure, they were super into that.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Oh that smile.
Speaker 12 (22:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
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'm in like like they're like, oh
my god, and just like yeah, that's that's what I
want people to know. Fruit snacks and dishes.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Fruit snacks have come up a lot throughout my conversations
with people. Tortiquita's partner and friend also talked about how
tort tried to balance helping other people with their own
self care.
Speaker 6 (22:41):
They were always so passionate to it because they want
to help people so bad that they would put their
all into it. And it took a toll all 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're an inspiration to us all.
Speaker 8 (23:05):
They also needed to like disappear for like hours or
days at a time, and just.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Like rechart, they read a lot.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
Oh yeah, I am one of the like one of
the things to be sitting in their hammock and our
tent near with their tent and just be reading doing
whatever it was they were doing, shit and posts and whatever.
They get to distress. They were good about taking care
of themselves, but they didn't get into some conundrums or
(23:33):
they'd 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,
have happy, go lucky.
Speaker 7 (23:43):
I've heard them described as kind, and they definitely were.
I think the word that comes to mind the most
is earnest. They were just like incredibly earnest. I think
like the earnestness I'm talking about is like they truly
live their politics like anyone can talk about like include
civity and love and fighting for the future, but they actually,
(24:03):
you know, just in how they carried themselves and interacted
with me.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
They really did that.
Speaker 7 (24:08):
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 and nature in the forest.
Speaker 8 (24:23):
What was that piece we were talking about? Revolutionary death? Yes, yes, yeah,
they read that this last summer, and it really had
a strong impact upon them and they I think you
were sharing as.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Well that they had spoken about.
Speaker 8 (24:42):
How they knew it was very possible that they were
going to have this revolutionary death, and that.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
Back to them kind of giving their all. They were
prepared and they unfortunately paid the ultimate price. That's said
as we all are.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
I'm sure.
Speaker 6 (25:08):
George Keito, wherever they are now, I was happy to
know that they gave they're all all until 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.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
In multiple ways, escalatory actions of police last December led
to the current fatal scenario, 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.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
They were very calculated in their risks and they would
never have had to be put in this situation if
they're home in the trees hadn't been destroyed. They lived
in a tree house, and the treehouse that they were
really holding down and staying in was bulldozed in the
mid December raids.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
On November twenty first, two thousand and six, undercover Atlanta
Police Department officers executed a no knock warrant on the
home of ninety two year old Catherine Johnston in the
Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Police claimed to have evidence that
crack cocaine was being sold out of the house. Officers
(26:52):
in plane clothes cut off the burglar bars to Johnston's
home of seventeen years and broke down her door. According
to the police, the ninety two year old woman shot
several officers. Multiple cops were treated for a gunshot wounds.
Catherine 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
(27:15):
drugs at the house, except every single thing the police
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,
(27:37):
the man gave the police an address on a Neil
Street and a fake name to buy cocaine with. The
APD 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
(27:59):
total of thirty nine shots, five or six of which
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
(28:21):
executed Catherine Johnston as they shot each other with friendly fire.
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
(28:44):
history in mind, this next part might get a little complicated,
but I think it's important. A lot of the people
who knew tort have talked about how they often advocated
for nonviolence in direct action. Many have said the sequence
of events put forth by police just doesn't sound like
something Torte would do, And I very much understand this reaction.
(29:06):
Police lie all the time, especially when it comes to
people the cops have killed. It is very likely that
tort 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
(29:28):
for the movement and for the struggle against 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
(29:51):
what could have happened, as I'm sure 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 Force defenders
(30:13):
I interviewed for my previous Defend the Atlanta Forest series
from last May.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
As their partner stated, as it's friends sated be moved
by a piece they did not show, from the idea
that they could for the things that they believe, from
(30:45):
the idea that they could be murder, from the ideas
that they believe in my life.
Speaker 13 (30:51):
I went to live.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
We should not dismiss the possibility and by people can
and maybe even should.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Look at this world, look at the police murdering three
or four people.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
A day, of a climate catastrophe that we live in,
of the rising tide of.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Fascism, of the absolute fucking hell that we fucking live in,
and think this can't go on.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
And I'm willing to do any of them and pay
any of them to make it stop.
Speaker 14 (31:30):
We can't dismiss if that is a very real possible grievance.
There's a very real, impossible state.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Of mind, and that if that was towards.
Speaker 15 (31:46):
Was towards get us, If those cameras, if that was
its position, that it is not alone that.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
I undoubtedly in our willingness to die for we believe.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
In TORTI Ghita both privately and publicly talked about an
appreciation for nonviolence as a long term strategy, and the
flip side of that is Tort 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 Tort advocated for
the potential of nonviolence as a political strategy, they itself
were not solely nonviolent. The Atlanta Police Foundation have lied
(32:52):
about every single aspect of this project's development since the start.
The GBI said that there was no body cam footage,
and the police have than the last year fine tuning
their propaganda to frame the Defend the Forest movement as
a criminal enterprise and anyone protesting against copp City as
a dangerous terrorist and threat to public safety. But there
(33:14):
is a difference between mindlessly believing 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.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
Around the ideas. I think a lot of people have
been talking a.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Lot about trying to you know, there's a there's there's
narrative flaws and the police story about what happened in
that road, there's inconsistencies.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
We just now photos of the gun that their allegen
a legend was.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Used, just like a couple of days ago, and it
was days after the GBI's initial evidence final report.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
It doesn't all look suspicious that. I think.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
The thing that's bothered me is that I would never
want to take away agency from someone who cannot speak
for themselves for an act that they may have committed.
If shot that cop, that was a shot fired in
liberation against the state that murders thousands of people and
destroys millions more for the car sooo system, the same
state that seeks to help the South River flood and
(34:20):
to make the soul Tony degrees ladder and to make Atlanta's.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
Air quality go down. I would never want to take.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
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.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Been an unjustified act.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
A shot fired at the police and defense of the
forest as a shot fired and self defense. Cops shoot
each other all the time, and actually they're terrible with firearms.
They're just not good at their jobs. GSP, I think,
as a specific agency is sometime.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
To be focused on.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
I'm more here. I've seen a lot of people kind
of wrap up GSP and APD and like the cab
PD as these very like just as one agency GSP
as Georgia State Patrol is under the direct command of
our governor and do not wear body cams as an
agency policy.
Speaker 4 (35:13):
They were the governor strong troopers.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
When he want something done violently and without accountability, that
is who he sends.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
And you know, my reaction to all of this, whether
or not what the events transpired, 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 and rage that people should show should be
the same either way. If it were to come out
that that.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Officer wasn't fact shot, I would be so disheartened if
people turned their back on our comrade who was slain
by the police for what I see as an act
of self defense.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
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 first event type thing I went to in Atlanta
(36:16):
was a noise demo outside to 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,
the twentieth, there was a large public vigil in Wallawnee
(36:36):
People's Park. Last time I was there, it was for
the Muscogee 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
(36:57):
evening for the vigil, 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
(37:19):
outdoor shrine. A few 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
(37:43):
with struggles across the South, from the 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.
Speaker 12 (37:56):
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 they met. They lived what
they believed, which is something that I hope we can
all be inspired by. There are so many stories of
(38:18):
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 that they could help them, and
someone just shared a story with me that the last
time that they saw Tort, they were telling them about
how the unhoused folks in their community were getting their
(38:39):
tents and sleeping bags like swept and then Tort gave
them two hundred dollars to replace the sleeping bags and tents.
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,
(39:02):
and so committed to living in a way that can
bring us all into a better community with each other,
whether it be us and our fellow human beings or
us in our forests. 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
(39:24):
it that much more important that we protect them and
that we make sure that this forest remains intact. I
know that that's what Tort would have wanted, That's 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
(39:47):
that tort had for people and for all living beings,
and just feeling really connected to their compassion, 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 Torte brought to
this world is still here and is continuing to grow.
(40:07):
So I think that there, I think that they're here
with us, and I think that they always will be
because they brought so much joy and goodness and love
into this world, and not something that never goes away,
it only grows.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
I've gotten permission from a few of the people that
spoke that night to share some of their stories of
Torti Ghita. One of the small things that stuck with
me was how someone described Torte as possessing a playful,
rebellious energy.
Speaker 16 (40:37):
But tort and I watched this yugoslav film together called
My Father the Socialist Pula, which was this joyful Yugoslavian
film from the eighties about the transition after World War
Two and Yugoslavia to autonomous self rule and breaking apart
with the Soviet sphere, and in it uh early on
(41:04):
in the film they're they're changing their social customs. If
adopted a new way of greeting each other in Yugoslavia
where they they say good morning, death the fascism. And
from that time when I would see Tour, always they
(41:24):
would that's the fascism, comrade, that's the fascism. And Tour
when I first met them, Uh invited me to teach
akito in the forest, which is called it's a martial art,
(41:45):
that's called the art of peace. And so while we
train as warriors, we train as peaceful warriors. But as
many people have said, we for instance, did defenses of
drag shows Tennessee from assemblies of Nazis and proud boys
who showed up in body armor with assault rifles. And
(42:10):
tort was militant, but joyful. Tart took all of the
always it was. It was with the utmost gravity and
yet with the utmost lightness.
Speaker 13 (42:23):
And you know, we we we as well, arranged a.
Speaker 16 (42:32):
Weekend of conflict resolution training here where tort rallied and
was the one that brought you know, a half a
dozen people. Was always rallying people, brought people to the
drag defense, brought people to the trainings, brought people to
my ikido class, maybe brought two dozen different people through
(42:56):
over the course of several dozen classes. They were a
peaceful warrior and they were Mike and they got shot dead.
And I'd like to I'd like to lead a chant
in that spirit to honor some of towards warrior spirit tonight.
Speaker 13 (43:17):
And I know one that they liked.
Speaker 16 (43:20):
Is ah Auntie Anti Capitalista. And we could start together,
slow and quiet and build together a powerful voice and
pierce the night ah Auntie Anti Capitalista, Anti.
Speaker 11 (43:47):
Anti.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Throughout the night, many songs were sung alongside screams of rage.
Tortogito 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
(45:00):
a few of the messages sent in to the Remember
Torte at ProtonMail dot com email address, many of which
you can now find collected at stop cop dot city.
That's stop cop period city.
Speaker 12 (45:16):
One of the things about tort that was really inspirational
is that they weren't just against capitalism. They weren't just
against the police. They made abolition about what they were
fighting for and on the we Remember tort 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
(45:38):
came in from someone in Tallahassee. Everyone in Tallahassee knew Manny.
I'm not even exaggerating. 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
(46:01):
enough to be graced with their presence, they felt safe
and free to do whatever they could for the community.
They ran a cold 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 that F and B hosted. And
this is only a fraction of the work that they
(46:22):
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 your close friend. I wish you
could have seen the vigil that we had. You would
have been proud.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
The large overturned stone by the flowers, candles and fruit
snacks at the Wollani vigil had a message written on
it that I read when I returned to the park a.
Speaker 4 (46:46):
Few days later.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
The big boulder reads erected in memory of all whose
lives were lived and unjustly lost in Wolani Forest. You
live on in the trees, and I remembered by the land.
You will never be forgotten until every prison is empty,
until every slave is free, until all live without fear,
(47:09):
until earth has healed. Our work is not done.
Speaker 12 (47:13):
If it's okay, I'll share another of the message that
is 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 bombs and live oak
radical ecology, and I will never cease to be amazed
by their tireless activism, their extreme empathy, and their ability
(47:34):
to make everyone feel welcomed in radical spaces. 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
(47:54):
the Tallahassee in Atlantic communities, but tomorrow we will fight
back twice as hard against cap in the state, so
that Tortughita 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.
(48:17):
And that contagious smile 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
were gone, comrade. I missed you. I miss you. They
(48:38):
had a deep understanding of solidarity and struggle. When the
cops swept an encampment in my neighborhood without hesitation, they
shared their forest funds to get more tents 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,
(48:59):
for all of us, for the strength of the fight
to stop cop City. I will miss how we greeted
one another and our meager attempts to make it a
thing that's a fascism literation.
Speaker 10 (49:07):
To all people.
Speaker 1 (49:10):
One of the people playing the tortighita tagged guitar at
the vigil played a version of Bella Chow and I'm
just going to read 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
(49:31):
to fight the fascists in the mountains during World War Two.
And I like to dedicate this version to somebody who
laid their life 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
(49:53):
so many communities and was just so funny, so loving,
so friendly, and they laid their life down for their
community and to stop copsity 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
(50:18):
the other side.
Speaker 4 (50:20):
The world is waking.
Speaker 10 (50:23):
Outside my window, bella chow bela chow bela chow chow
chow drags.
Speaker 13 (50:30):
My senses into the sunlight. For there are things that
I must do. Wish me luck. Now I have to
leave you.
Speaker 10 (50:44):
Bella chow bela chow, bela chow chow chow with my friends.
Speaker 11 (50:49):
Now in the forest, We're gonna shake the gates of
hell and.
Speaker 13 (50:57):
We will tell them.
Speaker 11 (50:59):
You will tell them you bella chow, bella chow, bella chout, shout,
show that we lannis not for the franchise in which
the bastards dropped down dead.
Speaker 13 (51:14):
Next time you see me, I may be smiling.
Speaker 11 (51:19):
Obella show, bella chow, bella shout, show shall I'll be
in prison or on the TV.
Speaker 13 (51:28):
I'll say the forest called me. The world is waken.
Speaker 11 (51:41):
I sign my window, bella chow bella chow, bella chow
chow chow. Try my senses into the sunlight. Further things
that I must do, wish me luck. Now I have
to leave you obella chow bella chow, bella chow chow
cho Oh, and my friends that in the forest we're
(52:03):
gonna shake the gates of hell. And we will tell him, Yeah,
we will tell him a bella chow bellow chow, bella
chow chow chow, that we lollies not far the franchise
which the bastards dropped down.
Speaker 13 (52:19):
The next time you see me, I may be smiling.
Speaker 11 (52:23):
Bella chow bella chower, bella chow chow, shall be in prison.
Speaker 17 (52:28):
We're on the TV. I'll say, the forest call me here.
(52:57):
The world is wakened. I simon a bella.
Speaker 11 (53:01):
Child, bella chow, bella chow chow chow. Dry my sasses
into the sunlight for their things said, I must.
Speaker 13 (53:08):
Do almost mean.
Speaker 11 (53:10):
Look, well, I gotta leave you a bella chow, bella chow,
bella chow chow chow.
Speaker 13 (53:15):
With my friends. Now in the forest, we're gonna shake
the gates off Hell, and we will tell him. We
will tell him.
Speaker 10 (53:26):
Bella chow bella chow bella chow chow chowd that wee
Lannis not for the franchise and which the bastards dropped dun.
Speaker 13 (53:40):
Next time you see me, I might be smiling.
Speaker 10 (53:45):
Bella chow bella chow bella chow chow chow.
Speaker 13 (53:49):
I'll be in prison or on the TV. I'll say
the Forest called me. Next time you see me, I maybe.
Speaker 11 (54:01):
Smiling bella chow bella choo, bella choo choo chow. I'll
be in prison or on the TV, I'll say the
Forest call me.
Speaker 1 (54:14):
Here music by The Narcissist Cookbook and Propaganda. It Could
Happen Here as a production of cool Zone Media.
Speaker 9 (54:24):
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 for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at
Coolzonmedia dot com slash sources.
Speaker 8 (54:38):
Thanks for listening.
A lot of things have changed in the woods since
I visited last year. The entrenchment Creek Park trailhead at
Wallani 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
(00:44):
we talked about in the last episode, the police have
been increasingly destructive during their 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
(01:07):
mere association with the stop Coop City movement. 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.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Living in the woods for me was like a dream.
I came to the woods because I was homeless and
unemployed and was actually living in different woods by myself,
and to actually came to the woods for similar reasons.
Tort lost their housing in Tallahassee and decided to give
this place a try as a place to live.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
In the forest, there was always over time just developed
like you know, people built coffee shops and like a
kitchen people used and places for people to just like
I know, and that continued build time. I never stopped,
will never stop better and they never stopped making life
(02:03):
out better as as comfortable, as comfortable and as welcoming
and as a community best as possible. And that's really
the best thing I feel like I could I could
speak to one.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
It is that no matter what was going on, and.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
People were always working to make the forest as as
welcoming out a spaceh to as many people as possible
as they could.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
The night of the December thirteenth police raid, Tortuguito went
back to the camp in Willani People's Park to start
rebuilding after police tore down the encampments and protest infrastructure
just hours prior.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I've never experienced such emotional and material security as I
have living in the Willauni 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. It's really
(02:57):
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 get
(03:19):
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 in this society.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Here is Cricket talking about the type of support everyone
has for each other in the movement and how Torte
really embodied that.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
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 grateful to everyone who has helped keep me safe.
(04:04):
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 Tort 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 we've been trying to contribute and
(04:27):
that we're trying to continue now that tort is no
longer with us. We were supposed to meet yesterday to
put together a curriculum of marginalized, vulnerable people who face
gun violence both from the state and from right wing
neo Nazi fascists, you name it, and will be continuing
that work in their name.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
When spending time in the Wilani Forest and even for
the many peripheral aspects of the movement, people will choose
a forest name. It's like a nickname that helps your
legal identity and nom de plume. Many chose Tortigita, which
is Spanish for little turtle. But it wasn't just chosen
(05:10):
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 US army in seventeen ninety one. Now, Tort was
(05:32):
allegedly apprehensive 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 is a few
other quotes attributed to Tort across various articles that seem
(05:53):
to espouse a belief in nonviolence as a tactical strategy. Quote,
it's incredibly important to continue having popular support. Copcity 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
(06:14):
going to beat them at violence, but we can beat
them in public opinion in the courts. Even unquote. Based
on frequent phone calls with Tort about forced defense Tortighita's
own mother has shared similar sentiments about Towrt's politics, saying
they quote carry no malice quote. I'm gonna read one
(06:36):
more quote from Torti Ghita about this topic. The right
kind of resistance is peaceful, because that's where we win.
We're not going to beat them at violence. They're very,
very good at violence. We're not. We win through nonviolence.
That's really the only way we can win. We don't
(06:56):
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 Torta Gita,
about who they were as a person, what kind of
stuff they enjoyed doing, what they were to the movement,
but mostly just listen to people's stories and memories of Torte.
Peter met Torte just shortly after they moved to Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So I met tort in May of twenty two, around
the time when 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.
(08:04):
They talked about their mom a lot. I won't say
I was a close friend of Tort's, 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
(08:25):
I learned a lot about how to be more gentle
with my comrades and how to give people more grace
in times of high stress.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
This is a snippet from my conversation with Cricket on
what TORTI Ghita brought to the movement and how they
really lived their politics.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
Tort was hilarious. They were someone who always brought fun
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 Tort, that they were involved in so many different groups,
like so many different causes, and they were an incredibly
dedicated activists, but someone who really felt that resistance could
be fun, could be joyful, could be celebratory. Uh, it
(09:04):
was always an opportunity to meet new people, to hug
new people. 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 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
(09:26):
that that energy, that passion and excitement. Uh really inspired
me and inspired a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's funny, a lot of the people I've talked to
were like have have like mentioned just because of the
different like you know, affinity groups that they've been in
and stuff. There's like a lot of people I've talked
to you have talked have mentioned a lot like that
they would not like regularly, but like everyone you know,
like get into conflicts with toar it like there was
there was someone who you would you would sometimes who
(09:51):
there would be just happened to be disagreements with. But
despite disagreements, they were like one of the kindest people
that they met. Even when they're you know, arguing about something.
It's like they would go so far to make sure
that other people knew that they were like cared for
and would would got just be very open towards like
(10:14):
everybody they meet.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Yeah, I think they really tried to live into and
walk the walk of abolition and noncarceral conflict of it's
okay to disagree, and disagreement doesn't mean that you got
to get kicked out. It does not mean that you're
a bad person. They allowed for complexity and allowed for
processes of working through things, of talking through things, and
that's a huge gift. I mean, I think anyone, regardless
(10:37):
of their level of activism, can relate to the idea
that it's hard to disagree, it's hard to be in
conflicts sometimes. But I do think that they were really
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
(10:59):
were actually very very much related. And yeah, no, it
was They're special and yeah, I'm just I'm just sorry,
I'm just heartbroken.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Tortighita's partner and a close friend of theirs, recorded a
video shortly after the shooting, just talking about who Torteghita
was and how they lived in community. I got permission
from their partner to use clips from that video in
this episode. Tour was always a.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
Very welcoming presence. They're always one of the greatest organizers
we had out there. They took care of everyone who
came through. They 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, attent, whatever you
could possibly need. Always making sure people are getting fed,
(11:50):
and just kind of like transparent you've ever had.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
One of the people I spent with. Noah also talked
about how Tortigito was quick to welcome people into the
movement a new.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Tour through various actions, center in the forest and doing
medical work with them.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I think I think a lot of people have ever
good this, but I remember them as being one of.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
The kindest and most welcoming people that I ever met
working on the forest.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Kind of whenever new people comment, was very like.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
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 out in the woods.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
It was a very it was an extremely welcome in person.
They were a very welcome in person.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
I was always willing to put there to help somebody
out and to do the work it took to make
sure that the community was safe out there and that
it could continue.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So much of the stuff around the forest, it's all
about like the militants in the woods, and toward kind
of fell into that category, you know, people who are
wearing black lavas camping out in the forest. Most of
the people I've interviewed are also more on that side
of things, but not everyone feels like they have the
ability to put on a ski mask and live in
(13:12):
the woods. One of the people I spoke with was
a mother named Karen, who started doing local neighborhood organizing
after connecting with Torti Ghita last summer.
Speaker 7 (13:23):
So I met tort Less summer and there was like
lots of 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,
(13:45):
and I have a toddler, and so I'm like boring
and have a strict bedtime, so I don't, you know,
go out at night time. So I was like trying
to find a place for me and like people like me,
and oh they're boring, you know, parents. And so I
got connected with Tort and we start We started, I
(14:05):
guess going during the daytime and I'm taking my toddler
over there to the park to explore, and you know,
we Tort and I talked a lot about well, at 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. I'm very much like a
neighborhood mom. I was new to activism and I.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Didn't even know.
Speaker 7 (14:29):
I was like, you know, I thought we were just
like visiting a park, but you know, there's like a
whole lot of different things about being in it that
Tort really kind of helped me navigate and showed me around.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
In my experience, it takes a special kind of person
to on board 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. Karen
spoke on how Tortighita kind of showed them the rope
and helped educate on everything from local organizing to security culture.
Speaker 7 (15:05):
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
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
(15:29):
or should I put my name on it and you
know all those things? Should I put my number on it?
And they were like, okay, well, get a Google Voice
number and you can set up like an email for it,
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?
(15:51):
And they said no, I think if you got to
like organize a neighborhood group, it would be sick. So yeah,
you know, they were conscious of all those things, but
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
(16:13):
they were engaged with me and like you know, an
older neighborhood mom. But they were really supportive and you know,
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
(16:33):
like willing to engage with the community.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
My conversations with Karen and others in Atlanta really showed
Tort as a 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.
Speaker 7 (16:52):
So, yeah, I made this flyer and Tort called a
bunch of other I know if they were people that
were in the forest or just people and you know,
friends or whatever, but and was like, hey, we're all
going to go canvas and I think they slept in
that day we met at the park, but me and
(17:13):
a couple of neighbors met, like you know, and I
was like, I had zero expectations. And they texted me
later and was like, I'm so sorry, but we'll do
it again. But yeah, just that, you know, like they
were willing to come put flyers door to door and yeah,
just like support me in that way.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Karen has continued to do neighborhood organizing since meeting Tort
last summer and is a great example of the variety
of people involved in the Defend the Atlanta Forest movement.
Based on the many local people she's spoken with, Karen
says the stop Coppacity proposal is pretty unpopular in the area.
Speaker 7 (17:51):
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 city council. But yeah, I guess Tort
and I in our kind of idea was like if
we can make a space. It's like, you know, they
(18:13):
may not want to go to the forest, but if
we can kind of create a space for them in
the movement.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Cricket talked about the many projects that Tort had a
hand in and it's willingness to just go out there
and do things, not just sit around and wait for
the world to get better. They lived anarchism in a
very active way.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
I don't know if anyone mentioned the trans Sanctuary that
Tort built and helped built and helped organize. I just
wanted to uplift that as just another sort of amazing
project that they were involved with. I remember hearing about it.
Tort talked about it and they were like, oh, yeah,
you know, we're going to have a volunteer day. And
then two weeks later we had like another little check
in and they were like, oh yeah, no, we like
(18:56):
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
being like, oh my god, they are not paralyzed like
they are living. They were living day to day right,
(19:18):
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.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
They had a friend of Tortighita's that goes by the
name Levitate the Pentagon, which is definitely in the top
three force names that I've heard. But they gave a
statement to Rolling Stone where they said, quote Tortighita was
a proud and fierce anarchist. The struggle for a total
liberation came as their first commitment in life. We must
(19:50):
honor that commitment.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
From a lot of the like none other trends that
we did together times out there, they were just really fun,
very to make.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
People have be like a very common presence during stressful times,
and they could make like a jerk really out of
like a any situation.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
But a lot of I remember like a lot of.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Conversations just about what we were doing in the forest,
and there are like reasons for being out there, and
they're you know, just kind of outgoing these ideas of
combating the you know, the state, and then then the
states pushed.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
For you know, destroying the forest.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
For the effects that would have on the climate, for
the increasing ability of the place to militarize and to
suppress not just people in Atlanta, but law enforcement agencies
across the country.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Coming to train at the facility to better climp down
on a presence. Yeah, they were just they're really kind,
very tenacious. That's like the two things I can always
kind of come back to.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
So there was a person towards capacity for wit under
high stress situations is something I heard from a lot
of different people, including towards friends and their partner.
Speaker 8 (21:09):
Just really really like always like had a joke, had
like a really like good sharp commentary.
Speaker 9 (21:18):
Or would like give you like a cigarette professional ship poster. Yeah, yeah,
I mean their mean game on point.
Speaker 10 (21:31):
Yeah, and.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
Just always like doing a lot of things.
Speaker 9 (21:36):
And so they were running around a lot, like getting
things for people and then hanging it off to them,
and so like, yeah, I think a lot of the
times when we would run into like for like oftentimes
we run into each other, it'd be like, oh, hey, hi, Hi, Okay,
we're doing a thing, and then like okay, I gotta
go buy you know, and there's always like.
Speaker 11 (21:58):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Sure, they were super into that.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Oh that smile.
Speaker 12 (22:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
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'm in like like they're like, oh
my god, and just like yeah, that's that's what I
want people to know. Fruit snacks and dishes.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Fruit snacks have come up a lot throughout my conversations
with people. Tortiquita's partner and friend also talked about how
tort tried to balance helping other people with their own
self care.
Speaker 6 (22:41):
They were always so passionate to it because they want
to help people so bad that they would put their
all into it. And it took a toll all 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're an inspiration to us all.
Speaker 8 (23:05):
They also needed to like disappear for like hours or
days at a time, and just.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Like rechart, they read a lot.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
Oh yeah, I am one of the like one of
the things to be sitting in their hammock and our
tent near with their tent and just be reading doing
whatever it was they were doing, shit and posts and whatever.
They get to distress. They were good about taking care
of themselves, but they didn't get into some conundrums or
(23:33):
they'd 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,
have happy, go lucky.
Speaker 7 (23:43):
I've heard them described as kind, and they definitely were.
I think the word that comes to mind the most
is earnest. They were just like incredibly earnest. I think
like the earnestness I'm talking about is like they truly
live their politics like anyone can talk about like include
civity and love and fighting for the future, but they actually,
(24:03):
you know, just in how they carried themselves and interacted
with me.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
They really did that.
Speaker 7 (24:08):
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 and nature in the forest.
Speaker 8 (24:23):
What was that piece we were talking about? Revolutionary death? Yes, yes, yeah,
they read that this last summer, and it really had
a strong impact upon them and they I think you
were sharing as.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Well that they had spoken about.
Speaker 8 (24:42):
How they knew it was very possible that they were
going to have this revolutionary death, and that.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
Back to them kind of giving their all. They were
prepared and they unfortunately paid the ultimate price. That's said
as we all are.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
I'm sure.
Speaker 6 (25:08):
George Keito, wherever they are now, I was happy to
know that they gave they're all all until 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.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
In multiple ways, escalatory actions of police last December led
to the current fatal scenario, 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.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
They were very calculated in their risks and they would
never have had to be put in this situation if
they're home in the trees hadn't been destroyed. They lived
in a tree house, and the treehouse that they were
really holding down and staying in was bulldozed in the
mid December raids.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
On November twenty first, two thousand and six, undercover Atlanta
Police Department officers executed a no knock warrant on the
home of ninety two year old Catherine Johnston in the
Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Police claimed to have evidence that
crack cocaine was being sold out of the house. Officers
(26:52):
in plane clothes cut off the burglar bars to Johnston's
home of seventeen years and broke down her door. According
to the police, the ninety two year old woman shot
several officers. Multiple cops were treated for a gunshot wounds.
Catherine 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
(27:15):
drugs at the house, except every single thing the police
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,
(27:37):
the man gave the police an address on a Neil
Street and a fake name to buy cocaine with. The
APD 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
(27:59):
total of thirty nine shots, five or six of which
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
(28:21):
executed Catherine Johnston as they shot each other with friendly fire.
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
(28:44):
history in mind, this next part might get a little complicated,
but I think it's important. A lot of the people
who knew tort have talked about how they often advocated
for nonviolence in direct action. Many have said the sequence
of events put forth by police just doesn't sound like
something Torte would do, And I very much understand this reaction.
(29:06):
Police lie all the time, especially when it comes to
people the cops have killed. It is very likely that
tort 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
(29:28):
for the movement and for the struggle against 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
(29:51):
what could have happened, as I'm sure 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 Force defenders
(30:13):
I interviewed for my previous Defend the Atlanta Forest series
from last May.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
As their partner stated, as it's friends sated be moved
by a piece they did not show, from the idea
that they could for the things that they believe, from
(30:45):
the idea that they could be murder, from the ideas
that they believe in my life.
Speaker 13 (30:51):
I went to live.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
We should not dismiss the possibility and by people can
and maybe even should.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Look at this world, look at the police murdering three
or four people.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
A day, of a climate catastrophe that we live in,
of the rising tide of.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Fascism, of the absolute fucking hell that we fucking live in,
and think this can't go on.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
And I'm willing to do any of them and pay
any of them to make it stop.
Speaker 14 (31:30):
We can't dismiss if that is a very real possible grievance.
There's a very real, impossible state.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Of mind, and that if that was towards.
Speaker 15 (31:46):
Was towards get us, If those cameras, if that was
its position, that it is not alone that.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
I undoubtedly in our willingness to die for we believe.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
In TORTI Ghita both privately and publicly talked about an
appreciation for nonviolence as a long term strategy, and the
flip side of that is Tort 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 Tort advocated for
the potential of nonviolence as a political strategy, they itself
were not solely nonviolent. The Atlanta Police Foundation have lied
(32:52):
about every single aspect of this project's development since the start.
The GBI said that there was no body cam footage,
and the police have than the last year fine tuning
their propaganda to frame the Defend the Forest movement as
a criminal enterprise and anyone protesting against copp City as
a dangerous terrorist and threat to public safety. But there
(33:14):
is a difference between mindlessly believing 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.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
Around the ideas. I think a lot of people have
been talking a.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Lot about trying to you know, there's a there's there's
narrative flaws and the police story about what happened in
that road, there's inconsistencies.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
We just now photos of the gun that their allegen
a legend was.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Used, just like a couple of days ago, and it
was days after the GBI's initial evidence final report.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
It doesn't all look suspicious that. I think.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
The thing that's bothered me is that I would never
want to take away agency from someone who cannot speak
for themselves for an act that they may have committed.
If shot that cop, that was a shot fired in
liberation against the state that murders thousands of people and
destroys millions more for the car sooo system, the same
state that seeks to help the South River flood and
(34:20):
to make the soul Tony degrees ladder and to make Atlanta's.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
Air quality go down. I would never want to take.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
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.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Been an unjustified act.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
A shot fired at the police and defense of the
forest as a shot fired and self defense. Cops shoot
each other all the time, and actually they're terrible with firearms.
They're just not good at their jobs. GSP, I think,
as a specific agency is sometime.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
To be focused on.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
I'm more here. I've seen a lot of people kind
of wrap up GSP and APD and like the cab
PD as these very like just as one agency GSP
as Georgia State Patrol is under the direct command of
our governor and do not wear body cams as an
agency policy.
Speaker 4 (35:13):
They were the governor strong troopers.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
When he want something done violently and without accountability, that
is who he sends.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
And you know, my reaction to all of this, whether
or not what the events transpired, 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 and rage that people should show should be
the same either way. If it were to come out
that that.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Officer wasn't fact shot, I would be so disheartened if
people turned their back on our comrade who was slain
by the police for what I see as an act
of self defense.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
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 first event type thing I went to in Atlanta
(36:16):
was a noise demo outside to 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,
the twentieth, there was a large public vigil in Wallawnee
(36:36):
People's Park. Last time I was there, it was for
the Muscogee 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
(36:57):
evening for the vigil, 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
(37:19):
outdoor shrine. A few 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
(37:43):
with struggles across the South, from the 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.
Speaker 12 (37:56):
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 they met. They lived what
they believed, which is something that I hope we can
all be inspired by. There are so many stories of
(38:18):
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 that they could help them, and
someone just shared a story with me that the last
time that they saw Tort, they were telling them about
how the unhoused folks in their community were getting their
(38:39):
tents and sleeping bags like swept and then Tort gave
them two hundred dollars to replace the sleeping bags and tents.
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,
(39:02):
and so committed to living in a way that can
bring us all into a better community with each other,
whether it be us and our fellow human beings or
us in our forests. 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
(39:24):
it that much more important that we protect them and
that we make sure that this forest remains intact. I
know that that's what Tort would have wanted, That's 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
(39:47):
that tort had for people and for all living beings,
and just feeling really connected to their compassion, 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 Torte brought to
this world is still here and is continuing to grow.
(40:07):
So I think that there, I think that they're here
with us, and I think that they always will be
because they brought so much joy and goodness and love
into this world, and not something that never goes away,
it only grows.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
I've gotten permission from a few of the people that
spoke that night to share some of their stories of
Torti Ghita. One of the small things that stuck with
me was how someone described Torte as possessing a playful,
rebellious energy.
Speaker 16 (40:37):
But tort and I watched this yugoslav film together called
My Father the Socialist Pula, which was this joyful Yugoslavian
film from the eighties about the transition after World War
Two and Yugoslavia to autonomous self rule and breaking apart
with the Soviet sphere, and in it uh early on
(41:04):
in the film they're they're changing their social customs. If
adopted a new way of greeting each other in Yugoslavia
where they they say good morning, death the fascism. And
from that time when I would see Tour, always they
(41:24):
would that's the fascism, comrade, that's the fascism. And Tour
when I first met them, Uh invited me to teach
akito in the forest, which is called it's a martial art,
(41:45):
that's called the art of peace. And so while we
train as warriors, we train as peaceful warriors. But as
many people have said, we for instance, did defenses of
drag shows Tennessee from assemblies of Nazis and proud boys
who showed up in body armor with assault rifles. And
(42:10):
tort was militant, but joyful. Tart took all of the
always it was. It was with the utmost gravity and
yet with the utmost lightness.
Speaker 13 (42:23):
And you know, we we we as well, arranged a.
Speaker 16 (42:32):
Weekend of conflict resolution training here where tort rallied and
was the one that brought you know, a half a
dozen people. Was always rallying people, brought people to the
drag defense, brought people to the trainings, brought people to
my ikido class, maybe brought two dozen different people through
(42:56):
over the course of several dozen classes. They were a
peaceful warrior and they were Mike and they got shot dead.
And I'd like to I'd like to lead a chant
in that spirit to honor some of towards warrior spirit tonight.
Speaker 13 (43:17):
And I know one that they liked.
Speaker 16 (43:20):
Is ah Auntie Anti Capitalista. And we could start together,
slow and quiet and build together a powerful voice and
pierce the night ah Auntie Anti Capitalista, Anti.
Speaker 11 (43:47):
Anti.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Throughout the night, many songs were sung alongside screams of rage.
Tortogito 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
(45:00):
a few of the messages sent in to the Remember
Torte at ProtonMail dot com email address, many of which
you can now find collected at stop cop dot city.
That's stop cop period city.
Speaker 12 (45:16):
One of the things about tort that was really inspirational
is that they weren't just against capitalism. They weren't just
against the police. They made abolition about what they were
fighting for and on the we Remember tort 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
(45:38):
came in from someone in Tallahassee. Everyone in Tallahassee knew Manny.
I'm not even exaggerating. 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
(46:01):
enough to be graced with their presence, they felt safe
and free to do whatever they could for the community.
They ran a cold 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 that F and B hosted. And
this is only a fraction of the work that they
(46:22):
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 your close friend. I wish you
could have seen the vigil that we had. You would
have been proud.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
The large overturned stone by the flowers, candles and fruit
snacks at the Wollani vigil had a message written on
it that I read when I returned to the park a.
Speaker 4 (46:46):
Few days later.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
The big boulder reads erected in memory of all whose
lives were lived and unjustly lost in Wolani Forest. You
live on in the trees, and I remembered by the land.
You will never be forgotten until every prison is empty,
until every slave is free, until all live without fear,
(47:09):
until earth has healed. Our work is not done.
Speaker 12 (47:13):
If it's okay, I'll share another of the message that
is 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 bombs and live oak
radical ecology, and I will never cease to be amazed
by their tireless activism, their extreme empathy, and their ability
(47:34):
to make everyone feel welcomed in radical spaces. 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
(47:54):
the Tallahassee in Atlantic communities, but tomorrow we will fight
back twice as hard against cap in the state, so
that Tortughita 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.
(48:17):
And that contagious smile 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
were gone, comrade. I missed you. I miss you. They
(48:38):
had a deep understanding of solidarity and struggle. When the
cops swept an encampment in my neighborhood without hesitation, they
shared their forest funds to get more tents 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,
(48:59):
for all of us, for the strength of the fight
to stop cop City. I will miss how we greeted
one another and our meager attempts to make it a
thing that's a fascism literation.
Speaker 10 (49:07):
To all people.
Speaker 1 (49:10):
One of the people playing the tortighita tagged guitar at
the vigil played a version of Bella Chow and I'm
just going to read 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
(49:31):
to fight the fascists in the mountains during World War Two.
And I like to dedicate this version to somebody who
laid their life 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
(49:53):
so many communities and was just so funny, so loving,
so friendly, and they laid their life down for their
community and to stop copsity 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
(50:18):
the other side.
Speaker 4 (50:20):
The world is waking.
Speaker 10 (50:23):
Outside my window, bella chow bela chow bela chow chow
chow drags.
Speaker 13 (50:30):
My senses into the sunlight. For there are things that
I must do. Wish me luck. Now I have to
leave you.
Speaker 10 (50:44):
Bella chow bela chow, bela chow chow chow with my friends.
Speaker 11 (50:49):
Now in the forest, We're gonna shake the gates of
hell and.
Speaker 13 (50:57):
We will tell them.
Speaker 11 (50:59):
You will tell them you bella chow, bella chow, bella chout, shout,
show that we lannis not for the franchise in which
the bastards dropped down dead.
Speaker 13 (51:14):
Next time you see me, I may be smiling.
Speaker 11 (51:19):
Obella show, bella chow, bella shout, show shall I'll be
in prison or on the TV.
Speaker 13 (51:28):
I'll say the forest called me. The world is waken.
Speaker 11 (51:41):
I sign my window, bella chow bella chow, bella chow
chow chow. Try my senses into the sunlight. Further things
that I must do, wish me luck. Now I have
to leave you obella chow bella chow, bella chow chow
cho Oh, and my friends that in the forest we're
(52:03):
gonna shake the gates of hell. And we will tell him, Yeah,
we will tell him a bella chow bellow chow, bella
chow chow chow, that we lollies not far the franchise
which the bastards dropped down.
Speaker 13 (52:19):
The next time you see me, I may be smiling.
Speaker 11 (52:23):
Bella chow bella chower, bella chow chow, shall be in prison.
Speaker 17 (52:28):
We're on the TV. I'll say, the forest call me here.
(52:57):
The world is wakened. I simon a bella.
Speaker 11 (53:01):
Child, bella chow, bella chow chow chow. Dry my sasses
into the sunlight for their things said, I must.
Speaker 13 (53:08):
Do almost mean.
Speaker 11 (53:10):
Look, well, I gotta leave you a bella chow, bella chow,
bella chow chow chow.
Speaker 13 (53:15):
With my friends. Now in the forest, we're gonna shake
the gates off Hell, and we will tell him. We
will tell him.
Speaker 10 (53:26):
Bella chow bella chow bella chow chow chowd that wee
Lannis not for the franchise and which the bastards dropped dun.
Speaker 13 (53:40):
Next time you see me, I might be smiling.
Speaker 10 (53:45):
Bella chow bella chow bella chow chow chow.
Speaker 13 (53:49):
I'll be in prison or on the TV. I'll say
the Forest called me. Next time you see me, I maybe.
Speaker 11 (54:01):
Smiling bella chow bella choo, bella choo choo chow. I'll
be in prison or on the TV, I'll say the
Forest call me.
Speaker 1 (54:14):
Here music by The Narcissist Cookbook and Propaganda. It Could
Happen Here as a production of cool Zone Media.
Speaker 9 (54:24):
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 for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at
Coolzonmedia dot com slash sources.
Speaker 8 (54:38):
Thanks for listening.
It Could Happen Here News
Hosts And Creators
Robert Evans
Garrison Davis
James Stout
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