Atlanta police doubles down on attacks on Cop City protesters
Atlanta, GA – Several activists were arrested and charged with felonies for the crime of hanging up flyers demanding justice for Manuel “Tortuguita'' Terán, a forest defender who was shot 57 times and murdered by Georgia State Patrol in January 2023.
The three people arrested are being charged with felony ‘intimidation of an officer’, which falls under Georgia’s domestic terrorism laws, and are facing 20 years in jail for posting flyers on mailboxes in Cartersville, a suburb in north metro Atlanta. All three arrested are being denied bail and held in solitary confinement. The bogus charges and unjust arrest of these activists is the latest in an upsurge in political repression around the movement to stop Cop City.
In March, 23 protesters were charged with domestic terrorism in retaliation for a music festival occurring that demanded an end to the city’s plans to build Cop City, an $80 million training facility Atlanta police are trying to build. This came after police descended on protesters and brutalized many activists at the festival. In January, one week after the murder of Tortuguita, over 300 marched through Underground Atlanta shopping center demanding justice but were met with resistance by the Atlanta PD and mass arrests.
The police and mayor continue to gaslight communities as they push through Cop City, a project with no backing from community members. Despite being met with state repression, activists and community members are continuing to organize with a week of action planned for June 24 to July 1 to defend the Weelaunee forest and to stop Cop City.