#copcity — Public Fediverse posts

I’m frequently frustrated with many @reasonmagazine contributors, but Joe Lancaster has consistently and fairly covered the Atlanta forest defenders and #CopCity protesters, and he deserves more recognition for it.

https://reason.com/2024/09/20/georgia-a-g-drops-frivolous-money-laundering-charges-against-cop-city-bail-fund/
#stopcopcity #defendtheatlantaforest

Looks like there's yet another bank trying to bail out the Atlanta Police Foundation's heinous #CopCity project. This is bad news - but it also shows that the APF is desperate for money, so the more we cut off their sources the closer we are to winning. Call these bank officials and put some pressure on them! Make it politically unviable for them to support Cop City! There are literally so many better ways to use that kind of money.

#stopcopcity #defendtheatlantaforest

The Fight Against #CopCity

The protests in Atlanta build on a history of organizers challenging prison construction as a force for environmental destruction.

by Amna A. Akbar, May 10, 2023

"Locals often describe Atlanta as “a city in a forest,” with trees and a tree canopy covering almost half of the land. The ecosystem depends on this foliage, and activists say that the deforestation required to build the facility will harm air quality, hasten climate change, and contribute to flooding in predominantly poor and working-class Black and brown communities. The proposed development will further distance residents from accessible green space while bringing toxic waste closer. But the project will do more than fracture the largest green space in Atlanta. The activists fighting against Cop City argue that police violence itself constitutes an environmental hazard, and that toxic chemicals associated with explosives that could be used on the site will destroy the air, water, and land on which myriad forms of life depend."

#stopcopcity #defendwelauneeforest #defendatlforest #weelaunee #DefendTheAtlantaForest #StopCopCitiesEverywhere #FreeAllForestDefenders

Read more:
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-fight-against-cop-city

Folks in #Atlanta Won’t Accept ‘#CopCity’

#HBCU students, faculty, and community activists have joined forces to stop the environmentally destructive police training facility.

By Maya Richard-Craven, Word In Black, May 10, 2023

"#Environmental activists have long raised concerns about 'Cop City' due to its potential #ecological impact. The facility is slated to be built in the #WeelauneeForest (South River), a tract of undeveloped #forested land that serves as an essential #GreenSpace and #CarbonSink for the city. Activists say losing this green space would contribute to increased #AirPollution, decreased #biodiversity, and the exacerbation of #ClimateChange.

"Along with concern about the environmental impact, opposition to 'Cop City' from the #Black community also stems from fears of racial profiling, over-policing, and strained police-community relations. Critics argue that the allocated funds should be redirected to address systemic issues affecting Black residents, such as education and community development, rather than expanding policing resources."

#stopcopcity #defendwelauneeforest #defendatlforest #weelaunee #DropTheCharges #StopCopCity #DefendTheAtlantaForest #TheirNameWasTort #FreeAllForestDefenders

Read more: https://sacobserver.com/2023/05/folks-in-atlanta-wont-accept-cop-city/

"Teran had at least 57 gunshot wounds in their body, according to the autopsy, including in the hands, torso, legs and head.
According to the autopsy sent to ABC News, Teran did not have gunpowder residue on their hands. Officials claimed Teran fired the first shot at a state trooper. Officers then responded with gunfire."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/dekalb-county-releases-autopsy-cop-city-protester-manuel/story?id=98700731

#CopCity #defendtheatlantaforest #DefendWeelaunee #antireport #sabotage #directaction #Policeviolence #Atlanta

#Atlanta community members warn of #environmental damage from ‘#CopCity’

The police training facility will harm the endangered South River and further contribute to #EnvironmentalRacism

by Ray Levy Uyeda June 15th, 2022

“Jacqueline Echols loves to take Atlanta residents kayaking on the South River, which begins at the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and flows 63 miles into Lake Jackson. Echols says that it’s fun to bring people out on the river who have never paddled before. The river is shallow and bordered by undergrowth and native trees, rich soil, and the occasional deer, making it an unintimidating classroom for those new to the water.

“‘The South River and the green space around it have a lot to offer,' Echols says. 'If you’re going to invest in a community, the first thing you invest in is green space.'

“But in Atlanta, a privately funded police foundation is working double-time to expand the police’s reach at the cost of the community’s access to the city’s rich environment. The river and its surrounding forest have become the site of a major battle playing out in Atlanta between the city’s police department, backed by many members of the city council and county leaders, and the residents of the neighborhood adjacent to the #SouthRiverForest. At issue is whether or not nearly 400 acres of the #forest will be handed over to the police department to construct a new training facility, which activists have renamed 'Cop City' because of the proposal to build a mock city on the grounds for training. The facility will be constructed on 85 acres of the Old Atlanta Prison Farm, where incarcerated people once grew food for those detained in the city’s jail.

‘’’#Green space holds value more than any other land, and [when] the environment goes, so does the community,' said Echols, who is also board president of the South River Watershed Alliance, an advocacy organization for the fourth-most endangered river in the U.S. 'What’s going on with the prison farm … is just devaluing people, devaluing communities, devaluing the #environment, and they’re doing it because these are very vulnerable communities, marginalized people, and they can get away with it. You know, they can’t get away with it in [a wealthy white area like] #Buckhead.’”

#SaveWeelauneeForest #StopCopCity

Read more:
https://prismreports.org/2022/06/15/atlanta-environmental-damage-cop-city/