Stop Cop City
Updates: Bodycam footage revealed suggesting cop was shot by friendly fire. Cop training center permit challenged by its own review committee member; another quits over protester killing.
âYou fucked your own officer up.â is heard from the body cam footage released to the public. The footage was released on Wednesday (Feb 8), as calls to stop the massive cop training facility quickly spread nationally across the US.
This week, the training center permit was challenged by its own committee member, and another quit from the fallout of the killing of forest defender Tortugita. Footage was released two days later that heavily suggests the cop was shot by friendly fire. Grassroots movements are growing across the US in support to Stop Cop City.
âCop Cityâ opposition spreads beyond Georgia forest defenders - The Guardian
Two editorials on the $90m, 85-acre project, called âCop Cityâ by activists, recently appeared in the New York Times, both calling attention to flaws in the democratic process that led Atlanta city council to approve the training center in late 2021.
Students and faculty from Atlanta-area schools Emory University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and other historically Black schools also issued statements this week, urging the schools to denounce the project.
Three members of Congress â Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush and Senator Ed Markey â have called for an independent investigation into Tortuguitaâs death, who law enforcement officials say fired first, wounding a Georgia state patrol officer.
A private autopsy carried out by Paez Teranâs family determined that the 26-year-old had been shot at least 13 times by officers.
Training center permit challenged by its own review committee member; another quits over protester killing - Saporta Report
CSAC member Amy Taylor filed an appeal on Feb. 6 with the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA). The appeal claims the County improperly issued the LDP because the project would violate a state limit on sediment runoff and because its lease gives an inaccurately large number for the amount of green space set aside.
Meanwhile, CSAC member Nicole Morado quit on Jan. 18, the day that police killed protester Manuel âTortuguitaâ Teran, after the protester allegedly shot and wounded a state trooper during a raid of civil-disobedience campers on the site.
âReally I did not want to be affiliated with a project that is using police violence and taking livesâŚ,â Morado said in a phone interview. âIâm still an interested resident. I just donât want to be affiliated with that group any longer.â
OFFICER IN COP CITY BODYCAM FOOTAGE SUGGESTS FELLOW COP WAS SHOT BY FRIENDLY FIRE - The Intercept
After stating immediately that no camera footage of the shooting existed, GBI had acknowledged publicly five days later that footage did exist of the shootingâs aftermath.
âYou fucked your own officer up,â one Atlanta Police Department officer is heard saying in the footage released Wednesday. He later walks up to two other officers and asks, âThey shoot their own man?â
After publication of this story, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a statewide law enforcement agency that was involved in the raid and is administering a joint investigation into the shooting, referred The Intercept to a statement on the remarks by the officer. âIn those videos, at least one statement exists where an officer speculates that the Trooper was shot by another officer in crossfire,â the statement says. âSpeculation is not evidence. Our investigation does not support that statement.â
-The Intercept
stopcopcitysolidarity.org
Every day people are taking action and itâs having an immediate impact. A list of businesses that funded or participated in the cop city project has been compiled on this website: stopcopcitysolidarity.org.
Businesses that have publicly divested from Cop City:
In April 2022 it was confirmed that Reeves Young Construction, the initial contractor for Cop City pulled out of the project after months of pressure.
In February 2023 Quality Glass Company announced that they would not be working on the Cop City project, and that they were no longer doing business with Brassfield & Gorrie (the current contractor for Cop City)
It is more important than ever to amplify all content you see about this. Inform as many people in your life as you can and equip them with the current actions they can take in support.
I am referring to this page for updates:
Week of Solidarity Actions - February 19-26
On Tuesday, January 31st, the permits to destroy the Weelaunee Forest were approved. Organizers in Atlanta are calling on all people, wherever you are, to take action in solidarity with the movement to #StopCopCity.
Protest, sit-in, really, teach-in, call and email the contractors building Cop City - every action has an impact. You can find action targets in your community on our map page, and find action resources here.