#forest the protestor

[probablyasocialecologist]

Approved by the Atlanta City Council in 2021, the plan has been met with months-long opposition from neighbors and protesters concerned with the destruction of the forest at a time of intensifying climate change and environmental racism. Protesters are also alarmed by the expansion of policing and its associated violence, and “Stop Cop City” has become a national rallying cry for environmental and racial justice movements. Law enforcement, in turn, has responded with a ferocious crackdown that has left one forest defender killed (Georgia state troopers riddled 26-year-old Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán with 57 bullets in January) and 42 charged with domestic terrorism. Three organizers with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, a bail fund, are now facing money laundering and charity fraud charges, following SWAT arrests at the end of May.

[...]

Some union leaders say the fight to stop Cop City has significant stakes for the labor movement as a whole. “Working people always have to be wary of any repression against protesters, because there is a history in our country that once it’s used against anyone protesting government policies, it can be turned against workers in their union,” Carl Rosen, the general president of UE, says over the phone from Erie, Pennsylvania, where 1,400 UE members who work for Wabtec Corp. could soon go out on strike.

[...]

“Cops are the first line of defense for business owners and employers, so I think it makes sense for labor to be opposed to Cop City,” he says. “These cops are being trained at Cop City and will use the tactics they learn to crush our strike if we go out.”

#tortuguita #cop city #atlanta #unions #police #emphasis added

[triviallytrue]

Regarding Stop Cop City, I agree it’s a pretty small-fry project that seems somewhat illogical to be devoting so much energy and militancy to. But on the other hand, there have been city protest movements devoted to saving a single tree before and I don’t think they were necessarily worthless. Even if it’s a small patch of forest, we need to save every tree we can.

And the point of making a big ruckus about one relatively small project is it raises the costs and makes authorities think twice about all their other similar small projects.

And finally I also think there’s just the fact that in the absence of a large left-wing party or organizational infrastructure, there’s not really any central decisionmaker deciding on which things to campaign against. Which things explode into a bigger issue is fairly random and arbitrary.

Similarly, as people have pointed out: the incidents of police brutality that provoke huge protests are not always the most egregious incidents. There have been a few even more horrific acts than what happened to George Floyd or Eric Garner (which to be clear were already extremely horrific), some even caught on video, that did not get as much attention and did not incite as much unrest. There’s no “line” that gets crossed that people just can’t take anymore. It’s random and unpredictable.

So I think Stop Cop City is not completely misguided though I do think it’s not strategically the most productive effort or the most urgent problem.

(But I could be wrong. And anyone attacking you over your opinion on this is a stupid fuck).

Even if it’s a small patch of forest, we need to save every tree we can. And the point of making a big ruckus about one relatively small project is it raises the costs and makes authorities think twice about all their other similar small projects.

I think I tend to disagree on both these points - I am against deforestation writ large but I think there are plenty of times when I am okay with developing small forests for human use, though a training site for cops and firefighters is pretty meh as use cases go. I also am not sure if it really provides much benefit to force authorities to reconsider this kind of project.

I would not necessarily say I am against the cop city protestors in any meaningful way. Cops suck, fuck em, whatever. What I am strongly against is the lionization of picking your battles poorly on the left.

To my eyes the comparison to the George Floyd protests feels a little off - that struck me as a much more mass movement, whereas this feels more like a small group of highly dedicated protestors. I also think the central issue there was much more important, though to wrap back around, what happened to Tortuguita (the protestor that got killed by the cops, likely while sitting down with their hands up) seems far more egregious than the construction project.

I am kind of a crank about this kind of thing, but it raises my hackles when people treat protest or "resistance" or militancy as ends unto themselves. I think the causes we fight for and the ends we achieve matter immensely, and I don't think stopping cop city matters that much, so it bugs me to hear people talk about it in the same breath as the 2020 protests or the current ones for Gaza.

#politics #discourse #thanks for the ask - sorry for using it mostly as a jumping off point to ramble

[forourtimetoo]

God aren’t you tired like the cops killed another Black man in Memphis just trying to go home and now there’s troops in the streets because god forbid we say enough is enough. Last week they killed a protestor in Atlanta trying to protect the forest from being turned into another site where they train cops to kill us. There were so many mass shootings this week that I can’t remember them all. More people have died in mass shootings this year than there have been days of the year, and that line doesn’t even hit me anymore. Texas prosecutors are investigating a teenager for a miscarriage, and the Alabama AG is trying to walk back earlier comments saying they’d use the state’s chemical endangerment law to prosecute people for self-managed medical abortions. 30,000 people were hospitalized this week with a virus the country is determined to pretend is over. Aren’t you tired? The Supreme Court is about to overturn affirmative action and make it easier to do racial gerrymandering and get rid of the Indian Child Welfare Act and make it so businesses can discriminate against gay people. Aren’t you tired of being scared of what the conservatives would do if they thought they could get away with it—the fetal personhood bans and the contraception bans and the criminalizations of trans & queer people and the attacks on the unhoused and all the other monsters under the bed that get realer every day? Aren’t you tired of being scared for your life, if you’re Black or Asian or trans or queer or disabled? Aren’t you just so tired some days?

#i am so tired #I am working very hard to think about this as a what needs to be done and how can I help moment #but I just want to curl up and cry #how does everything feel more Sisyphean than ever #it is time to do something with my hands I think #Nina rambles #us politics #politics #tyre nichols #abortion rights #repro justice #reproductive justice #abortion access #scotus #tortuguita #stop cop city #atlanta forest #gun violence #police violence

[crimethinc]

In Atlanta, the police are currently threatening a person occupying the canopy of the Weelaunee Forest, even after police murdered someone earlier today while attempting to evict and destroy the forest.

We received this photograph from the occupier just now.

https://atlantapresscollective.com/2023/01/18/press-release-police-murder-protestor-in-atlanta-forest/

[female-malice]

#cc

[transrevolutions]

domestic terrorism is a bullshit charge because it can mean whatever the fuck they want it to mean. smash a window of an empty car? domestic terrorism. storm a government building? not necessarily. throw a rock at a cop brutalizing your friend? that's domestic terrorism! but intimidate children with your gun? not domestic terrorism unless you happen to be openly left-wing.

anyways free all the atlanta protestors. solidarity across borders, defend the forest.

#opinion #anarchism #politics #pigeon.txt #stop cop city #atlanta

[doomhope]

police have killed a forest defender in the Weelaunee Forest in Atlanta, GA, and a raid on the forest is ongoing.

please, if you don't know much about the movement against Cop City, start learning about it now and help them however you can. i recommend following @ defendATLforest and @ atlanta_press on twitter for updates.

#personal #please reblog #dtaf #defend the atlanta forest #news #death #police violence

[tbcanary]

2023 reading list: Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka - Vol. 1 (1987 run; issues #195-205)

You do not change the world by the stroke of a pen or the sweep of a sword. You change the world heart by heart, mind by mind.

(ID under the cut)

ID: Four animated panels from Wonder Woman comics.

1: A television set depicts Wally West, dressed as the Flash, and Diana of Themyscira in her Wonder Woman costume. They stand in the middle of a forest fire. Wally starts to run, then comes back to talk to Diana, before finally leaving her behind. Scrolling text above the television reads: "...JLA No Comment..." Scrolling text below the television reads: "News From Colorado..."

2: Diana stands at a podium in a bookstore in front of a crowd. A poster for her book, "Reflections," featuring art of her lasso, is hung on the wall. Someone asks: "Do you, ah, do you have a boyfriend?" Diana responds, "I don't, no, not at the present. I'm not really looking right now." A few hands shoot up. Diana adds, "I should add that I don't have a girlfriend either." A few more hands go up. She says, "Does anyone have any questions about the book?" All the hands go down.

3: Diana stands in the rain as protestors call out to her. At first, it's bigoted statements about immigrants and her liberal lifestyle, but it quickly devolves into panic after someone in the crowd is shot.

4: Diana stands, silhouetted in gold, in front of a tableau of newspapers and magazines with her on the cover. Her silhouette hides her face, but she's smiling in all the photographs. The magazines start in black and white, but light up in colors one at a time.

/End ID.

#wonder woman #diana of themyscira #greg rucka #flashing gifs cw // #tbanimation #tbedits #diana prince #as you may be able to tell from the content of these gifs. this is not a run you should read if you don't want real world politics #altho maybe that's rucka's deal tbh this is the second run from him i've read that's done that #it's interesting tho. stories that will make you consider diana's status as a celebrity/hero/ambassador for hours #while staring off into empty space #it DOES have the hiketeia tho which got its own gifset #vol2 is also getting an edit but i haven't done vol3 yet which maybe tells you how enthused i am about this run #i.e.: not suuuuuper? #it was: fine. it was comics. i love diana and you should too but the plot didn't grab me too much. #anyway thanks for coming to my tagtalk #2023reads

[bonefall]

If humans know cats r intelligent, possibly sapient, and have entire factions and laws n shit, do they still tear down the forest? Would there be protesters for that sort of thing?

Unfortunately the intelligence of cats doesn't stop anything. There may be protestors, especially since the Forest was a popular hiking trail, but overall cats in the Clan Culture expansion are just treated like particularly intelligent ravens or monkeys.

For the most part, they're left alone. When a group becomes problematic, like if they raid farms or start threatening people, they're subjected to culls and population control methods. Like baboons. This doesn't happen very often though-- the Clan cats are notably above average in boldness and intelligence, compared to other cats.

I like to imagine all Tribe-descended cats are that level of above-average. Sisters, Guardians, Tribe cats, Clan cats, and Park cats. Park cats being a convergent (evolved independently; no influence from Tribe cats) group that was subjected to a cull, ergo is quite rare and their culture is found reflected in the influence it left on the Clans.

I do think this is slowly changing for the Clans once they go to the lake, though, since they are an interesting anomaly.

I like to imagine that hikers are actually becoming VERY interested in the bizarre antics of the Clans, though they have no idea yet that there are factions. By the time of AVoS there's like, several videos on WhoTube and they made the local news once.

Clan cats just know that a twoleg with a glowstone is a safe twoleg.

#Clan Culture #I just think that it is neat to imagine a more fleshed out idea of clan/human interactions #Warrior cats #Twolegs

[thundergrace]

September 1, 2022

One-third of the bill will come directly from taxpayers, and the other two-thirds will come through the Atlanta Police Foundation, a collection of private non-profits who financially support APD in various ways.

[...]

The land belonged to the Muscogee people, who referred to it as the Welaunee Forest, for generations. Beginning in the early 1820s, the Muscogee were forcibly displaced from the area through a series of treaties. The removal continued into the 30s. The land then became a plantation for the remainder of the 19th century and into the early 20th century.

In 1911, the city of Atlanta purchased the land. Ten years later, it became the Atlanta City Prison and Dairy Farm. From 1922 to the late 80s the area ran as a prison farm. In 1990, the City began auctioning off farm animals and equipment, and soon after public notice is issued to discuss future plans for the site.

A $90 million dollar military training base for police in a city where a significant percentage of residents live in poverty. 30 million taxpayer dollars will cover the training base, even though 70% of residents disapprove.

Here's yet another reminder that, like MOST major cities, Atlanta's police budget INCREASED after the Black Lives Matter protests. Largely due to cops escalating violence for the coverage and successfully turning public favor against the movement and on to police.

One protestor has already been killed by cops, Tortuguita:

#stop cop city #SIGNAL BOOST #acab #defund the police

[metalheadsforblacklivesmatter]

In Atlanta, Georgia they police want to destroy local forests to build a $90 million training facility.

The training facility is to be called "cop city" and will essentially serve as a fake neighborhood to train in.

But it seems that some of the officers couldn't wait to get their "training" in because they killed a local forest defender and environmental activist Tortuguita (also known as Tort) while they was protesting the destruction of the forest.

Image too humanize them.

Tortuguita is a 26 year old native Venezuelan queer nonbinary person that uses they/it pronouns. And was killed in a SWAT raid to clear the protestor camps.

-fae

#acab #1312 #cop city #justice for tort #land back #climate change #climate crisis

[mundanesalad]

[cw: gun violence, police brutality]

Please read this memorial piece about Tortuguita, a peaceful protester who was killed by Georgia state police on Wednesday while defending the Atlanta Forest.

There hasn’t been a whole lot of national coverage on this by mainstream press that isn’t tainted with pro-cop sentiment and it has been increasingly distressing.

If you’re unfamiliar with “cop city” and the movement to defend the Atlanta forest, I recommend reading more here or here.

#cop city #Atlanta #climate activism #police abolition #anarchy #listen this is happening near me and it’s tiring how a lot of local folks don’t know this is happening

[scims-stuff]

More serious than my usual posting:

If you didn't know already, Atlanta, Georgia (USA) is well on its way to being run by the police, more than it is already. A military-level police training facility is being built and is expected to be over 350 acres. It's mostly funded by corporations (a huge sign of what master this will serve), but it will still cost taxpayers over $30 million. This decision was made without any consultation of the public. This will not only affect Atlanta's huge black population, but also the native population that the land was stolen from.

This is in addition to the protestors that were arrested unjustly for "domestic terrorism".

There are community funds and protests. Please do what you can.

More information can be found below:

#black lives matter #acab #stop cop city #atlanta #Youtube

[reggie-gayflx]

Buy Greenland. Stare into a solar eclipse. Rake the California forests. Nuke the hurricanes. Arm the school teachers. Waterbomb a cathedral. Ingest chemical disinfectant. Alter a weather map. Hype a false drug. Gas peaceful protestors. Lose elections. Tell a Big Lie. Plan an insurrection. Stage a coup. Steal and sell Top Secret and classified docs.. Get convicted……. rot in jail.

#fuck trump #lock him up

[thoughtportal]

Feds: No ‘violent extremist’ label on Defend the Atlanta Forest group

By Tia Mitchell, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

June 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — Charges of domestic terrorism against activists connected to protests of Atlanta’s proposed public safety training facility have repeatedly been justified by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security designation that does not exist.

Arrest warrants for dozens of people affiliated with the Defend the Atlanta Forest group, and three individuals who operate a charity that provided bail money for protestors, all has similar language tying the movement to extremist behavior. The three individuals arrested last week had their home raided by a SWAT team and are charged with financial crimes.

Each of their arrest warrants had a sentence tying their charity to extremism, saying it raised money to “fund in part the actions of Defend the Atlanta Forest, a group classified by the United States Department of Homeland Security as Domestic Violent Extremists.”

But Homeland Security officials have said that is not the case.

The agency has released national terrorism alert bulletins that described some of the protests of the Atlanta facility as exhibiting the characteristics of domestic violent extremists, but no individuals or organizations are named.

“The Department of Homeland Security does not classify or designate any groups as domestic violent extremists,” a spokesman said in a statement shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The FBI, which tracks domestic terrorism threats nationwide, also said it “does not and cannot designate domestic terrorist organizations.” In a statement to the AJC, the FBI cautions against using group affiliations to condemn individuals’ behavior.

“It’s also important to note that membership in groups that espouse domestic extremist ideology is not illegal in and of itself,” the FBI statement said. “Membership in a group alone is not sufficient basis for a domestic terrorism investigation.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations said it is standing by the “domestic violent extremists” justifications used in the arrest warrants.

“Although DHS reports that they do not classify or designate any groups as domestic violent extremists, the description provided by DHS for a domestic violent extremist does in fact describe the behavior of the individuals of the group in question which is being investigated by the GBI multi-agency task force,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, who has assisted the GBI in its investigation, deferred questions to the GBI.

Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr, who have both condemned violence at the protests and pledged to crack down it, both released statements that did not directly respond to questions about why arrest warrants by Georgia officials misinterprets or exaggerates what Homeland Security said.

“Our office will continue to defend the First Amendment right to peacefully protest,” Carr said. “However, we will not tolerate acts of violence to person or property.”

Kemp in his statement referenced acts of violence that have been tied to the protests.

“Members of this militant group have committed acts of violence and significant damage to property with Molotov cocktails and other weapons designed to injure law enforcement,” Kemp said. “That will not be allowed to stand in Georgia.”

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock on Wednesday asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to weigh in on whether Defend the Atlanta Forest should be described as a known “domestic violent extremist” group.

“I am seeking clarification about whether DHS has designated any group in Georgia as a DVE, and if not, I request that DHS share this policy clarification with any relevant state and local law enforcement partners,” Warnock said in a letter to Mayorkas.

The Atlanta Democrat also asks Mayorkas to provide guidance to state and local law enforcement agencies on how to address threats of violent extremism without infringing on rights to assemble and protest.

“The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech and the freedom of peaceful association,” Warnock wrote. “Consistent with these principles, I am concerned by any misunderstandings regarding a federal DVE designation and seek clarification for the public and our valued law enforcement partners.”

#tiktok #article #twitter #tweet #tweets #stop cop city #police abolition #police brutality #police violence #police #georgia #cop city atlanta #atlanta police #atlanta #lying liars who lie

[dominateeye]

On January 18, in the course of their latest militarized raid on the forest, police in Atlanta shot and killed a person. This is only the most recent of a series of violent police retaliations against the movement. The official narrative is that Cop City is necessary to make Atlanta “safe,” but this brutal killing reveals what they mean when they use that word. ...

Replacing a forest with a police training center will only create a more violently policed society, in which taxpayer resources enrich police and weapons companies rather than addressing social needs. Mass incarceration and police militarization have failed to bring down crime or improve conditions for poor and working-class communities. ...

What do cops do with their increased budgets and their carte blanche from politicians? They kill people, every single day. They incarcerate and traumatize schoolchildren, parents, loved ones who are simply struggling to survive. We must not settle for a society organized recklessly upon the values of violence, racism, greed, and careless indifference to life.

The struggle that is playing out in Atlanta is a contest for the future. As the catastrophic effects of climate change hammer our communities with hurricanes, heat waves, and forest fires, the stakes of this contest are clearer than ever. It will determine whether those who come after us inherit an inhabitable Earth or a police state nightmare. It is up to us to create a peaceful society that does not treat human life as expendable. ...

Here are some ways to support the defense of the forest in Atlanta:

Donate to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund to support legal costs for arrested protestors and ongoing legal action.

Call on investors in the project to divest from Cop City (list of APF investors). Call on builders of the project to drop their construction contracts.

Organize political solidarity bail funds, forest defense funds, and forest defense committees where you live.

Participate in or organize local solidarity actions.

Endorse and circulate this statement of solidarity. Email [email protected].