Atlanta, GA – On Sunday, March 15 the family of Deacon Johnny Holloman and supporters packed the room in Little Five Points Community Center for a documentary screening and celebration of Deacon Holloman’s life. The family restated their demands for accountability from Atlanta police for the murder of Deacon Holloman.

Deacon Johnny Holloman Sr, 62, was murdered by 23-year-old Atlanta PD officer Kiran Kimborough in 2023. After getting in a minor accident, Deacon Holloman called the police to file a report. He also called his daughter and kept her on the line. When killer cop Kimborough showed up, he was already acting rude and short-tempered. The cop proceeded to issue a ticket to Deacon Holloman and tried to tell him he had to sign it. That was a lie. Deacon Holloman asked for his supervisor, but Kimborough became more aggressive. He tased Deacon Holloman and suffocated him with the help of a tow truck driver. The Deacon’s daughter, Arnitra Holloman, had to listen to the whole thing with no power to stop it.

The killer cop was fired but a grand jury failed to indict him in August of 2025. The family is seeking a retrial in the coming months.

The documentary screening is part of a campaign to bring publicity to the case before the new grand jury begins. What About The Deacon? is a short documentary made by JustEldredge Media with the permission of the family. The documentary shows body-cam footage of the murder of Jonny Holloman Sr and interviews with his family, legal team and those whose lives he impacted.

The screening was followed by a discussion with three of Deacon Holloman’s daughters, facilitated by Kiran Desai from the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. The family shared their struggles adjusting to life after the murder of their father, while having to fight for justice at the same time. Arnitra Holloman emphasized that their fight for justice is tied to others who are fighting against police crimes.

After the discussion, community members joined the family to commemorate what would have been Deacon Johnny Holloman Sr’s 65th birthday.

The event ended with a balloon release and a speech by Arnitra Holloman, vowing to keep her father’s name alive and continue the fight for justice.

#AtlantaGA #GA #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #NAARPR #AAARPR

Atlanta, GA – On February 28, community members stood alongside the family of Linton Blackwell to demand accountability from the Atlanta Police Department – that killer cop Gerald Walker be fired and jailed.

On October 11, near a bar in Buckhead, 44-year-old Linton Blackwell was murdered by APD officer Gerald Walker. Linton Blackwell was facing away when he was shot 17 times in the back by off-duty cop Gerald Walker. Walker was reportedly working as security for a bar nearby. Since then, the officer has continued to be on the force and has faced no disciplinary action.

Linton Blackwell was a musical artist and the father of two teenage girls. He was also the cousin of Jimmy Hill, a long-time fighter against police violence in the community. Jimmy Hill’s son, Jimmy Atchison, was chased down and murdered by APD officer Sung Kim in 2019. Hill is still demanding justice for his son.

At the protest in front of the APD headquarters, members of the family shared their grief and anger at the lack of accountability. Don Evans, Linton Blackwell’s brother, spoke to the crowd saying “Linton was not only my brother, he was my friend. I’m going to stand for him. I'm going to keep on fighting, making noise, whatever it takes for me to get my peace. When this man [Gerald Walker] is off the streets, I’ll be at peace.” Evans ended the speech leading the crowd in a chant “No justice, no peace!”

The family of Deacon Johnny Hollman, a 62-year-old man killed by APD officer Kiran Kimborough in 2023, was also there to support the family of Linton Blackwell. Arnitra Hollman, Deacon Hollman’s daughter, addressed the crowd and gave her condolences to the family of Linton Blackwell. She added, “We cannot give up this fight for justice. We have to continue to knock on those doors, get into these rooms, and lift up our loved ones’ names until we get justice. You don’t have to do exactly what I've done, but you have to do something. Say his name!” with the crowd responding “Linton Blackwell!”

Supporters from the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Freedom Road Socialist Organization spoke in support of the family, vowing to continue the fight for Linton Blackwell and all victims of police terror.

#AtlantaGA #GA #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #PoliceCrimes #AAARPR #NAARPR

Atlanta, GA – Dozens of community members, activists, and trade unionists rallied January 11 outside the Georgia State Capitol to demand no U.S. war on Venezuela and that President Nicolás Maduro be freed immediately.

The rally was called by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Diaspora Pa’lante Collective.

Protesters chanted “Peace, yes! War, no!” and “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!” to the honks and cheers of passing cars.

“We’ve been here before and this time they’re not even trying to hide it. We know this is about oil, we know this is about rare earth minerals,” said Taylor Cook, an FRSO member. “Who does that benefit? It benefits the capitalists! It benefits the ruling class of this country!”

Pablo Leon from the Atlanta Alliance spoke on the hypocrisy of the United States government. “They call Maduro a dictator that represses his people, but if they want to talk about real repression why don’t they look at Fulton County Jail? Where almost 50% of the inmates have not had their day in court despite spending months in jail and dying there?” said Leon. “Why don’t they talk about the fact that the U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates per capita, much higher than Venezuela's?”

Batou Ackerman from Diaspora Pa’lante Collective drew the connection between U.S. imperial aggression against Venezuela and the fight for Puerto Rican national liberation.

“This campaign began with the buildup of U.S. armed forces in the occupied colony of Puerto Rico which has served as a base of operations for the United States military in its interventions throughout the Americas,” Batou said. “That such an operation could be launched from the shores of our occupied archipelago is a crime against all Puerto Ricans and a reminder of the need to build broad support for an independence movement across the country.”

The rally concluded with protesters in high spirits, amped up and ready to stand against U.S. imperialism and in support of Venezuela. “The Chavistas, union members, and collective farmers are prepared to defend the Bolivarian revolution with their lives,” said Alex Carson, FRSO member and emcee of the protest. “It’s up to us here in the U.S. to do everything we can to stop the U.S. war machine in its tracks so it doesn’t have to come to that!”

#AtlantaGA #GA #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #FRSO #AAARPR #DPC

Atlanta, GA- Hundreds of workers and community members gathered in Woodruff Park Monday afternoon, September 1, to celebrate Labor Day and declare their opposition to Trump’s agenda.

The rally and march, titled “Workers over Billionaires”, was endorsed by a coalition of over 20 unions and political groups including: Teamsters Local 728, Starbucks Workers United, the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council, the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

The rally started with speeches and spirited chants denouncing Trump, ICE and the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza.

“There is a war being waged on the working class right now. It’s not just led by Trump, but by his allies in the monopoly capitalist class. Like Peter Thiel at Palantir, Carol Tome at UPS, and Jeff Bezos at Amazon,” Teamster and FRSO member Alex Carson told the crowd. “As a UPS worker we are experiencing this war on the shop floor every day. It looks like Trump’s tariffs reducing our hours, it looks like management increasing harassment. All the while, UPS has pulled in record profits for the last five years.”

After speeches, the protest marched down Auburn Avenue to the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church and King Center. On every block supporters trickled out of buildings to film the protest and join chants of “When workers’ rights are under attack, what do you do? Stand up, fight back!”

This protest occurred on the heels of Trump’s vow to send the National Guard to Atlanta and was but a small show of force compared to what awaits them should troops be deployed.

#AtlantaGA #GA #Labor #LaborDay #Trump #Teamsters #SWU #AFLCIO #AAARPR

Atlanta, GA – On Saturday, August 10, around 70 protesters and the family of Christon Collins gathered in front of DeKalb County Jail demanding accountability from Sheriff Melody Maddox. Christon Collins was a 27-year-old veteran who died in the DeKalb County Jail after being denied medical treatment. Recently released video footage of Collins’ last hours was made available to the public last week, which showed him lying on the common floor for three hours with no help from the guards.

The rally started in front of the jail with passionate speeches from community activists and families impacted by police terror. Jonia Milburn, the mother of Christon Collins, said to those listening “It is happening to my family today but tomorrow it could be yours. That is why we’re here taking a stand for accountability and for change. There has to be change.” Folks inside the jail waved through broken windows in support as protesters chanted “Whose lives matter? Their lives matter!” pointing up at the inmates.

“We're seeing countless deaths at the DeKalb and Fulton County Jails. Over 30 deaths in the past year. If these jails can't take care of people in their custody, then we demand that they let them go,” said Laith Abdel Hader, member of the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “We will keep fighting alongside the family to make sure they get the truth and accountability they deserve. We will keep fighting so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Protesters marched down to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s office, where they were met with over a dozen cops. The protest continued despite the intimidation, with more chants and speeches in front of the sheriff’s office. Before marching back safely, the crowd released balloons in memory of Collins as they chanted “We demand change in Christon’s name!”

The protest was organized by the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and attended by Black Lives Matter Atlanta, DeKalb NAACP, Strike Black, Atlanta Radical Art, and the Angelo Herndon Club. The organizers of the event vowed to keep up the fight for Christon Collins and continue to demand compassionate release from the jails.

#AtlantaGA #AAARPR #AtlantaAlliance #ChristonCollins #DekalbCountyJail

Atlanta, GA – On August 3, a coalition of local activists and community members gathered at Georgia State Convocation Center to protest a high-profile rally for former President Donald Trump and Republican Senator JD Vance.

The demonstration, organized by the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America, was called in response to the extreme right-wing agenda promoted by Trump, Vance and the Republican Party as a whole.

The protesters gathered directly outside the venue, facing off the thousands of MAGA supporters from around the Southeast, as evidenced by the number of people with wearing LSU and Alabama caps, who were unable to secure a spot inside. Police looked on as tensions escalated. Numerous Trump supporters physically confronted activists without consequence, shoving and throwing empty beer cans.

With signs reading “From Atlanta to Palestine, occupation is a crime” and ‘End U.S. aid to Israel,’ activists put special emphasis on opposing the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people committed by Israel and the United States. Throughout the event, chants drew attention to Trump’s hateful, genocidal rhetoric towards Palestine and warmongering in the Middle East.

Protesters also voiced their disapproval of Trump’s record on mass incarceration, and his attacks on immigrant, LGBTQ and reproductive rights.

When the red-faced MAGA crowd tried to drown out protestors with rabidly jingoistic chants of “USA! USA,” the protesters countered with “Free free Palestine!”

Inside the center, Trump and Vance welcomed Georgia’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones. Jones’ appearance drew criticism from the protest crowd for his participation as one of the 16 illegitimate GOP electors who falsified documents during the unsuccessful plot to declare Trump the 2020 presidential winner.

Proud conspiracy theorist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, Congressman Mike Collins – who recently lauded a video of white Ole Miss students terrorizing a Black woman – and former Trump White House Political Director and Congressional-hopeful Brian Jack filled out the five-hour speaking list.

“We’re out here because Trump, Vance, and all these genocide-supporters are not welcome in our city,” said Erica Schneider, a spokesperson for the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

As the march to November and the 2024 presidential election continues, the swing-state of Georgia is likely to be a well-trodden pit stop for both the Republicans and the Democrats. Local activists in Atlanta plan to continue organizing protests and demonstrations to confront both parties and raise a people’s agenda.

#AtlantaGA #AAARPR #DSA #Feature #Trump #Vance #2024Election #PresidentialElection #Atlanta #FreePalestine #Republicans #Republican #GOP

Outside the Georgia State Convocation Center, speakers called for a free Palestine and against local programs that aid in the oppression of Palestinians. Particularly, speakers touched on the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program and the controversial Cop City project. GILEE allows Israeli soldiers to cross-train with Georgia police in order to practice and trade tactics, tactics that will be used to repress both Palestinians and the peoples’ movements in Georgia.

Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic Party nominee after Joe Biden dropped out of the race in mid-July. Harris has yet to commit to ending U.S. aid to Israel.

The emcee, David Jones, spoke on the connection between the struggle in Atlanta to the Palestinian struggle, stating, “Palestinians are killed by bombs paid for with our money. While homeless folks go hungry in the streets, while sick folks go without medical care, and while dozens are dying in our jails because they can’t pay bail. There are billions being sent to fund the Zionists’ genocide.”

As the event wound down, protesters left committed to fighting towards a free Palestine regardless of what happens in November. There is a protest planned for the Trump/Vance campaign rally on August 3, which will be held at the same location.

#AtlantaGA #AAARPR #Palestine

Atlanta, GA – The family of Christon Collins, a 27-year-old veteran who died in Dekalb County Jail, held a press conference on Monday morning, July 22, to share new information about their son’s death.

Jonia Milburn, Collins’s mother, says she got mixed and confusing stories from the sheriff’s office. The family is asking for an independent investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable.

Emotions filled the room as Jonia Milburn talked about what she saw in the video of her son’s last moments in the jail. “My son laid on the floor for three hours with no care. Nobody noticed. No guards, no supervisors, no one but the inmates.” Milburn says the video shows her son losing balance and hitting his head, then lying on the floor for three hours in the common area of the jail with no one checking on him but the inmates. Documents shared by the family show that when Collins was finally attended to hours later, EMTs did not perform life-saving measures on him.

Christon Collins was a veteran with PTSD and had severe mental health issues. He was sent to the Dekalb County Jail after having an episode and was placed on the maximum security floor. “He needed to go to the hospital, not the jail,” his mother says. Collins ’s family had been trying to get him sent to the VA hospital instead of the jail for months before his death. The VA accepted, but the sheriff’s office refused to transport him until after he died in jail. Collins had not been sentenced.

Collins’s family shared their frustration with the lack of transparency from the sheriff’s office. Milburn says the coroner’s office kept her son’s brain and spleen without her knowledge, which she only found out in an independent autopsy afterward. The independent autopsy also showed no drugs in Christon’s system, which contradicts the Dekalb County coroner’s office toxicology report. The family says the jail gave them some documents for the wrong inmate, which only added to their confusion and frustration. Milburn stated she wants change “for all the other Christons suffering in there.”

There were over 30 deaths in Fulton and Dekalb County jails in the past year due to neglect and deadly conditions. Inmates can be heard yelling for help through broken windows in Dekalb County Jail. Current and former Inmates speak of overcrowding, no running water, medical neglect, and unsanitary conditions. These inhumane conditions are in a county jail where most inmates have not been convicted of a crime. The working-class Black residents of Dekalb County are most affected by the deadly jail. While Black residents make up about 50% of Dekalb County, Black inmates make up over 80% of the jail population. Nearly all inmates who died in Dekalb County Jail since 2022 were Black. This is a symptom of over policing of Black communities and racist mass incarceration.

The Dekalb County NAACP, the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and New Order Human Rights Organization attended the press conference and vowed to keep fighting for transparency and accountability from the sheriff’s office.

#AtlantaGA #GA #InJusticeSystem #DekalbCountyJail #NAARPR #AAARPR #NAACP #feature

Atlanta, GA – On May 18, a Nakba Day protest took place outside of the CNN headquarters, as part of the global commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948.

The rally highlighted the growing struggle for Palestinian liberation and programs like the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) that must be defeated for the collective liberation of Palestinians and Black folks in the South.

Layla Amar, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement in Atlanta, said, “We gathered in Atlanta to commemorate the Nakba, which means catastrophe in Arabic. Nakba day is a remembrance of May 15, 1948 where the Zionist entity murdered 15,000 and exiled 750,000 Palestinians. Too often when the world talks about Palestine, we center Palestinian victimhood, but I want to ensure that this Nakba day we also remember the resilience of the Palestinian people as they have played an imperative role in globalizing the Intifada.”

Speakers from the University of Georgia spoke out on the movement’s erecting encampments on campuses across the country demanding that schools disclose their ties to the Israeli occupation and divest from those ties. Community groups’ speakers highlighted the need for solidarity with the Palestinian people from the Philippines to the Black Belt South.

Laith Abdel Hader, an organizer with the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated “The tide of the Palestinian liberation movement is rising and the struggle is escalating. As this tide is rising, all liberation struggles are rising with it, especially the Black liberation struggle here in the U.S. Folks here and abroad are seeing how these struggles are connected, fighting them here at home like we are with the GILEE program.”

The GILEE program, housed at Georgia State University, allows for IOF soldiers and Georgia police officers to train one another, sharing tactics and methods to repress communities and their movements. GILEE participants include C.J. Davis, the current police chief in Memphis and former supervisor of the Red Dog unit in Atlanta, which notoriously has brutalized and maimed dozens of Black folks. The same Red Dog unit that murdered 26 year old Jamarion Robinson – shooting him 76 times “on suspicion” in 2016. Ending the GILEE program is tied directly with the fight against police crimes in the city.

The Nakba protest was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Athens Against Apartheid, Georgia Students for Divestment, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Black Alliance for Peace, Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and ATL Radical Art.

Amar stated, “Palestine represents the worldwide oppression created by this imperial system, which means it is essential that the people in Atlanta, and all of us in the heart of the empire, play an active role in the fight for liberation.”

#AtlantaGA #GA #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #Nakba #NAARPR #AAARPR #GILEE #PYM #FRSO #BAP #ATLRA #AAA #GSD

Atlanta, GA – The Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression hosted a May Day panel May 4 focused on fighting back against political repression.

Over 40 people attended to hear speakers from the Atlanta Alliance, Black Alliance for Peace, AUC (Atlanta University Consortium) Students for Justice in Palestine, AUC Student Intercommunal Coordinating Committee, GSU (Georgia State University) Students for Justice in Palestine, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

With the subject of the panel being around political repression, the panelists tied together U.S. imperialism, national oppression and political repression. Speakers touched on the recent wave of pro-Palestine student organizing, political prisoner Kamau Sadiki, mass incarceration, and the Anti-war 23 international solidarity activists.

“When you’re dealing with imperialism and dispossession on a global basis you’re going to eventually come to why we’re here today: that local repression that stems from whenever you try to fight that,” said Damion Scott, a member of Black Alliance for Peace. “When you think about political repression we have to understand that it is constant. When you live in a nation such as this, citizens are always being repressed on a class and race basis,” he continued.

Damion also highlighted the case of political prisoner Kamau Sidiki and the fight to secure his freedom. Sidiki was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army and was wrongfully arrested in an effort to recapture Assata Shakur from Cuba. Police offered Sidiki a deal whereby if he assisted in the arrest of Shakur he would be given back his freedom. Sidiki refused the 2002 deal and remains in prison to this day.

“When talking about political repression, things like mass incarceration are incredibly relevant. In Georgia, we see some of the highest incarceration rates in the country and the harshest conditions in the jails when looking at Rice Street here in Atlanta,” said David Jones, a speaker from the Atlanta Alliance. “That’s actively taking political power from working-class Black folks. When folks have to sit in jails for months and sometimes years on end without a conviction, it keeps them out of the political struggle, it prevents them from building and uplifting their communities, and it’s actively standing in the way of the struggle for self-determination that folks are organizing towards across the South.”

Rice Street is a Fulton County jail which has come under national scrutiny in recent years due to the appalling conditions inmates are subjected to. The Atlanta Alliance is currently running a campaign to close the Rice Street Jail.

Running mass campaigns against political repression was also talked about by Alex Carson, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and one of the recently arrested Emory University protesters. Through an analysis of the Anti-war 23 and the defense campaign to maintain their freedom, Carson was able to draw out lessons that can be applied to other defense campaigns, including the campaign to drop the charges against the Emory protesters.

“The wave of violent repression being brought upon Americans who support Palestine will require a strategy of mass defense; one that pulls student groups, community organizations, and labor unions into a coordinated defense of the people’s movements,” said Caron. “The state is already attempting to paint the student movement and its supporters as ‘terrorists’. By being proud of our actions and politics we show the state that they can’t outlaw resistance no matter how hard they try.”

#AtlantaGA #GA #MayDay #Labor #OppressedNationalities #InJusticeSystem #PoliticalRepression #AAARPR #NAARPR #BlackPantherParty

Atlanta, GA – Over 150 students from Georgia State University and members of the broader Atlanta community converged in Hurt Park downtown Friday, May 3, in a protest against the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Of primary focus were calls for the end of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program, which promotes reciprocal training between Georgia police and Israeli occupation forces, with a particular focus on urban warfare and control of crowds.

The GILEE program at Georgia State University (GSU), funded as a nonprofit through the university foundation, has drawn widespread criticism from activists for its officer exchanges between the U.S. and Israel. Under the auspices of “international cooperation,” police from Georgia and other parts of the United States train alongside the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in brutal crowd control techniques and use of force against protesters. This criticism has intensified amid broader condemnations of U.S. support for Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in Gaza.

The protest drew active participation from a range of groups including GSU Students for Justice in Palestine, Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta, Dissenters, the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, and the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Erica Kadel of the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression opened the protest with a fiery address to the crowd. Kadel was one of the 28 people arrested by police at Emory University on April 25 while protesting the genocide in Gaza. Energizing the crowd with the chant, “From Palestine to Emory, stop the U.S. war machine,” Kadel linked the struggle against local police militarization with global peace efforts.

“A lot of naysayers say that what we do here could not possibly have an impact in Palestine,” said Kadel. “We know how intimately linked our struggles here in Atlanta and in Palestine are – a prime example being the GILEE program. If people still don't get it, all you have to do is look at the videos, photos and statements coming from individuals and organizations in Gaza and the West Bank thanking the U.S. student encampments. In fact, Bisan Owda, a journalist in Gaza said, 'The voice of U.S. student encampments is louder than the bombs in Gaza,' and that should give us heart that what we do here matters.”

The protesters then marched through the largely urban-based university campus before arriving at the GSU complex that hosts the GILEE offices. There, Atlanta police blocked the crowd from getting close to the building and attacked them. Officers ripped signs and umbrellas out of people’s hands and threw objects forcefully into the crowd. Referring to the Atlanta Police Department, the crowd chanted during these attacks: “APD, KKK, IDF, They’re all the same!”

As the demonstration dispersed, student activists called for further protests at GSU in the coming days.

#AtlantaGA #GSU #GILEE #AAARPR #AtlantaAlliance

Atlanta, GA – On the afternoon of November 11, about 200 community members gathered outside of the Atlanta city hall to demand an end to the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program and an end to the construction of the $90 million police training facility known as Cop City.

According to Georgia State University, GILEE is, “a joint project of Georgia State University and local, state, federal, and international law enforcement, and public safety agencies. GILEE’s mission is to enhance law enforcement executive development and international cooperation.”

In reality this program allows for the exchange of tactics and weapons between racist police forces in Georgia who occupy and violently attack Black communities and the terrorist Israeli occupation forces who are carrying out a genocide upon the Palestinian people.

GILEE has existed for over three decades and is run by the Zionist Dr. Robert Friedmann, a professor at Georgia State University. As recently as June, 12 Georgia police chiefs and command staff, three Georgia sheriffs, the former director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as well as members of the Department of Justice, Georgia Public Safety Training Center and Georgia Department of Public Safety traveled to Israel to receive training. On that trip they were mainly hosted and trained by Israeli Lieutenant Colonel JR Davidov, who recently died during the Al Aqsa Flood operation that was launched by the heroic Palestinian resistance in October.

Opponents of GILEE and Cop City are natural allies, as there is no doubt that Israeli occupation forces would travel to Cop City for training if it were built.

The rally was organized by the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and was co-sponsored by Palestine Action US, Black Alliance for Peace, Climate Justice Committee and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Protesters held signs that read “End U.S. aid to Israel” and “From Atlanta to Palestine: occupation is a crime!” which were met with a consistent stream of supportive honking from cars driving by. The rain did not deter anyone in attendance from making their voices heard, as they belted our chants such as “They got tanks, we got gliders! Glory to all the resistance fighters!” and “There is only one solution! Intifada, revolution!”

A member of Black Alliance for Peace spoke about the “skills” exchanged between the Israeli occupation and Georgia police, “They share the worst practices. Practices that are used to promote the militarization and occupation of colonized communities throughout the U.S. These practices include racial profiling, extrajudicial killings, and Cop City. In occupied Palestine they have a ‘Little Gaza’ a mock neighborhood to practice urban warfare.” This mock town is exactly what Cop City is proposed as, a training ground to repress uprisings like the George Floyd Rebellion of 2020.

David Jones and Laith Abdel Hader with the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression gave a speech in both English and Arabic, stating, “The people of Gaza have been saying ‘Heaven is closer than the Sinai desert.’ They are determined to win or die fighting, and there is no other option. Palestinians and their resistance are not going anywhere, and this pathetic attempt by Israel will only fuel the flames of struggle which will burn the occupation down.”

Taylor Cook, an organizer with the Atlanta District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, further drew the connection between Palestinian liberation and the national liberation struggles within the U.S., “We are here to demand an end to the GILEE program, because lest we forget that it was from Israeli occupation soldiers that Derek Chauvin learned and used the knee on the neck tactic on George Floyd, and it was teargas canisters from Israel used to choke us out when we took to the streets during the George Floyd Rebellion. We know that the struggle to stop Cop City is intertwined with the Palestinian struggle.”

From the campus of Georgia State University to the streets of Atlanta, it is clear that the people oppose the GILEE program and the use of Cop City by Israeli occupation forces, should it be built. The protest dispersed safely after attendees vowed to continue to stand unconditionally with the Palestinian liberation struggle and to do all they can to end U.S. aid to the Zionist occupation of Palestine.

#AtlantaGA #GILEE #Palestine #StopCopCity #AAARPR #NAARPR #Feature