Atlanta, GA – On Tuesday, December 30, after two years of local pressure and national support, a Georgia judge issued an order dismissing RICO charges against 61 activists who protested the construction of Cop City.

The ruling comes just months after the charges of three activists wrongfully charged with money laundering in connection to the administration of the Atlanta Solidarity bail funds in 2024 were also dropped due to a flimsy legal argument and increasing pressure from the community.

In his order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer said that the attorney general did not have the authority to bring Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charges and had to seek permission from the governor to do so but did not in this case. “The attorney general acknowledged that no prior authority was granted by the governor to bring RICO charges,” Farmer wrote in his order.

Legal experts have pointed out that the indictment, which groups the activists together in what the state tried to deem as an organized criminal conspiracy, was an overreach in power by the attorney general's office.

“Judge Farmer correctly dismissed the indictment because the prosecution did not follow the law when filing these charges,” attorney Amanda Clark Palmer said in a statement on Tuesday calling the state's case a “bloated, tortured and overblown prosecution.”

The RICO indictment orchestrated by state Attorney General Chris Carr, who is planning to run for governor, was the culmination of a massive wave of repression in the face of the Stop Cop City movement. The movement, made up of activists, community members and a coalition of organizations in Atlanta, saw all forms of attack by the state over the last two years.

In 2023, in the months following the police murder of activist Manuel Paez Teran, known as Tortuguita, in the Weelaunee Forest at the construction site of Cop City, 69 protesters were indicted on bogus charges: 61 activists on state RICO charges, five activists on domestic terrorism and arson charges, and three on money laundering charges.

While the state has not dropped the domestic terrorism charges, the RICO and money laundering charges being dismissed reveal a pattern of failure and weakness in the larger efforts to intimidate people into silence and criminalize mass resistance to the militarization of the police.

This victory highlights not just the weakness of the regressive forces in power but the true strength of the people and the power of bold and courageous solidarity.

#AtlantaGA #GA #InJusticeSystem #StopCopCity

Milwaukee, WI – 40 people gathered in Bolton Hall on the UW-Milwaukee campus to hear a panel of speakers talk about the connections between the Cop City project in Atlanta, Georgia and other current political situations, specifically the uprising in Palestine.

Cop City is a proposed training facility for police and others that is set to be built in 85 acres of woodland in one of Atlanta's largest green spaces. The portion of land is also part of a larger forest known as Weelaunee, important to the Muscogee people who historically call the region their home. The forest is commonly cited as the “lungs of Atlanta.”

One of the features of the facility is a mock city where police can work through made-up scenarios where they terrorize people. This is a tactic straight out of the playbook of the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in Palestine, something that has been learned as a result of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILLE) program. The program is one of the largest of its kind involving cross-training of U.S. militarized police and the IOF.

After the panel, a screening of Now You're a Terrorist, a documentary published by the media platform Al Jazeera, was aired. The documentary covers how law enforcement and the state have responded to people organizing to stop Cop City from being built. After the screening, the director of the documentary, Mark Scialla, joined the panelists for a question and answer session.

“As organizers who stand in solidarity with the Black liberation and Palestinian liberation struggles, the Coalition to March on the RNC stands in solidarity with the fight to Stop Cop City and to end the GILLE program,” said Casey Serrano, a member of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and former Atlanta activist. “We also recognize that as thousands of cops prepare to descend on Milwaukee next summer, we must study the cutting edge repression and resistance happening in Atlanta right now.”

Other panelists included Farzad Ghodsi with the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee and Omar Flores, also of the Milwaukee Alliance.

The Coalition to March on the RNC is planning a mass demonstration in Milwaukee for the first day of the Republican National Convention next year on July 15, 2024. As a prelude to this action, the coalition is also hosting an all-day National Organizing Conference in Milwaukee on February 17, 2024. All current and potential partners of the coalition are invited to mobilize members to this conference.

#MilwaukeeWI #RNC2024 #Palestine #StopCopCity

Atlanta, GA – On November 13, five Climate Justice Committee – Minnesota (CJC) members joined activists from around the country to oppose the building of an urban warfare training facility for police on the Weelaunee Forest on the edge of Atlanta, Georgia.

Organizers of the Stop Cop City rally talked about the importance of connecting the environmental movement with the fight against police brutality, reminding those at the rally that earlier this year Atlanta police killed a protester trying to defend the forest – Manuel Terán, known to those in the movement as Tortuguita. Organizers also emphasized that police always defend polluters and those that destroy the environment.

Within the last year, 61 people – the majority from outside Georgia – have been hit with RICO charges, and over 40 of those individuals have domestic terrorism charges, all because of their organizing against Cop City.

Hundreds of people came to the opening rally to oppose and try to shut down the project. “We came to show support and to be able to bring the struggle back to Minneapolis about how we can support what's happening on the ground in Atlanta,” said CJ McCormick. “We need to have a diversity of tactics,” explained Kamau Franklin, a local Atlanta organizer at the rally. Tortugita’s mother, Belkis Terán, who attended with her husband, addressed the march telling people she was so happy to see everyone there opposing Cop City and defending the forest.

Over 110,000 Atlantans have signed a petition opposing the Cop City project. Shamefully, the city not only publicly released all the names of those who signed, but also opposed the referendum, pushing it to the courts and holding up the ability for Atlantans to vote on it during recent elections.

City officials report that Cop City is 40% built, no doubt to deflate further action. The CJC continues to join Atlantans to build the fight to Stop Cop City. The CJC also plans to continue support for activists facing state repression and connect Cop City to struggles for environmental justice and police accountability around the country.

#AtlantaGA #PoliceBrutality #Environment #PoliticalRepression #StopCopCity

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

Atlanta, GA – On Saturday, October 21, the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a panel speaking event at Adams Park Library hosting Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5 and building the struggle against political repression.

The Tampa 5 are five women who attended a Students for a Democratic Society protest at the University of South Florida (USF) in response to Governor DeSantis ending funding for diversity programs and cultural groups at state universities and banning the teaching of vital parts of Black history. USF police brutalized the protestors and arrested four people that day and put out a warrant for the fifth. They are now facing up to ten years in prison.

Guest panelists spoke on behalf of Dissenters at Georgia State University, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at GSU, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Panelists connected the struggles each of them are involved in, including the struggle against Cop City, student activism for Palestine, and the fight against DeSantis’s racist laws. They spoke of the 61 Stop Cop City activists in a RICO indictment, GSU administration’s attacks on SJP and other student groups, the 23 anti-war activists who beat their grand jury repression, and the case of the Tampa 5.

“We organize and we know that the only way out of this is to continue to organize because at every step of the way they have tried to silence us,” said Laura Rodriguez, one of the Tampa 5, “I see the light at the end of the tunnel and the way through it is to organize and organize with people who will show and give solidarity. Not just in words but by our actions.”

Taylor Cook, a member of the FRSO stated, “I know for a fact that just like the Anti-War 23, the Tally 19, the 60 people here in Atlanta with RICO charges, the ASF 3, and so many others that the Tampa 5 will see their charges dropped. Despite how badly Ron DeSantis wants it, the Tampa 5 will not be spending a second in jail, they will be found not guilty, and it will be a victory to them, but also a victory to the people’s movements across the country.”

The panel ended with solidarity speeches with the Tampa 5 from groups attending, vowing to continue the fight to get the charges dropped. Laura Rodriguez urged those attending to send letters to State Attorney Suzan Lopez demanding that she drop the bogus charges on the Tampa 5, and to organize here in Georgia against attacks on diversity in higher education and student activists.

#AtlantaGA #PoliticalRepression #Tampa5 #SDS #NAARPR #SJP #StopCopCity #DeSantis

New York, NY - On October 18, over 100 activists and community members, representing nearly 20 different grassroots community organizations, packed The People’s Forum in Manhattan for an evening of solidarity and resistance. The event, titled “Defend People’s Struggle: A Conversation on State Repression,” kicked off the East Coast leg of the Justice for the Tampa 5 speaking tour. It centered activists who have been directly targeted for arrest and trumped up charges as part of the increased state repression facing organizers.

The speakers represented organizations from all corners of the movement. In addition to Laura Roriguez of the Tampa 5, the evening’s program speakers also included: Marte White, from Community Movement Builders in Atlanta, Georgia and the fight to stop Cop City; a speaker from NYC-based organization For Our Liberation; Nina Macapinlac from BAYAN USA; a speaker from New York Boricua Resistance; a speaker from the Haitian diaspora organization Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti, and Kaleem Hawa from the Palestinian Youth Movement.

All speakers were united in a clear message: We must defend people’s struggles. Only through steadfast solidarity can we protect ourselves and our movements. The only way to move forward is to fight back.

Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5, a group of five Florida students and activists facing felony charges for defending diversity on campus, stated, “Because of organizing, because we are in an organization, and because of the support we’ve gotten nationally, we were able to expedite our release from jail,” she said in her speech. She ended on an optimistic note on the power of organizing and solidarity: “Because of the organizing that we will do on the speaking tour, that we have done, and because of everyone here today, I know for a fact that the charges will be dropped.”

Another key point of the evening was raised by Marte White, a transfeminine organizer involved in the struggle against Cop City in Atlanta. They spoke about the importance of combating lies spread by the enemy, citing the disinformation spread by the Atlanta police in the wake of their murder of environmental activists Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán last March. This point was echoed by Allendy of Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti and Kaleem Hawa of the Palestinian Youth Movement. 

The Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti spoke of the UN Security Council’s decision to authorize the tenth invasion of Haiti in the past 30 years under the pretext of combatting “gang violence,” when it is really an attempt to access cheap labor, land and resources in Haiti. “Whenever the UN Security Council is about to vote on what to do in Haiti, gang violence rises,” he said. “So we can tell clearly, this is to repress the Haitian people whenever they want to mobilize and fight for their sovereignty. We can’t rely on this system, we can’t rely on the mass media, who have shown us time and time again that our independence, our sovereignty, and our liberation mean nothing to them.”

Hawa put it more bluntly: “Do not share the enemy’s propaganda. It’s a very difficult time. We don’t need to give them attention, and we can’t let ourselves be distracted.”

As the final speaker of the event, Hawa delivered a powerful analysis of the current, historic moment in the struggle for Palestinian Liberation. He emphasized the importance of contextualizing current events in the long history of Zionist attempts to exterminate the Palestinian people and inflict maximum human suffering in Gaza. “They are doing this because Gaza is the heart of Palestinian resistance and always has been,” he reminded the audience, “and they need a genocidal solution to the resistance from Gaza.”

Speaking of the political repression faced by Palestinians - within Palestine, and in the near and far diasporas, including New York City, Hawa stated, “Zionism is borderless, and its intention is to eliminate the political Palestinian life.” However, he continued, “The Palestinian armed resistance has shown the world that Israel is as weak as spider web.”

The evening concluded with rousing chants of “Free Palestine!” and calls to action from the organizations participating. In particular, all speakers stressed the importance of joining organizations and standing in solidarity with each other in the ongoing struggle. As Rodriguez put it when speaking to student organizers in the audience: “We must not only defend but continue to push higher. We’re working to create something that’s never been seen before, to create actual power across all of the movements, because only we can lift us up out of this.”

#NewYorkCityNY #Tampa5 #FreePalestine #Gaza #AlAqsaFlood #PYM #PoliticalRepression #StopCopCity

Minneapolis, MN – On June 28, the Climate Justice Committee gathered with around 20 community members outside the former Minneapolis Police Department 3rd Precinct building to stand in solidarity with Atlanta Forest Defenders, who called for a national week of action to stop Cop City as intense political repression continues on the frontlines of that fight. The protest also called for a local demand: no new 3rd Precinct building in Minneapolis.

People stood at the intersection of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue holding signs that read “Stop Cop City,” “Defend the Atlanta Forest,” and “No new 3rd Precinct.” Representatives from five local justice organizations gave speeches marking the connections between the struggle to defend the Atlanta forest and the struggle against retraumatizing community by rebuilding the 3rd Precinct in Minneapolis, despite overwhelming opposition to both.

Charlie Berg, from Climate Justice Committee, called out the fact that major corporate funders of Cop City have stakes in Minneapolis – and are funding Cop City precisely because of the 2020 uprising that began here.

Joe Vital spoke on behalf of East Phillips Neighborhood Institute about the irreparable harm the colonial systems of destruction have and will continue to inflict on the unceded lands, water, and all other living beings who dwell there. “We know the phrase ‘The borders crossed us.’ And when they crossed us, that changed our relationship with the land, the animals, our kinships to one another, our relationship to free-flowing water and to the trees themselves. We are talking about 381 acres of forest land—and we have to remember it’s all Indian Country.”

Vital continued by drawing a parallel to the local, native-led fight to defend the Roof Depot, which proved how collective organizing can effectively fight the system.

Hannah Jerrie from the Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar called out the city of Minneapolis’ attempt to manufacture consent around the 3rd Precinct, and how the power of the state to take away our rights is working exactly as it was designed. Atlanta has continued escalating attacks on protesters, creating trumped-up charges, incarcerating protesters, and otherwise violating freedom of speech – in all the ways the government was designed to do, Jerrie emphasized.

Repping Minnesota Defend the Forest, Griffy Lake put out a call for anyone to join the grassroots movement to defend the Atlanta forest, pointing out that the movement is gaining momentum, thanks to people involved refusing to be quiet and lending their voices and passions. Lake suggested taking part in whatever ways people feel comfortable with, whether that’s offering creative talents, helping to raise bail funds or provide jail support, or even just talking to people in the community about the importance of stopping Cop City, because “resisting one is tied hand in hand with resisting the other.”

Siobhan Moore, a representative of Students for Democratic Society at the U of M, denounced political repression, the destruction of the Weelaunee Forest for Cop City and the proposed new precinct in Minneapolis. Siobhan spoke about their proximity as a student organizer to the state’s attacks on activists, with fellow student activists known as the Tampa 5 currently facing up to ten years in prison for protests in Florida after a brutal arrest.

Finally, a member of Communities United Against Police Brutality rounded out the rally by highlighting the political prosecutions and oppressive tactics that both police and elected officials are using to silence movements like the ones in Minneapolis and Atlanta.

The rally ended with the crowd chanting “Justice for Tortuguita! Justice for the Forest Defenders! Justice for the Tampa 5!”

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJusticeCommittee #StopCopCity

The town hall began with a speech from Kamau Franklin, the founder of CMB. Franklin spoke on the nature of policing in America and pointed out that this facility would not train police to better serve the community but rather better serve the interests of corporations and their politicians. He then drew the connection from the history of police as slave catchers and strikebreakers to the role they play today as an occupying force within the African American community. Franklin also highlighted the role Israeli police play in training Georgia police and connected the struggle between the Palestinian and Black liberation struggles.

 “We are opposed to Cop City because we understand that it is a further mechanism of control over our communities,” said Franklin. “We oppose Cop City because we understand that it is a further mechanism of control over our movements.”

Next to speak was Mary Hooks, an activist with Movement 4 Black Lives (M4BL). She spoke on the hypocrisy of Mayor Andre Dickens and his recent State of Atlanta address. She also spoke about the 1994 Crime Bill, the War on Drugs, and the impact mass incarceration has had on the Black community.

“Back when they could have expanded the services and alternatives to address poverty and poverty-induced violence they didn’t,” said Hooks. “And what did they do? They locked up folks like Eman Jamil Al-Amin, political prisoner who was working in the West End doing community work.”

The town hall was then opened up to community members to give comments about Cop City and their experiences with the police.

“The proposed police training facility, dubbed ‘Cop City,’ sits at the intersection of myriad issues currently plaguing not only Atlanta but our society. Gentrification, environmental racism, the issues of class and power and how we allow corporations to shape our lives. Atlanta is one of the city’s most negatively impacted by climate change. The forest provides protection from flooding and serves to cool the city. Will Cop City aid in the handling of impending climate disasters as well? In a city where only about 4% of Black people make it out of poverty, we must question why tens of millions of dollars have been allocated to the building of this facility. The building of a facility in which the surrounding community provided 17 hours of public comment in which they overwhelmingly didn’t support it,” said Easy Johnson, an organizer with CMB and emcee for the town hall.

“After all, Cop City is the corporate solution to Black people protesting our oppression. It’s $30 million of taxpayer money for a police training facility no one in the community surrounding the proposed facility asked for. The death of environmental activist, Tortuguita, serves as the parakeet in the mine to warn us of what’s to come if Cop City is built,” Johnson continued.

The town hall ended with community members and activists committing to stop Cop City and signing up for further action and information from the groups in attendance.

#AtlantaGA #PoliceBrutality #StopCopCity