Atlanta, GA – On Saturday, January 18, hundreds of community members gathered to honor the life of Manuel Esteban Paez Teràn, known as Tortuguita, a forest defender killed by the Georgia State Patrol two years ago while protesting the construction of Cop City in Atlanta. Protesters carried turtle-shaped umbrellas with messages of solidarity in honor of Tortuguita’s life.

The rally began at Old Fourth Ward Skatepark with speakers from important local and national struggles, along with community-building activities. Indigenous activists in the struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline spoke about the importance of opposing projects like Cop City. The Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights spoke about the fight against repressive anti-immigrant bills, such as the Laken Riley Act, which recently passed in the Senate. Refaat Alareer Mobile Library was also present, honoring the life and work of the martyred Palestinian activist and professor Dr. Refaat Alareer.

“My message is that we have to keep going,” said Belkis Teràn, mother of Tortuguita. “We have to work on ourselves. That’s why I did the Tortuguita Healing Center, it’s for everybody that wants to do good for the community and for themselves.” Teràn stressed the importance of continuing the fight, remembering Tortuguita’s words “we can defeat the police by being happy.”

Protesters marched down the Atlanta Beltline towards the BlackRock Atlanta office. Tim Franzen, a member of People’s Campaign to Stop Cop City, says in his speech “BlackRock owns part of Lockheed Martin. What do they do? They build bombs and jets. Where do they go? They go to Gaza. They’re invested in every part of the policing process.” BlackRock also plays a big role in displacing working-class Black families in Atlanta and all over the country.

The rally ended back at the skatepark, with activists vowing to keep up the fight against Cop City and asserting their determination to win. “We can win. I believe that. Because when people gather together and fight for our rights, we will win. That’s what I believe.” stated Ms. Jodah Barnette, with the People’s Campaign to Stop Cop City. “We have to keep on fighting and keep on going. And that’s why I'm out here today when I could be at home resting.”

#AtlantaGA #GA #InJusticeSystem #CopCity #Tortuguita #KillerCops

These activists – Marlon Kautz, Adele MacLean and Savannah Patterson – are leaders of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF), a bail fund that has supported protesters opposing the construction of a controversial police training facility in Atlanta. While the trio still faces racketeering charges, the dismissal of the money laundering allegations nevertheless marks a victory against state repression and exposes the cracks in the state's legal strategy.

The decision by Deputy Attorney General John Fowler to drop the charges came just before a scheduled hearing, leaving many to question the state's aggressive pursuit of protest leaders under bogus pretenses. This retreat signals the real function of the state’s case against the Stop Cop City protesters, which is the political repression of a people’s struggle against police crimes.

From the start, Georgia's prosecution of the Stop Cop City activists has exposed the criminally repressive character of both state and local government officials. The movement, which began as a grassroots effort to prevent the construction of a massive, 85-acre police training facility in a forested area of DeKalb County, was portrayed by the state as a criminal enterprise. In reality, the protests against the construction of Cop City were met with anti-democratic repression and violence from police.

Prosecutors accused ASF leaders of funneling charitable funds to support violent protests and sabotage of the facility’s construction. However, the so-called evidence amounted to paltry sums, such as $93 for camping supplies and $12 for kitchen materials – purchases hardly resembling the insidious criminal conspiracy the state would have the public believe.

The narrative spun by state officials, particularly Attorney General Chris Carr, tries to frame the largely decentralized protest movement as a highly organized criminal conspiracy. This false characterization was aimed at criminalizing protest entirely, and the ASF’s alleged “money-laundering” was leaned on heavily by prosecutors to tie the whole narrative together. By dropping the money laundering charges, prosecutors tacitly acknowledged that this aspect of their case was too weak to plausibly argue in front of a jury.

While the state insists that the racketeering charges remain, this retreat over alleged money laundering shines a spotlight on the broader, troubling pattern of repression employed against the Stop Cop City movement. Georgia’s unprecedented use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO – traditionally reserved for prosecuting organized crime – is a clear escalation aimed at stifling protest and political dissent. More than 60 people, including the ASF leaders, still face these sweeping charges. In Georgia, RICO laws that are typically used to target mob bosses have been used against community activists.

The case against the ASF and other protest leaders is emblematic of how state authorities use exaggerated charges to silence political opposition. As activists have raised concerns over environmental degradation and further militarization of police, Georgia officials have resorted to intimidation tactics, raids on activists' homes, surveillance and interference with the financial resources of community organizations.

Marlon Kautz, one of the ASF leaders, stated that the dropped charges “do nothing to undo the harm to us and to the many political protesters whose lives have already been drastically impacted.” Indeed, the financial and emotional toll has been immense for activists in Atlanta already, with donations to the ASF blocked and banks treating them like criminals for their activism.

But the struggle continues. Tens of thousands of residents have signed petitions demanding a referendum on the Cop City project, yet their efforts have been stonewalled by city officials. Demonstrators continue to raise their voices at city council meetings and local demonstrations, particularly those protesting the rampant police crimes and heinous conditions at Fulton County Jail.

Georgia’s aggressive prosecution of activists in the Stop Cop City case is part of a larger trend across the U.S., where the state increasingly treats protest movements as threats to national security rather than expressions of democratic dissent.

#AtlantaGA #GA #InJusticeSystem #CopCity #PoliticalRepression

Dallas, TX – On Saturday, July 6, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) Dallas partnered with the Stop Cop City Dallas coalition for a town hall meeting at Pan-African Connection to educate the community on the planned construction of a police training facility to be built on the University of North Texas at Dallas campus.

Four speakers from the coalition presented on the history of policing and militarization of the institution, while linking it to the threat of a cop city planned to be built by 2027. Vital information was given on the planned construction of the facility. the trail of police brutality that DPD is responsible for, including police killings, and what is necessary to combat the escalation of police repression. The audience of around 55 people was engaged with the presentation and active in the conversations afterward.

They pointed out the impact this facility would have on police departments across the country. Ebonee Taylor, a member of NAARPR Dallas, pointed out that police forces “across the country come here and to Atlanta to do more training to learn more threatening tactics towards the community.”

The event ended with a Q&A that included a larger call to action that highlighted the relation of police repression with the struggles of many other oppressed groups. A member of Stop Cop City Dallas stated, “Language justice, disability justice it’s all connected. And we want everybody to see and feel themselves within this movement because that’s what it’s going to take.”

NAARPR Dallas and the Stop Cop City coalition continue to mobilize to fight back against this imminent threat of police repression amidst a larger national push towards regressive political rule.

#DallasTX #TX #InJusticeSystem #CopCity #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #NAARPR

The Climate Justice Committee (CJC) resolutely condemns the recent felony RICO indictments of 61 Stop Cop City activists in Atlanta, as well as the refusal by the Atlanta city government to count the 116,000 petition signatures to put Cop City on the ballot. These blatantly anti-democratic and criminal actions by the Georgia Attorney General, the Mayor of Atlanta, and Atlanta elections officials will not go unanswered.

Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr, who issued the RICO indictments, is making an open attempt to criminalize solidarity. With these charges, the state of Georgia is seeking to set the legal precedent that actions such as sharing money for camping supplies constitutes participating in a terrorist conspiracy, that running a bail fund constitutes racketeering, and that handing out fliers with the names of murderous police officers constitutes felony-level intimidation. In fact, the only terrorist conspiracy at play in Atlanta is that between the various government agencies, lobbying groups, and multinational corporations who are doing everything in their power to intimidate activists out of exercising their legal rights.

Adding insult to injury, A.G. Carr also had the audacity to stamp these RICO indictments with a date that is all too familiar to the people of Minneapolis: May 25, 2020, the date of George Floyd’s murder. Carr made clear the political reasons for this date in the text of his indictment, stating that the origins of the Stop Cop City movement can be traced to the popular uprisings of 2020 in reaction to the police murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, and countless others around the United States.

Here, the Attorney General has made an admission to what activists have been pointing out all along – that the plans to construct Cop City began as a direct reaction to the nationwide movements of 2020. This proposal for a state-of-the-art urban warfare training center was born out of the cops’ and corporations’ fear that the next time the people unleash their righteous anger, they will be substantially more organized and difficult to repress.

Their mistake, though, is that the repression of the Stop Cop City movement – jailing protestors for days on end, routinely violating protestors’ constitutionally protected free speech, and now flagrantly subverting what little remains of the ordinary democratic process – is having the opposite of its intended effect. Not only are the people getting more organized, their numbers are growing and they are becoming more determined to win.

The CJC sends its unconditional solidarity to the defenders of Weelaunee People’s Forest. In response to this latest wave of repression, we have donated to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, and highly encourage others to do the same. Funds can be donated at www.atlsolidarity.org. It is only with a mass campaign of nationwide solidarity that forest defenders can continue the fight until Cop City has been stopped.

Stop Cop City! Justice for Tortuguita and all stolen lives!

#MinneapolisMN #MN #CopCity #CJC #PoliticalRepression #Environment

Atlanta, GA – Community members gathered outside of the Georgia Supreme Court on the evening of September 8 to display their opposition to the extreme state repression that was brought upon activists in the movement to Stop Cop City.

The crowd of 70 people chanted “Drop the charges now!” and “Cop City will never be built!”. The protest was quickly put together by Community Movement Builders, the Weelaunee Coalition, and other supporting groups following the state RICO indictment earlier this week.

The indictment aims to shut down the Stop Cop City movement entirely, painting with broad strokes to criminalize legal actions and freedom of speech. Among the 61 people charged in the indictment are a legal observer, three people who run a bail fund, and activists who helped distribute flyers with information about Cop City and the police murder of Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán earlier this year. Further details on the indictment can be found in a recent Fight Back! News article.

Mariah Parker, an organizer with the Union of Southern Service Workers, stated, “The RICO charges will only set a precedent if we allow them to silence us and crush the movement. That's what they’re for, and if they succeed in that then it will be a tactic folks use to crush movements in other places. So that's why it’s more important than ever for us to continue to fight, stand up, and show that we aren’t afraid of baseless political prosecutions.”

Kamau Franklin, founder of Community Movement Builders, said in a speech, “It is the strength of the people which will make sure we can say corporations and developers will no longer control how Atlanta builds, how Atlanta divides its resources, and how Atlanta organizes itself. It is only all of us standing together which will stop the city and the state from using its resources against our folks.”

Protesters sang songs of solidarity and held banners that read, “Training to kill. Stop Cop City anywhere! Justice against police brutality!” and another which displayed the logos of the many companies funding Cop City; such as Coca-Cola, UPS, Chick-Fil-A, Uber, Home Depot, Delta, and many more. The protest dispersed safely following a chant, made popular by former political prisoner Assata Shakur, vowing to protect one another and to continue the fight for liberation from police terror.

#AtlantaGA #PoliceBrutality #PoliticalRepression #CopCity

The Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act is similar to the federal RICO Act, but the Georgia Act makes it easier to charge people. The indictment is dated August 29 and the charges became known to the public September 5.

The indictment groups the activists together in what the state is calling an “enterprise” engaged in racketeering activity aimed at preventing Cop City from being built. The indictment names Defend the Atlanta Forest as the group accused of violating the RICO act, even though not all people charged belong to that group. The racketeering activity alleged by the state ranges from throwing molotov cocktails at construction equipment to transferring money in amounts as low as $15.

Cop City is an urban warfare police training facility which will cost $90 million and take up 85 acres of the forest. Construction of Cop City began in spring of this year.

The indictment date begins on May 25, 2020, the day George Floyd was murdered by the police in Minneapolis, and a year before the plan to build Cop City was even publicized. 23 of those facing RICO charges were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism during a music festival in the forest on March 5, 2023. Five others in the indictment were arrested during a protest following the murder of Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran in January of 2023, and are also facing arson and domestic terrorism charges. The indictment also includes the Atlanta Solidarity Fund 3, whose house was raided in May 2023, and face 15 additional charges of money laundering. Three others facing RICO charges were arrested and placed in solitary confinement in April 2023 for posting flyers about one of the cops involved in the murder of Tortuguita.

Cop City Vote Coalition, a group working towards getting Cop City on the ballot, released a statement condemning the RICO indictment: “These charges, like the previous repressive prosecutions by the State of Georgia, seek to intimidate protestors, legal observers, and bail funds alike, and send the chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished with the full power and violence of the government.”

The statement continues: “The Cop City Vote coalition strongly condemns these anti-democratic charges. We will not be intimidated by power-hungry strongmen, whether in City Hall or the Attorney General’s office. Chris Carr may try to use his prosecutors and power to build his gubernatorial campaign and silence free speech, but his threats will not silence our commitment to standing up for our future, our community, and our city.”

Along with the Cop City Vote Coalition, other groups involved in the struggle around stopping Cop City have also condemned this act of repression and vowed to continue the fight against Cop City and political repression. With cases of repression such as the Tampa 5 in Florida and the FBI confronting reproductive rights organizers in Minnesota, the state is showing its fear of the power of the people to make change. The movement will not be silenced as the many outweigh the few and the people are demanding that the city stops Cop City. Now is the time to fight back, not retreat.

#AtlantaGA #PoliceBrutality #CopCity

Atlanta, GA – On the morning of August 14, about 30 people gathered outside the 11th Circuit US Court of Appeals to protest the city of Atlanta’s attempt to appeal the “Stop Cop City” referendum. Protesters gave speeches and chanted “APF you have blood on your hands! No more cops on stolen land!”

The protest was organized by members of the Student Coalition Against Cop City and was supported by groups like Cop City Vote and Community Movement Builders.

The city of Atlanta sought to overturn a recent ruling by Judge Mark Cohen which allows people living outside of the city to collect signatures as part of the referendum campaign to get Cop City put on the ballot in November. If the campaign is successful, it would allow residents to vote on whether or not they think the city of Atlanta should lease the land for Cop City to the Atlanta Police Foundation.

In a victory for the protesters, Judge Cohen denied the city’s appeal, stating, “The City’s real concern may be that now that nonresidents have the ability to gather signatures on the petition for the entire time that they would have been permitted to do so had their initial request been granted, there is an increased possibility that a sufficient number of valid signatures could be obtained.”

The city government has ample cause for concern, as activists and community members have wasted no time in uniting people against Cop City. The petition has already garnered 80,000 signatures, which exceeds the initial goal of 70,000 and is even more than the total number of people who voted for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.

Kamau Franklin, founder of Community Movement Builders, said in a speech, “We understand the idea of the diversity of tactics. We know we have to be in the streets, we have to take petitions, we have to be in the courtroom. We have to be everywhere we need to be to let these people know. These corporations are doing nothing but taking over the city and moving the working-class and poor folks out of the city.”

Garrett Brand with the Student Coalition Against Cop City commented on the role of students in the Stop Cop City movement, “Students have played a pivotal role in the movement this summer especially, helping with the referendum effort and event support. This event was organized by students, so we’re definitely boots on the ground mobilizing people to make things happen.”

After speeches were delivered, the protesters marched to the Fulton County Courthouse, carrying signs and a banner that read “Let the people decide! Stop Cop City.” Protesters were met with a full police barricade at the Fulton County Courthouse, supposedly in anticipation of the indictment of former President Donald Trump. As protesters approached the courthouse, police immediately deployed a number of intimidation tactics, with over 50 police officers swarming the protesters and telling them they could not stand on that sidewalk.

The police used the threat of running people over with motorcycles as they inched the protesters to the sidewalk opposite the courthouse. Protesters stood firm as police turned their sirens to full volume and drove motorcycles closer to the protesters, attempting move them away from the courthouse. Despite multiple cops threatening mass arrests, the protest dispersed safely with no arrests.

#AtlantaGA #PoliceBrutality #CopCity

Atlanta, GA – More than 1000 protesters gathered on June 5 at the Atlanta City Hall for public comment before a crucial city council vote which would officially fund Cop City, the $90 million police training facility scheduled to be constructed on the south side of Atlanta. The protesters arrived throughout the day, some as early as 7 a.m., to sign up to speak to the Council. By 1 p.m., 357 people were signed up for public comment.

This public comment and council vote come immediately on the heels of the May 31 SWAT raid and arrests of three Georgian bail fund activists who are being referred to as the ASF 3, and shortly after the revelation that the taxpayers’ role in funding Cop City was more than twice what Mayor Andre Dickens had claimed.

This is not the first time activists have gathered at City Hall to protest Cop City. On May 15, the Atlanta City Council held a public comment session for additional allocation of funding for the Cop City program – an increase of $3.5 million. More than 300 people attended to protest and provide comment to the council, speaking for a combined total of seven hours, entirely in opposition to the facility’s construction.

The event on June 5 was met with a much larger police presence than at previous city council meetings. Dozens of heavily-armed officers stood behind cordons and balcony railings in the City Hall building, watching the proceedings.

Protest began inside the City Hall building while signups were still ongoing. Reverend Keyanna Jones, Kamau Franklin and others spoke to the crowd, and a gospel singer led the protesters in a series of chants.

Public comment began at 1 p.m. and lasted past 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The 15 hours of public comment were largely in opposition to the funding of Cop City; out of the 238 people who were able to stay until it was their turn to speak, 234 spoke against it. Many individuals appealed to the councilmembers’ morality. Many spoke about the councilmembers’ duties to the people. Some individuals spoke about the council’s decision to ban liquids from the chamber. “We have been dehydrated – not just physically but mentally too. We have been dehydrated by the police department,” one individual said.

After public comment finished on Tuesday morning, the city council voted to fund Cop City by an 11-4 margin. The protesters still in attendance broke out into a minutes-long chant of “Cop City will never be built,” and shortly after the council adjourned.

Micah Herskind, a community organizer, speaking shortly before public comment began, spoke about next steps if the council voted to allocate $67 million in taxpayer funds to construct Cop City. “This movement has always been so much bigger than City Hall,” he said. “People told us that we lost back in September 2021 when they voted for the lease, and here hundreds and thousands of people still are fighting, and so I think the fight goes on. The fight goes on, as it always has.”

A national call to action against Cop City is scheduled for June 8, and a local week of action, the sixth of its kind, has been scheduled for June 24 through July 1.

#AtlantaGA #PoliceBrutality #CopCity

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.

#AtlantaGA #PoliceBrutality #CopCity

Atlanta, GA – Hundreds gathered in the Atlanta Forest over the March 5-6 weekend to demand justice for Manny “Tortuguita” Paez, and that the Atlanta forest be saved,and Cop City not be built. The events over the weekend included a two-day music festival and a protest inside the Atlanta Forest. Georgia law enforcement agencies ended the music festival early by arresting and charging 22 attendants with domestic terrorism charges.

The music festival and protest were part of a week of action against the proposed Cop City development. Saturday featured local musical acts such as rapper Zach Fox and hardcore band Symbiote. The music festival continued the next day with a protest in the forest. During the protest individuals allegedly overran a police security outpost and set pieces of police and construction equipment on fire.

In response, multiple Georgia law enforcement agencies raided the music festival and began arresting people indiscriminately. Of the over 30 that were arrested, 22 are currently being charged with state-level domestic terrorism charges.

“The Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) stands in solidarity with the Cop City protesters against these bogus terrorism charges,” said Tom Burke of the CSFR. “The Atlanta police murdered environmental activist Manny Paez last month and then lied about it. The cops are terrorizing people in Atlanta and then lying every time they open their mouths.”

Activists are not letting the state repression deter them and are continuing to organize to defend the Atlanta Forest and to stop Cop City.

#AtlantaGA #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #Tortuguita #CopCity

Atlanta, GA – Over 300 people gathered January 21 at Underground Atlanta shopping center to honor the life of Manuel “Manny” “Tortuguita” “Teran” Paez, demand an end to the building of Cop City and to defend an Atlanta forest.

The Atlanta Police Department is seeking to build a new $80 million training facility that activists are calling “Cop City.” The proposed training facility would require the destruction of 300 acres of forestland in the southeastern part of the city and would be used to train police officers in new innovative ways to oppress and brutalize people. Cop City would be equipped with a shooting range as well as weapons and explosives testing.

Paez, also known as Tortuguita, was occupying the forest to prevent the building of Cop City when they were murdered by Georgia State Patrol on January 18. It’s still unclear what happened that night. Police accounts of what transpired contradict other accounts, but those that knew Paez say they were nonviolent. Given Georgia law enforcement’s track record of lies and cover-ups however, those that knew Paez question the official police narrative.

“Tortuguita was a medic in our collective. They were a forest defender. They were a friend. They were funny. They were kind. Tortuguita was constantly thinking of others. They were constantly trying to protect other people, trying to protect the forest. Trying to protect everyone who was marginalized,” said Bee from Atlanta Resistance Medics.

Before Paez had moved to Atlanta they were an activist in Tallahassee, Florida organizing with the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC).

“Manuel Paez was an activist and organizer who fought for what they believed in. They were present for countless protests and events against police brutality and for reproductive rights and LGBTQ justice. They weren’t a person who believed in hurting people for no reason. The real criminal is the police officer who murdered them in cold blood,” said Delilah Pierre, president of TCAC.

Attendants at the protest recommitted to the fight against Cop City and to continue the fight in honor of Manny’s life.

Tortuga vive! La lucha sigue!

#AtlantaGA #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #EnvironmentalJustice #PoliticalRepression #TallahasseeCommunityActionCommitteeTCAC #Tortuguita #ManuelPaez #CopCity