Atlanta Forest Defenders
Background
On September 8th 2021 the Atlanta City Council approved a plan to build an 85-acre police training center (otherwise called "Cop City") at the historical old Prison Farm site in unincorporated DeKalb County in southeast Atlanta. The police training center will be the largest in the country. [1] The project will cost approximately 90 million dollars with 30 million dollars coming from tax payers and the other 60 million being funded by the Atlanta Police foundation (APF.) [2] 381 acres will be leased to the APF for 10 dollars a year.
The decision made by the City Council was met with strong opposition from many local residents. 1,100 Atlanta residents voiced their opinions to the council with approximately 70% of residents expressing their opposition to said development. [3] In addition to opposition from the general community 16 environmental action organizations signed an open letter urging the Atlanta City council to not approve the project. [4]
A decentralized coalition of forest defenders directly opposed the construction of the Cop City by constructing encampments in the forest and erecting tree forts atop of trees. The encampments, and other communal structures, were erected for several months populated by a diverse group of individuals. The encampments were raided and reconstructed multiple times during 2022. [5]
On December 13th and 14th of 2022 the Atlanta SWAT alongside 8 separate federal, state, city and county police agencies violently raided and arrested several of the forest defenders. During the raid the forest defenders were fired upon with plastic bullets and tear gas canisters while being forced out of the forest at gun point. A total of 12 protestors were arrested during the two day long raid, with five individuals being charged with domestic terrorism and were denied bail. The Department of Homeland security has labeled an alleged group known as DTAF or Defend The Atlanta Forest as "Domestic Violent Extremists," but individuals involved in resistance to the cop city project deny that said group exists, but rather the resistance is a decentralized/leaderless loosely knit group of individuals. [6]
Resistance to Cop City
Before and after the lease agreements were approved to construct Cop City there was a decentralized coalition of organizations and individuals working together to halt the project. The broad coalition of resistance was not only a means to prevent the destruction of forest, but also an experimental project of creating a world outside of capitalism, police brutality, colonialism, patriarchy, and environmental destruction.
During the first month of occupation and direct action against construction the encampments, within the forest and in the trees, were populated by an incredibly diverse group of individuals- all sharing a common vision for constructing a world outside of capitalism and police expansion/ brutality.
This Is Not A Music Festival
Week four of the first month ended in a type of festival with music, communal food, dancing, and other activities. ** expand upon with: https://crimethinc.com/2022/08/09/beneath-the-concrete-the-forest-accounts-from-the-defense-of-the-atlanta-forest
Atlanta Prison Farm
The plot of land the cop city training facility is being built was originally inhabited by the Muscogee Nation before they were violently removed and displaced. After the displacement the land was sold in a lottery to a plantation owner for chattel slavery. The land today is the largest remaining green space in Atlanta and has been said to be the cities greatest fight against climate collapse. [7] [8]
The former prison farm is owned by Atlanta, but is outside of city limits inside unincorporated DeKalb County. [9] The proposed location has also come under scrutiny, because citizens living in DeKalb County were not apart of the decision making process to approve the land lease to the Atlanta Police Foundation. In an interview with the Intercept, DeKalb resident, Brad Beadles, said:
“Community members did not have a say whatsoever in the creation of the plans or in the selection of the site,” ... “saw no need for public input despite the fact that the police deal with the public each and every day as part of their job. When private corporate donors are able to fund militarized training facilities for the police, they are essentially buying off the police. They are making it clear who the police work for.”
Atlanta Police Foundation
The Atlanta Police Foundation is a public-private partnership model organization that privately funds and implements programming which according to their website "creates a safe and just city for every citizen of Atlanta, driving out crime and enhancing the safety of our neighborhoods." [10]
The APF refused to disclose the private donors funding Cop City when the Atlanta City Council was holding discussions about approving the project. *add source*
In 2021 LittleSis and Color of Changed profiled 1,400 corporate connections to 22 major police foundations, including the APF. [11]
The institutions donating to the Atlanta Police Foundation span across many industries and include: Amazon, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Waffle House, Axon Enterprises, Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena, Georgia State University, Inspire Brands, The Home Depot, UPS, Delta Air Lines, and Chick-Fill-A. [12] Cox Enterprises is also an investor in the APF and is the owner of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[13]
Policy Brutality in Atlanta
Ryan Millsap
Ryan Millsap is the Chairman/ CEO of Blackhall studios and the founder/ CEO of Irinda Capital which is now transitioning to Blackhall Capital. [14] In 2020 the Deklab city commission approved a land swap between Blackhall studios and Deklab county. The land swap would give Blackhall studios 40 acres of the county's existing Intrenchment Creek Park in exchange for 53 acres Blackhall studios already owns. [15] Blackhall studios intends to construct a movie studio on the land.
On February 12 2021, a citizens lawsuit was filed challenging the legality of the land swap between Dekalb county and Blackhall studios. [16] The lawsuit states:
This case arises from Dekalb County's intent to and or decision to exchange approximately forty (40) acres, more or less, of Intrenchment Creek Park - public park property - to a private entity, Blackhall Studios, for highly disturbed and less valuable property, both economically and ecologically, owned by Blackhall Studios. The land exchange represents an unlawful conversion of public park land to private uses and a waste of taxpayer money. The land exchange violates the conditions imposed via deed on Intrenchment Creek Park, which conditions may be enforced,by any member of the general public who utilizes the Park. The land exchange is not in accordance with laws and regulations concerning the use and disposal of County property. Among other reasons, Plaintiffs challenge the exchange of public park land as ultra vires, and thereby void.
December 27th, 2022
On this day forest defenders confronted construction teams, hired by Millsap, attempting to clear land to build the studio. Footage of this confrontation was posted to Twitter by the Atlanta Community Press Collective. [17]
Indigenous Support
The proposed cop city is located in the Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole Nation's homelands. The Muscogee and Seminole Peoples were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands eventually being forced into so-called Oklahoma during the extremely violent and deadly Trail of Tears. The forced displacement began in 1821 through a series of treaties. [18]
On November 27th, 2021 individuals from the Muscogee and Seminole Nations returned to their ancestral homelands to participate in a ceremonial stomp dance standing in solidarity with the community resisting the construction of cop city. [19] The ceremonies took place in Intrenchment Creek Park with other nations from so called Alabama and Georgia joining in ceremony and cultural teachings to the community members of Atlanta resisting Cop City.
Environmental Impact
The South River is near the proposed site of construction and is considered to be the 4th most endangered river in the so called United States. [20]
Material Support For Forest Defenders
The Atlanta Solidarity Fund helps protestors arrested with attaining money to post bail. [21]
Sources
- ↑ https://saportareport.com/public-safety-training-center-wins-city-council-approval-opponents-suggest-fight-to-continue/sections/reports/johnruch/
- ↑ https://news.littlesis.org/2022/11/15/meet-the-major-corporations-and-cultural-institutions-helping-build-cop-city-in-atlanta/
- ↑ https://decaturish.com/2022/09/cop-city-explained-a-look-at-the-ongoing-controversy-surrounding-police-training-center/
- ↑ https://www.sierraclub.org/georgia/blog/2021/08/SouthRiverForestLetter
- ↑ https://wagingnonviolence.org/2022/07/atlanta-plan-for-cop-city-sparks-web-of-resistance/
- ↑ https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/swat-teams-attack-atlanta-forest-encampments-activists-charged-with-terrorism/
- ↑ https://theatlantavoice.com/roberts-cop-city-is-an-environmental-nightmare-and-a-threat-to-black-lives/
- ↑ https://www.mainlinezine.com/racial-justice-march-stop-cop-city-atlanta/
- ↑ http://www.savetheoldatlantaprisonfarm.org/nature-conservancy-fact-sheet
- ↑ https://atlantapolicefoundation.org/
- ↑ https://policefoundations.org/
- ↑ https://news.littlesis.org/2022/11/15/meet-the-major-corporations-and-cultural-institutions-helping-build-cop-city-in-atlanta/
- ↑ https://theintercept.com/2021/08/11/atlanta-police-training-center/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7418047/
- ↑ https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/dekalb-commission-approves-controversial-blackhall-land-swap/D6TXV35KDVFOZDQ6HGD3HEPGRQ/
- ↑ https://www.stoptheswap.org/_files/ugd/773705_e2f0b0d8dd064a41a06776b7ebcf1f5f.pdf
- ↑ https://twitter.com/atlanta_press/status/1607776325024231425?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
- ↑ https://markauslander.com/2022/03/31/in-search-of-the-welaunee-south-river-georgia/
- ↑ https://www.mainlinezine.com/muscogee-creek-tribal-members-migrate-to-homelands-200-years-after-ancestors-forced-removal/
- ↑ https://endangeredrivers.americanrivers.org/south-river/
- ↑ https://atlsolidarity.org/#support