Stop Cop City! How Atlanta Activists Created a Community in the Trees
Since 2019, there have been plans to build a 90 million-dollar police training center, a massive Hollywood studio, and similar projects on the South River Forest in Atlanta, Georgia. The South River Forest, also known as Weelaunee, was once the home of the Muscogee people before they were forced out of their native land. The area also had the largest percentage of tree coverage in an urban area in the United States. Post Civil War, it was the site of the Atlanta Prison Farm where predominantly African American prisoners labored during their sentencing. After it was shut down, the government of Atlanta reclaimed it to be used as parks, trails, and campgrounds. Currently, the city of Atlanta has given Ryan Millsaps the rights to bulldoze 85 acres of the woods for the new police training center and Blackhall Studios’ new location. This land covers public parks and trails used for the surrounding community.
Gresham Park, the closest community to where the police center will be, has a population that is 77% black. Considering the Atlanta city police’s actions during the George Floyd protests, this community is bound to markedly feel the effects of having a massive police training center so close to their homes. Police violence is prevalent in this area, and increasing police activity near predominantly black neighborhoods will only make it more dangerous for the residents.
There is also the issue of this occurring on native land. The Muscogee people still visit and perform ceremonies on this land, and bulldozing it will take that away from them. This is not only a climate issue but a social justice issue as well. The people of Atlanta are angry, and if the city succeeds, then it will affect more than just the trees.
When it was discovered that the city was planning this project, activist groups began to spread the word. When activists mobilized enough support, they went to city council members’ homes during the voting zoom session. They protested until the police were called and thus successfully delayed the vote. Activists then focused on swaying the vote towards rejecting the plan for the project. They organized meetings, punk shows, and non-violent protests. Most of the meetings were peaceful and had the sole purpose of spreading awareness, but some of the protests ended in physical altercations with the police, only proving the danger of police violence in Atlanta.
Despite the protests’ best efforts, the ordinance was passed, and the project was put into motion. After defeat, the forest-protection movement started to slow, and many worried that it would die down. But a few months later, people began to host meetings again. This time was different, however: all the meetings and shows were held in the South River Forest, and people set up camps and hosted nightly raves. The activists gained more campers until a small community was created. They lived in this camp for weeks by using code names, assigning community chores, and constructing tree tents to hide from cops. It was a beautiful display of teamwork and the determination of the movement.
As the contracting companies moved their equipment onto the land, more radical activists burned machinery and physically fought off some of the workers. The Muscogee activists became involved as well, leading traditional ceremonies and participating in the camping groups. Consequently, the police have raided the camp and arrested those still residing in the forest. As a result, the city has shown that it values monetary gain over the wellbeing of its people and the environment. There are still people sleeping in the park, using fake names, and rioting against the police/contractors in an attempt to defend it from contractors cutting trees and soil boring, but they have been unsuccessful in stopping them.
Although we cannot drop everything to set up camp in the South River Forest, there are things we can do to help. Informing people of the injustices taking place in Atlanta is important and necessary, for this movement has united Indigenous groups, environmentalists, and anarchists alike.
(image from defendtheatlantaforest.com)
For more information, visit defendtheatlantaforest.com
Works Cited:
CrimethInc. Ex-Workers Collective. (2022, August 9). Beneath the Concrete, the Forest. CrimethInc. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://crimethinc.com/2022/08/09/beneath-the-concrete-the-forest-accounts-from-the-defense-of-the-atlanta-forest
Crosby, J. (2022, September 3). The Battle for “Cop City.” Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/defend-atlanta-forest-copy-city-climate-change-defund-the-police-1397188/
Fitzgerald, C. (2022, January 25). Atlanta Prison Farm: A Troubled History Glossed Over. Abandonedspaces. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.abandonedspaces.com/prisons/atlanta-prison-farm.html?chrome=1
The City In the Forest. (2022, May). Crime Inc Ex-workers Collective. https://defendtheatlantaforest.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CityintheForestZINE_PRINT.pdf