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Speaker 1: Yeah, it could happen here. If that's the podcast that you're listening to, it's a news podcast about shit falling apart. That's the only intro you're going to get. Because Garrison is right now in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, reporting on the continuing Stop Cop City protests. Garrison's done a number of scripted episodes covering these in detail over the last year and change. They're in the thick of it right now, so I'm just going to bring them and a friend on to talk about what has been happening this week. Yes, that's your cue this week. This week is a special week because this is the fifth week of action that has happened here in Atlanta as a part of these Top Cop City and if in the Atlanta Force movement. This episode is going to be like a midweek update because this week of action is still very much ongoing. There's still many many days that that thinks can happen, but a lot of a lot has already happened in in these in these first few days anyway, So we're going to kind of do a quick a quick little update and then a more comprehensive piece will be later down the line. But with me to here to help talk about what's what's what's gone down so far is someone from the Atlantic Community Press Collective Clark. Hello, welcome to the show. Hey, thanks for having me on, So for being on. Yeah, we've we've been kind of we we've been. We've been kind of teamed up the past few days here as as many many, many things both silly and serious, have have taken place across Atlanta. Of safety in numbers, Yeah, that's always nice to have friends when you're watching jack booted thugs go fucking ape shit with all of their new toys. And I mean, I think that is part of the Week of Action idea, is getting as many people here as possible and hopefully some of that makes makes some people uh more safe. That's something that we'll probably talk more more in detail later when we have kind of hindsight. But I guess today let's let's just start on what's kind of happened so far chronologically. I guess starting on Saturday. We I I met you Saturday for a rally at Gresham Park. I think it's where we first met up this week. Yes, we met at the rally at Gresham Park, which had about I would say an hour's worth of speeches before they kicked off a march down the bike path from Gresham Park to what the activists call we Loaning People's Park, which is the side of the protest beforehand, so the forest around it had been unoccupied since the raid in January that saw the killing of Torture Guita. So this was the first sort of permanent return to the forest. So we took a I don't know forty minute march down the path and then landed in Wielani People's Park that had one more little round of chance with a promise to defend the forest, and then they broke off and everything was a It was a nice, really relaxing day, Yeah, it was. It was a pretty positive start to the week of action. People essentially retook Kulani People's Park and started to go into the forest once again. Camp got set up in the forest. Lots of people from both in town and folks from out of town started started to camp in the woods again. And then in the hours after this small march, people started to prepare for the music festival which was planned like a like a few hundred feet away from a Bullhani People's Park. I guess inside inside like a more like open field area, and music festival went off without a hitch. The first day it was pretty pretty rad. Yeah. I think there was about five hundred people four five hundred people that first night of the musical festival. Yeah, the vibes were great. Everyone was having a fun time. I think it went on until about one am, and I don't think the first day could have gone better. I think I went on till about four am. Okay, well I went to bed at one am. I did not go to bed at one am. I was. I was at the music festival quite quite a bit longer. I'm quite a bit older, and I think that was the reason I had to leave. So yearson doesn't understand things like needing sleep yet another year or two before they hit that sweet sweet wall. So so true. Then then I'll have to find another teenager to go to journalism. Every like four or five years, you don't find a new one. Yeah, just just keep re upping, like Leo DiCaprio. It so so the first the first day was was pretty good. There was no no substantial police response that I saw. Police kind of left people alone in the forest. The march from Gresham Park was was fine, Um, and people got to spend a night in the woods again, which you know had had not had that many people in the woods in like months. Um. I mean this is this is it should be said like camping in a music festival, but it's like relatively high risk because people have gotten significant charges just for camping in the woods in the past, Yes, and the very recent past part part. Some of the warrants that have been issued that justify the charges like domestic terrorism have included things such as sleeping in a hammock with someone else in the forest and that's the reason why they're getting charged as a domestic terrorist. So, yeah, it is a music festival, people are camping. It's kind of chill, but also there's absolutely this kind of this just like this like a ever present kind of fear that despite what is being done being pretty pretty kind of like normal and not not not not not in and of itself militant radical, still the consequences from the state are kind of always always looming, which kind of leads us to Sunday, Yeah, which picks up exactly where we left on. Yeah, so I got there around noon on Sunday. I think and the first thing we see is a bouncy castle, large, large bouncy castle in front of the music festival. It has a big stop Coop City banner, um, massive multi colored bouncy castle. People are having a pretty pretty good time. Yeah. As soon as they finished setting up the bouncy castle, it was it was filled and everyone. I think there were about seventy five one hundred people just set up on blankets around the stage. Initially, I think in the next few hours that definitely grew to be there being hundreds and hundreds of people returning to the music festival for the second day, I mean, I think the march on Saturday was anywhere between like I saw estimates of anywhere between five hundred to two thousand people. Music festival seems to be like over five hundred people. And then on the second day at the music festival, it slowly grew in size to again being hundreds and hundreds of people. And it's yeah, it's it started off just kind of continuing on with the music, continuing on, with the people, people having having nice times in the woods. I walked around the campsites, got had conversations with people talking about all sorts of anarchy related things and then they're slowly throughout the day. I think that this was posted on social media as well. There was a plan for or a rally at five pm to meet on part of part of the field that the music festival was also happening on. By the time that happened, people people met up. The group that that kind of converged was in a mix of black block camo block, so like people like covered head to toe in various various camo print and they set off from from the RC Field where the music festival was at. So they left, they they went down Bouldercrest Road to the section of the woods called the power Line Cut. So to to understand what is going on here, you kind of have to understand some of the geography of the Wilani Forest. So we have like the the Wilani People's Park parking lot and that immediate kind of kind of camp site. This is this is like the the easternmost part, and then there's the RC Field which is just like right right next to that to the west, and then even west of that is Entrenchment Creek, and the Entrenchment Creek kind of divides up this this uh, this dissection of the forest and then everything everything west of Entrenchment Creek is generally referred to as like the as the old Atlanta prison Farm area, and the power Line Cut is is pretty close to to to the creek and to that that is kind of where this this this prison farm section is and this is this is an area of the woods that cops have been more rigorous about policing, more rigorous about surveilling, more rigorous about having kind of constant surveillance and people on the ground. It's it's estimated that they're spending over forty thousand dollars a day running security on this part on on this part of the woods. So yeah, yeah, so see people for that amount of money, they could hire like more people than are on the police force if they just used fiber. That that's really that's really the tactic they ought to be embracing. And I think if they had used fiber, they might have had enough people to counter the protesters. But baby overbloated police salaries. They only had like twenty people. Yeah, they did not have many. So this group set down Bouldercrest. They they they marched up the power line cut. They they laid out like tire tire barricades in the street. Um. And then upon them marching marching on the power line cut. Uh. After after they arrived near the near near the police surveillance set up that we that we that we just mentioned some of some of the equipment somehow burst into flames. UM. People have blamed like shoddy construction. People have said that, you know, sometimes equipment just does that. Uh. But yes, no, so people people set set a whole bunch of police infrastructure on fire, set some construction equipment on fire that is being used to destroy sections of the forest where they wanted to build cop city. Um. Police were repelled its stuff like rocks and fireworks. The cops that were stationed there very quickly retreated. I think, Uh, lots lots of stuff was set on fire. There was the surveillance tower was set on fire. A bulldozer was set on fire. Well, I mean it's it's winter. People need fires to camp come from I understand how a UTV was some kind of like like a like big like big like trailer like storage unit thing was set on fire. Yes, and the cops were very worried about that. They didn't know if there was flammable material inside that you you wouldn't store flammable materials, and an easily accessible area. We shut down an entire interstate because we did that a few years ago. So we would in Atlanta, Atlanta, would all of Atlanta collectively? UM so so, so this happened. A thermal chopper from a thermal police helicopter was was watching all of this. Um honestly, the footage is pretty interesting. It is it is worth it is worth discussing how this type of how this type of surveillance works. UM almost think the same thermal cameras that are on the bay Racti drones that Turkey makes. By the way, it's it's it's it's pretty. It's pretty Fucos boomerang. Yeah, oh absolutely no, it's it's it's it's pretty. It's pretty frightening with their ability to track into in to track individual people. I also think it's worth because there's video of the cops being pelted with stuff, including fireworks. I think it's worth noting that, Like, while it is unpleasant to be pelted with the kind of stuff the cops were pelted with, you and I have both been pelted with numerous fireworks of similar size and it is not a serious threat to life and limb. No, no, they're We survived, but it's modestly unpleasant. But the cops that were there were not very happy about it. They put out calls for officer in need of support and for all available units in the greater Atlanta area to converge on the forest. People who were who who marched to to this to the section of the power line cut started to disperse throughout the woods. And I was back by the road watching this from hundreds and hundreds of feet away because I did not need to go up there. That would not have been helpful in any way. Um. But as this, as this was happening, a whole bunch of police cars zoomed by, So I started following those cars. I went back to the music festival. UM, I met up with with some with some other other media people that I was that I was communicating with, and then I got a text message saying that a cop showed up in the parking lot of the Wallani People's Park with an air fifteen. I started making my way over and then as as I'm running across the music festival, I see a whole bunch of police at the parking lot for the music festival itself at the at the RC field. So I don't I don't make my way over to the Waalannie People's Park parking lot where there's the Air fifteen, because instead I see way way or police closer closer to where I am, so I staged there. Minutes later, police start running into into the music festival. They start tackling seemingly anyone who's like by themselves and that they could like get their hands on. It didn't. It didn't seem incredibly targeted. Um, it's this is something that will kind of prope I'll probably like discuss in more detail once we have slightly more hindsight. But a lot of the arrests did not seem specifically targeted. In the bail hearings from just yesterday as a time of recording, they said they were going after people who had mud on their clothing and like it it rains a day before the music festival. Incredible detective work. Only only a true terrorist would have mud. I think a month and a half ago, Ryan millsapp tore up the parking lot so it rained the day before, and anyone who would walk through that parking lot or the trail system had to walk through mud you're walking through, but also people are just sitting on the dirt at the music festival like so yes, I mean this might also include like useful advice for people in the future, because if the movie Predator was telling me the truth and it's never lied to me yet, coding yourself entirely in mud makes thermal vision no longer function. Uh huh uh huh. Yeah. Um, so police police started attack with people. It was definitely they were going after people who were like by themselves and yeah, people with mud. The police alleged in their in their in their warrants that were read out at the bail hearing that they were going after people who had metal shields, and they said that almost everyone they arrested was arrested carrying a metal shield. Now here's a few funny notes about that. There was not a single metal shield present at all. There were a few small plastic shields, not a single metal one. And in looking through all of the footage of arrests, the footage that I have that's been sent to NLG for other people have had no one was arrested carrying a shield, let alone a metal one m So a whole bunch of the reasoning for these arrests is incredibly suspect police so rated once tackled, arrested like five people, carried them out, they rated again, and this is where they started launching tear gas into the forest. I got gassed decently bad. It was not It was not very fun. First time I've gotten tear gassed in years, old, old old memories. Um and during this time kiss from a dear friend. So that was exactly what I was thinking. And I did not. I brought gas masks to Atlanta, but I didn't bring them on the Sunday because usually you don't bring gas masks to a music festival. Yeah, I mean, the thing about gas, the thing about tear gas and gas masks is that, like when you're used to getting tear gassed, it's really easy to have them handy and get them on. When like you're not used to being tear gas, you're probably not going to bring it with you. Yeah, so people got some people in the forest got gassed pretty bad. I mean, the whole point was to sew confusion, make it so that people could not hide out in the woods. It was it's to make people scatter runaways so that they can be tackled and arrested. One person that was a national Lawyer's guild, a legal observer, was arrested. Um, they're also a lawyer at the Southern Poverty Law Center. This whole boy, this person was the only person arrested that I'm aware of that was released on bail. Everybody else, everyone, everyone else is being held indefinitely. That actually includes there was a second legal observer who was not wearing the hat. So during the bail hearings yesterday, their lawyer said that they were a legal observer, but because they weren't wearing the hat and because they were not local, they were not given bail. It was reported there was like around like thirty five arrests the night of yes Initially, APD released at press release that said there were thirty five detain which at the time they released it was a very interesting term because we thought thirty five people had just been arrested and were on their way to jail. Yeah, but just about forty five minutes after that, twelve of those thirty five were released, So this was very curious. There is a lot of theories going on for what has happened. I'm gonna I'm just going to relay what I heard when I was listening to the bail hearings yesterday. So a defense lawyer for some of the people arrested said yesterday during the bail hearing that, to his understanding, the twelve people that were detained but not arrested were people from Atlanta, and the twenty three people who got arrested and charged or were not from Atlanta. And part of so what police could be doing here is basically, if you're from Atlanta, will we will id you, but we're not going to actually arrest and charge you, but you will arrest and charge you if you're from out of state. So this so they can continue this outside agitator narrative, so they can say every single person arrested after this protest was from out of state. Um. The cops in the media have done a lot of weird collusion regarding the events of Sunday night. Um, they've conflated the location of the arrests a lot. Police want to make this seem like they arrested people at a crime scene, that like they arrested people as they were like torching construction equipment. Which just is it's true they arrested people almost seemingly at random at a music festival that was like hundreds and hundreds of feet away, like it was. It is. It is not an it is not an easy walk from from the power line cut to the music festival, because not only do you have to go through some like pretty pretty harsh brush some woods, um and like jump over a pretty large creek of the alternatively, you have to like walk down a road, which nobody did. So the police have done a police and and like local media, like large like large corporate local media have have tried to make it seem like that this that this music festival things just like a red herring that it's it's not it's not important. But a lot of the people that that were that were that were arrested, see seemed to be people that were just enjoying this music festival. So twenty three of them um have been charged with domestic terrorism. Most of those people are being held indefinitely for now. There the the bail hearing's going to get appealed to the to the Superior Court, where we'll see if that changes anything. The judge said that they were not presented with any evidence that these people did anything wrong, but they still decided to not give them bail. Um that the judge. The reasoning for that was that the judge thought that people who did not have any local ties to the community could be a flight risk, and some people who did have local ties to the community, they said, still were a threat to the community somehow, despite many of them not having any prior convictions, not not having any prior arrests. It's it seemed it seemed pretty suspect during during during the during the bail hearing, but that was that was most of Sunday night. Um. Eventually police kind of surrounded and kettled the group of people that that was still still at the music festival hours after these arrests happened. They gave like a five minute dispersal warning, and then they gave a ten minute dispersal warning. Eventually cops let most of the people who like gathered who were gathered right in front of the stage leave. That was probably like fifty people at that point because people throughout the night we're trying to leave um as as police were, you know, like rating the forest. Some people were able to some people were just like let go and like we're able to leave. Others were detained almost arbitrarily. It's it's it's it's hard to say. So that that was the first two days of the Week of Action, and it felt like a week. What happened the next day? So yeah, the non violent direct actions and then the Monday the events. Oh no Monday, yeah, because that was only that was only the second Is the city council meeting that we were in for eight hours? Yes, yes, So Monday there was there was an interfaith coalition of clergy that UH that have held a press conference outside of city hall. UM basically like endorsing the stop Cop City movement or like Clark, how how would you describe what what? What happened? So there were a couple of elements to the clergy. Um, we'll just call it an action. The first thing was they presented a letter with over two hundred other clergy members who had signed that UH denouncing Cop City, calling for an independent investigation into the killing of Tortuguita and calling for an independent investigation into the use of domestic terror and charges to chill free speech. And then during that press conference, UH Miko Shabon called for land back and called for landback in the Wilani Forest to the Muskogee people. Two stored in um coordination with the legacy Black residence of the area. Yeah, so they were both like talking about the need to stop cop city but also providing a plan on how this land could be used. This land that is that is leased by the city. It is on decap County. After this press conference, some of these people from the coalition gave public comment during the city council. That was most of the events on Monday that I can recall. Oh, there was the there was the poem in the forest that night and that was that was very enjoyable. That was kind of the first time people like tried to go back into the forest since since the Sunday night raid. And I think that started to slowly boost morality again. Yeah, and I think we should talk about also after the raid, there are a few, um really unique things that happened. There were a lot of people who didn't have housing and they were housed by local activists. Um. There was the bus network was set up to transport people from the site where everyone was getting arrested to somewhere safe. They moved breakfast offsite to a different location. So there was a lot of work done in continuing the Week of Action and providing some sort of infrastructure for all of these people who had come into town and didn't have anywhere else to go. Yeah, once again, the resiliency on display was impressive and people's ability to adapt to the ever evolving situation was tested, and people adapted pretty well. Tuesday, there was there was starting to be like typical non violent direct actions happening throughout to downtown. A whole bunch of banner drops happened around highways and interstates around Atlanta. People were detained for y US three people were briefly detained at the site of of of a banner drop, but throughout throughout the day there was people handing out letters to people, to folks like the CEO of Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern Alan Shaw, and then similar similar types of like non violent direct action were happening. A small a small march was led from Woodroffe Park to At and T and Georgia pacific Um. There was like maybe maybe fifty I think fifty is an accurate number. Fifty people gathered to march. Well, there were fifty marchers gathered and then like one hundred and twenty police officers in the in the in the surrounding area, massive, massive police presence. Police caused a huge, a huge disruption to to downtown. Um that's something we've seen kind of ever since the Sunday raid. The police have been incredibly heavy handed in their response to every single thing, whether that be people handing out flyers or whether that be you know, uh, you know, people at people at at at a music festival. Um, whole a whole bunch of police were mobilized to stay night near the forest, like a hundred again, like one hundred and twenty cops at least three or four different agencies, bearcats, helicopters. I think there, it's it's it's unclear what they were doing. Um, this is something that we might we might speculate further on once we have hindsight. When I when I put together my my kind of my kind of a more more intense deep dive. And then uh, then today the thing that me and Clark just got back from. Uh, how do you want to explain today's today's events? So today was a lot of leaflet handing out and marching for it was a smaller group than the march yesterday. I would say there was like twenty twenty five people. Yeah, Like it started off being like only only but like a dozen, um and it's it slowly grew to like maybe like two or three dozen. But yeah, small, small, small group of people. Yeah, a small group of people. And when they met at noon, they met and they broke into three different groups. Yeah. And so the group that we followed was just, uh, they walked a little northward and started passing out flyers at the Petrie Center Marta station. They went to all three entrances, and each group warranted its own police surveillance unit, massive police surveyless units. It was following everybody around. There was there was a SWAT vehicle parked right right outside where these people were handing out flyers. Um it was. There was there was like fifty to one hundred cops flanking people on like from from like, from like different sides. Eventually all the all of the smaller groups that kind of branched off converged again and police then gave a dispersal warning to people who were on a sidewalk outside of a hard rock cafe who were handing out flyers. Okay, well they mean they were in that case, they may have been protecting people because you want you want to get folks as far away from the hard rock cafe as possible, Garrison, And that's a real dangerous I was. I was campaigning for all of the press gathered to meet afterwards. That's a hard rock cafe between the hard rocks on that one. So, Garrison, I watched you at the Rainforest Cafe. You barely made it through that dessert. That was different, That was different. I was. I did I did get food poisoning from that Rainforest Cafe. I will, I will continue to claim. And I woke up with a headache for an under an inexplicable reason that because you were carrying around a bottle of bourbon throat through bourbon and a t or a milkshake or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, So, so cops gave it dis personal warding to people who were not not in fact blocking a sidewalk. We're simply handing out flyers. People were still walking everywhere. Um. So they basically moved to a different section of the of the sidewalk and cops kind of left him alone. Um. Near by, a group of indigenous activists from the Indian collective. I believe it's what it's It's actually a Miscogee nation, the Muscogee Nation. Uh went went to a meeting that the Mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens, was having near by. H Clark, I think you know slightly more about what happened here than I do. Yes, So several of the indigenous activists entered. So where he was having this meeting is a mall in true Atlanta fashion. Um So they entered them all and they they found where he was in the building, and uh so Miko Colonel Chabon delivered a letter essentially evicting the city of Atlanta from the Wilannie Forest. Uh So they got in without the police noticing. Um and then the moment they got out, a large squad of police mobilized. They were they were not happy how close people got to the mayor. So at this point we don't know what the full reaction of that's going to be. We do know that the mayor ran away from accepting the letter, and then one of I believe they handed it to one. There are a few few more beautiful sites than a mayor running away. More mayors need to spend time fleeing from their peoples. So I think this this episode comes out, I think like like late Thursday night, Friday morning, um, Thursday afternoon there. So, like we are, we are recording this Wednesday. There's plans for Thursday. There's gonna be there's gonna be a large march at six pm. I believe there's gonna be a youth rally at Saturday, and then on on Sunday morning. Um Manuel torn Tortoquita's family is holding a memorial for tort in the Wilani forest um where I've been told that they're going to spread towards ashes inside the woods, and that is kind of the last thing that's going to happen. Um. And so those are the things that have have not not not yet took place. Um So, but we've we've explained in pretty pretty in pretty spruciating detail, some of some of what's happened so far. So yeah, that that's kind of the current current state of on the ground at the week of action. UM. I guess, Robert, do you have any questions for Clark as someone who's kind of been on the ground in Atlanta for years covering stop city. Yeah, I mean, I'm curious what over the last few weeks, like you've you've had some direct clashes with the police that have ended in a variety of ways. Broadly speaking, is there anything that you're you're kind of leaning towards this doesn't work? And is there anything you're kind of leaning towards This seems to work really well. So there's something to be said for the more aggressive actions, and I think they serve their purpose. And there's definitely something to be said for the forest occupation. It continued the movement until there was a ground swell of support. So at this point, I think the actions have sort of switched gear into more non violent direct actions as we're seeing this week, and I think that those actions will will continue. I'm sure that the anarchistic contingent will continue to do some other more aggressive, shall we say, direct actions. Yeah, and all of the work. We have a large swath of different uh avenues of of engagement that the movement is has developed, and each of them has their place, and if they're used in the proper place, they're used to great effect. I think one kind of change that has happened we've seen We've seen a bit of a decrease in the types of like nighttime sabotage, like the the sort of like attack and disappear tactics that was was really popular in like the early days of the occupation of of like of of like the fourth occupation of people living and living and camping out in the woods. Um. And you know the because like the last two much more like militant actions were done during the daytime, during like large rallies. There was there was the protest on Saturday after Tortuguita was killed where a cop car was torched. Then there was this, then there was this protest on on Sunday night um at people that people marched, people marched to the to the power line cut and then the police started doing repression at the music festival. UM. But like those things were happening like during like before the sun was setting. UM. So I think that that that's one interesting change. I feel like some people are definitely thinking about this, especially because there's been twenty three people arrested during this week of action and they're being held in jail uh and we have no idea when they're going, when they're going to be able to have the option of getting out. So I think this is something This is something that people are thinking about in terms of how they are, how they are doing direct action, and how how their involvement in direct action will affect people who did not participate, like with people at the people at the music festival, who who were not who were not present at the power line cut direct action, and how some of those people are undoubtedly now facing like punishment from from the state. UM. So I feel like that there is definitely going to be some discussion about that. I've i've i've i've seen discussion about this threat in the city. Um. But I mean the Week of Action is still is still ongoing. It is it is only Wednesday. It feels like it's been a month, um, but it's only been like three or four days. Uh. But I mean it's people. People are in this for the long haul. Um. We're We're starting to see more solidarity from from groups that are less militant, like with the Interfaith Coalition right, like you're not. I don't think any of like the priests, the priests or the clergy were there throwing maltov cocktails um at the at the surveillance tower. Yet the very next day they're standing out outside of City Hall and demanding the same things that the people throwing maltovs are are demanding. You should be noted that they didn't denounce No, that is it is solidarity across the movement. Absolutely. They talked about how them as clergy you know, and uh, the in the history of Abrahamic religions, how many how many people associated and are the figureheads of such religions have been killed by the state, and how often often these religions have been in opposition to the state during during their formative years. Um, and they don't know. I just I just can't think of any prominent uh Christian figures or Jewish figures who were who were murdered by the state. That's just not nothing's coming up right none, zero, Yeah, No, I grew up Christian and I can't really remember anyone. So um, yeah, that is. That is. That is the week of action so far. There will there will certainly be be be a more a more detailed deep dive with like analysis and like, you know, a narrative through line in the coming weeks as we're actually able to like look back on what has happened. Um, interviews with more people who are who are like actually involved interviews with like organisers, protesters, forest defenders, UM. But people despite the ig massive amount of repression that we've seen on Sunday, the increasingly like heavy handed response police have had to both direct action that includes property destruction and non violent direct action. UH. Despite all that, people are still continuing to be in the woods. They are not letting it scare them away. The woods are still a place that the people are able to like exist in. Uh. They are still able to live, live together in the woods, stay in the woods. The cops don't like being in the woods. No, there's a real fear that you're trying to tear them down. Yes, the cops are. The cops are still very much scared of the woods. UM and and UH people have have have not have not let the violence shown by police scare them away from from wanting to stay in the forest. So that is that is something that continued every day. There's been like guided tours throughout the forest showing off the different different types of plants, the different sections of the woods, different different old campsites that people have slept at. UM. Yeah, it's it's been it's been pretty nice to see with the with just the incredible level of resilience. Well, I know that that I am, and I'm sure many people are kind of watching this from a distance and very very happy to see that folks are continuing to adapt and endure and and take punches. It's unfortunate that the punches keep coming, but the ability of the community to take those hits and continue iterating and adapting remains tremendously impressive. UM. I think kind of the note that makes most sense to end on as to say that this is still a winnable fight. Absolutely, and that is aiment that literally everyone on the ground shares like we are at a point where like people keep saying like at this point they have to win, like like there there is no other option than winning, um, And people have the ability to win this. This is a winnable fight, um. And that is that is something that people continue continue to talk about, and that that is why people are fighting so hard. That's why people are are are risking getting these ridiculous charges because they know that this fight is both worth it and they know this fight is winnable. Like these are these the actions and the risks that people are The actions and the risks that people are taking are not for nothing like they they know that it is impactful and there is a very good chance that this this will lead to victory and will lead to the forest being preserved, to being protected and being able to continue continue to grow. It does have a feeling of inevitability that they will win, that we're we will win. I don't know which the appropriate way to say that is as a journalist, but the feeling is that that Cops City will not be built and that is something that shared, I think by all of the activists in this city. And I guess the last thing I'll say is, uh, Atlanta Solidarity Fund. You if you if you've been listening to any of our coverage, you should already know what it is. You can find the Solidarity Fund at atl solidarity dot org. You can donate there to help the force defenders and you know, anyone who's who's arrested in relation to this with with legal expenses, lawyers, that sort of thing. Um. Yeah, well, um, that's gonna do it for this episode. Uh. And we'll have more from you, Garrison, more from Atlanta soon. Uh. Until next time, everybody, Uh, keep an eye on shit. It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts, you can find sources for It could happen here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it could happen here. If that's the podcast that you're listening to, it's a news podcast about shit falling apart. That's the only intro you're going to get. Because Garrison is right now in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, reporting on the continuing Stop Cop City protests. Garrison's done a number of scripted episodes covering these in detail over the last year and change. They're in the thick of it right now, so I'm just going to bring them and a friend on to talk about what has been happening this week. Yes, that's your cue this week. This week is a special week because this is the fifth week of action that has happened here in Atlanta as a part of these Top Cop City and if in the Atlanta Force movement. This episode is going to be like a midweek update because this week of action is still very much ongoing. There's still many many days that that thinks can happen, but a lot of a lot has already happened in in these in these first few days anyway, So we're going to kind of do a quick a quick little update and then a more comprehensive piece will be later down the line. But with me to here to help talk about what's what's what's gone down so far is someone from the Atlantic Community Press Collective Clark. Hello, welcome to the show. Hey, thanks for having me on, So for being on. Yeah, we've we've been kind of we we've been. We've been kind of teamed up the past few days here as as many many, many things both silly and serious, have have taken place across Atlanta. Of safety in numbers, Yeah, that's always nice to have friends when you're watching jack booted thugs go fucking ape shit with all of their new toys. And I mean, I think that is part of the Week of Action idea, is getting as many people here as possible and hopefully some of that makes makes some people uh more safe. That's something that we'll probably talk more more in detail later when we have kind of hindsight. But I guess today let's let's just start on what's kind of happened so far chronologically. I guess starting on Saturday. We I I met you Saturday for a rally at Gresham Park. I think it's where we first met up this week. Yes, we met at the rally at Gresham Park, which had about I would say an hour's worth of speeches before they kicked off a march down the bike path from Gresham Park to what the activists call we Loaning People's Park, which is the side of the protest beforehand, so the forest around it had been unoccupied since the raid in January that saw the killing of Torture Guita. So this was the first sort of permanent return to the forest. So we took a I don't know forty minute march down the path and then landed in Wielani People's Park that had one more little round of chance with a promise to defend the forest, and then they broke off and everything was a It was a nice, really relaxing day, Yeah, it was. It was a pretty positive start to the week of action. People essentially retook Kulani People's Park and started to go into the forest once again. Camp got set up in the forest. Lots of people from both in town and folks from out of town started started to camp in the woods again. And then in the hours after this small march, people started to prepare for the music festival which was planned like a like a few hundred feet away from a Bullhani People's Park. I guess inside inside like a more like open field area, and music festival went off without a hitch. The first day it was pretty pretty rad. Yeah. I think there was about five hundred people four five hundred people that first night of the musical festival. Yeah, the vibes were great. Everyone was having a fun time. I think it went on until about one am, and I don't think the first day could have gone better. I think I went on till about four am. Okay, well I went to bed at one am. I did not go to bed at one am. I was. I was at the music festival quite quite a bit longer. I'm quite a bit older, and I think that was the reason I had to leave. So yearson doesn't understand things like needing sleep yet another year or two before they hit that sweet sweet wall. So so true. Then then I'll have to find another teenager to go to journalism. Every like four or five years, you don't find a new one. Yeah, just just keep re upping, like Leo DiCaprio. It so so the first the first day was was pretty good. There was no no substantial police response that I saw. Police kind of left people alone in the forest. The march from Gresham Park was was fine, Um, and people got to spend a night in the woods again, which you know had had not had that many people in the woods in like months. Um. I mean this is this is it should be said like camping in a music festival, but it's like relatively high risk because people have gotten significant charges just for camping in the woods in the past, Yes, and the very recent past part part. Some of the warrants that have been issued that justify the charges like domestic terrorism have included things such as sleeping in a hammock with someone else in the forest and that's the reason why they're getting charged as a domestic terrorist. So, yeah, it is a music festival, people are camping. It's kind of chill, but also there's absolutely this kind of this just like this like a ever present kind of fear that despite what is being done being pretty pretty kind of like normal and not not not not not in and of itself militant radical, still the consequences from the state are kind of always always looming, which kind of leads us to Sunday, Yeah, which picks up exactly where we left on. Yeah, so I got there around noon on Sunday. I think and the first thing we see is a bouncy castle, large, large bouncy castle in front of the music festival. It has a big stop Coop City banner, um, massive multi colored bouncy castle. People are having a pretty pretty good time. Yeah. As soon as they finished setting up the bouncy castle, it was it was filled and everyone. I think there were about seventy five one hundred people just set up on blankets around the stage. Initially, I think in the next few hours that definitely grew to be there being hundreds and hundreds of people returning to the music festival for the second day, I mean, I think the march on Saturday was anywhere between like I saw estimates of anywhere between five hundred to two thousand people. Music festival seems to be like over five hundred people. And then on the second day at the music festival, it slowly grew in size to again being hundreds and hundreds of people. And it's yeah, it's it started off just kind of continuing on with the music, continuing on, with the people, people having having nice times in the woods. I walked around the campsites, got had conversations with people talking about all sorts of anarchy related things and then they're slowly throughout the day. I think that this was posted on social media as well. There was a plan for or a rally at five pm to meet on part of part of the field that the music festival was also happening on. By the time that happened, people people met up. The group that that kind of converged was in a mix of black block camo block, so like people like covered head to toe in various various camo print and they set off from from the RC Field where the music festival was at. So they left, they they went down Bouldercrest Road to the section of the woods called the power Line Cut. So to to understand what is going on here, you kind of have to understand some of the geography of the Wilani Forest. So we have like the the Wilani People's Park parking lot and that immediate kind of kind of camp site. This is this is like the the easternmost part, and then there's the RC Field which is just like right right next to that to the west, and then even west of that is Entrenchment Creek, and the Entrenchment Creek kind of divides up this this uh, this dissection of the forest and then everything everything west of Entrenchment Creek is generally referred to as like the as the old Atlanta prison Farm area, and the power Line Cut is is pretty close to to to the creek and to that that is kind of where this this this prison farm section is and this is this is an area of the woods that cops have been more rigorous about policing, more rigorous about surveilling, more rigorous about having kind of constant surveillance and people on the ground. It's it's estimated that they're spending over forty thousand dollars a day running security on this part on on this part of the woods. So yeah, yeah, so see people for that amount of money, they could hire like more people than are on the police force if they just used fiber. That that's really that's really the tactic they ought to be embracing. And I think if they had used fiber, they might have had enough people to counter the protesters. But baby overbloated police salaries. They only had like twenty people. Yeah, they did not have many. So this group set down Bouldercrest. They they they marched up the power line cut. They they laid out like tire tire barricades in the street. Um. And then upon them marching marching on the power line cut. Uh. After after they arrived near the near near the police surveillance set up that we that we that we just mentioned some of some of the equipment somehow burst into flames. UM. People have blamed like shoddy construction. People have said that, you know, sometimes equipment just does that. Uh. But yes, no, so people people set set a whole bunch of police infrastructure on fire, set some construction equipment on fire that is being used to destroy sections of the forest where they wanted to build cop city. Um. Police were repelled its stuff like rocks and fireworks. The cops that were stationed there very quickly retreated. I think, Uh, lots lots of stuff was set on fire. There was the surveillance tower was set on fire. A bulldozer was set on fire. Well, I mean it's it's winter. People need fires to camp come from I understand how a UTV was some kind of like like a like big like big like trailer like storage unit thing was set on fire. Yes, and the cops were very worried about that. They didn't know if there was flammable material inside that you you wouldn't store flammable materials, and an easily accessible area. We shut down an entire interstate because we did that a few years ago. So we would in Atlanta, Atlanta, would all of Atlanta collectively? UM so so, so this happened. A thermal chopper from a thermal police helicopter was was watching all of this. Um honestly, the footage is pretty interesting. It is it is worth it is worth discussing how this type of how this type of surveillance works. UM almost think the same thermal cameras that are on the bay Racti drones that Turkey makes. By the way, it's it's it's it's pretty. It's pretty Fucos boomerang. Yeah, oh absolutely no, it's it's it's it's pretty. It's pretty frightening with their ability to track into in to track individual people. I also think it's worth because there's video of the cops being pelted with stuff, including fireworks. I think it's worth noting that, Like, while it is unpleasant to be pelted with the kind of stuff the cops were pelted with, you and I have both been pelted with numerous fireworks of similar size and it is not a serious threat to life and limb. No, no, they're We survived, but it's modestly unpleasant. But the cops that were there were not very happy about it. They put out calls for officer in need of support and for all available units in the greater Atlanta area to converge on the forest. People who were who who marched to to this to the section of the power line cut started to disperse throughout the woods. And I was back by the road watching this from hundreds and hundreds of feet away because I did not need to go up there. That would not have been helpful in any way. Um. But as this, as this was happening, a whole bunch of police cars zoomed by, So I started following those cars. I went back to the music festival. UM, I met up with with some with some other other media people that I was that I was communicating with, and then I got a text message saying that a cop showed up in the parking lot of the Wallani People's Park with an air fifteen. I started making my way over and then as as I'm running across the music festival, I see a whole bunch of police at the parking lot for the music festival itself at the at the RC field. So I don't I don't make my way over to the Waalannie People's Park parking lot where there's the Air fifteen, because instead I see way way or police closer closer to where I am, so I staged there. Minutes later, police start running into into the music festival. They start tackling seemingly anyone who's like by themselves and that they could like get their hands on. It didn't. It didn't seem incredibly targeted. Um, it's this is something that will kind of prope I'll probably like discuss in more detail once we have slightly more hindsight. But a lot of the arrests did not seem specifically targeted. In the bail hearings from just yesterday as a time of recording, they said they were going after people who had mud on their clothing and like it it rains a day before the music festival. Incredible detective work. Only only a true terrorist would have mud. I think a month and a half ago, Ryan millsapp tore up the parking lot so it rained the day before, and anyone who would walk through that parking lot or the trail system had to walk through mud you're walking through, but also people are just sitting on the dirt at the music festival like so yes, I mean this might also include like useful advice for people in the future, because if the movie Predator was telling me the truth and it's never lied to me yet, coding yourself entirely in mud makes thermal vision no longer function. Uh huh uh huh. Yeah. Um, so police police started attack with people. It was definitely they were going after people who were like by themselves and yeah, people with mud. The police alleged in their in their in their warrants that were read out at the bail hearing that they were going after people who had metal shields, and they said that almost everyone they arrested was arrested carrying a metal shield. Now here's a few funny notes about that. There was not a single metal shield present at all. There were a few small plastic shields, not a single metal one. And in looking through all of the footage of arrests, the footage that I have that's been sent to NLG for other people have had no one was arrested carrying a shield, let alone a metal one m So a whole bunch of the reasoning for these arrests is incredibly suspect police so rated once tackled, arrested like five people, carried them out, they rated again, and this is where they started launching tear gas into the forest. I got gassed decently bad. It was not It was not very fun. First time I've gotten tear gassed in years, old, old old memories. Um and during this time kiss from a dear friend. So that was exactly what I was thinking. And I did not. I brought gas masks to Atlanta, but I didn't bring them on the Sunday because usually you don't bring gas masks to a music festival. Yeah, I mean, the thing about gas, the thing about tear gas and gas masks is that, like when you're used to getting tear gassed, it's really easy to have them handy and get them on. When like you're not used to being tear gas, you're probably not going to bring it with you. Yeah, so people got some people in the forest got gassed pretty bad. I mean, the whole point was to sew confusion, make it so that people could not hide out in the woods. It was it's to make people scatter runaways so that they can be tackled and arrested. One person that was a national Lawyer's guild, a legal observer, was arrested. Um, they're also a lawyer at the Southern Poverty Law Center. This whole boy, this person was the only person arrested that I'm aware of that was released on bail. Everybody else, everyone, everyone else is being held indefinitely. That actually includes there was a second legal observer who was not wearing the hat. So during the bail hearings yesterday, their lawyer said that they were a legal observer, but because they weren't wearing the hat and because they were not local, they were not given bail. It was reported there was like around like thirty five arrests the night of yes Initially, APD released at press release that said there were thirty five detain which at the time they released it was a very interesting term because we thought thirty five people had just been arrested and were on their way to jail. Yeah, but just about forty five minutes after that, twelve of those thirty five were released, So this was very curious. There is a lot of theories going on for what has happened. I'm gonna I'm just going to relay what I heard when I was listening to the bail hearings yesterday. So a defense lawyer for some of the people arrested said yesterday during the bail hearing that, to his understanding, the twelve people that were detained but not arrested were people from Atlanta, and the twenty three people who got arrested and charged or were not from Atlanta. And part of so what police could be doing here is basically, if you're from Atlanta, will we will id you, but we're not going to actually arrest and charge you, but you will arrest and charge you if you're from out of state. So this so they can continue this outside agitator narrative, so they can say every single person arrested after this protest was from out of state. Um. The cops in the media have done a lot of weird collusion regarding the events of Sunday night. Um, they've conflated the location of the arrests a lot. Police want to make this seem like they arrested people at a crime scene, that like they arrested people as they were like torching construction equipment. Which just is it's true they arrested people almost seemingly at random at a music festival that was like hundreds and hundreds of feet away, like it was. It is. It is not an it is not an easy walk from from the power line cut to the music festival, because not only do you have to go through some like pretty pretty harsh brush some woods, um and like jump over a pretty large creek of the alternatively, you have to like walk down a road, which nobody did. So the police have done a police and and like local media, like large like large corporate local media have have tried to make it seem like that this that this music festival things just like a red herring that it's it's not it's not important. But a lot of the people that that were that were that were arrested, see seemed to be people that were just enjoying this music festival. So twenty three of them um have been charged with domestic terrorism. Most of those people are being held indefinitely for now. There the the bail hearing's going to get appealed to the to the Superior Court, where we'll see if that changes anything. The judge said that they were not presented with any evidence that these people did anything wrong, but they still decided to not give them bail. Um that the judge. The reasoning for that was that the judge thought that people who did not have any local ties to the community could be a flight risk, and some people who did have local ties to the community, they said, still were a threat to the community somehow, despite many of them not having any prior convictions, not not having any prior arrests. It's it seemed it seemed pretty suspect during during during the during the bail hearing, but that was that was most of Sunday night. Um. Eventually police kind of surrounded and kettled the group of people that that was still still at the music festival hours after these arrests happened. They gave like a five minute dispersal warning, and then they gave a ten minute dispersal warning. Eventually cops let most of the people who like gathered who were gathered right in front of the stage leave. That was probably like fifty people at that point because people throughout the night we're trying to leave um as as police were, you know, like rating the forest. Some people were able to some people were just like let go and like we're able to leave. Others were detained almost arbitrarily. It's it's it's it's hard to say. So that that was the first two days of the Week of Action, and it felt like a week. What happened the next day? So yeah, the non violent direct actions and then the Monday the events. Oh no Monday, yeah, because that was only that was only the second Is the city council meeting that we were in for eight hours? Yes, yes, So Monday there was there was an interfaith coalition of clergy that UH that have held a press conference outside of city hall. UM basically like endorsing the stop Cop City movement or like Clark, how how would you describe what what? What happened? So there were a couple of elements to the clergy. Um, we'll just call it an action. The first thing was they presented a letter with over two hundred other clergy members who had signed that UH denouncing Cop City, calling for an independent investigation into the killing of Tortuguita and calling for an independent investigation into the use of domestic terror and charges to chill free speech. And then during that press conference, UH Miko Shabon called for land back and called for landback in the Wilani Forest to the Muskogee people. Two stored in um coordination with the legacy Black residence of the area. Yeah, so they were both like talking about the need to stop cop city but also providing a plan on how this land could be used. This land that is that is leased by the city. It is on decap County. After this press conference, some of these people from the coalition gave public comment during the city council. That was most of the events on Monday that I can recall. Oh, there was the there was the poem in the forest that night and that was that was very enjoyable. That was kind of the first time people like tried to go back into the forest since since the Sunday night raid. And I think that started to slowly boost morality again. Yeah, and I think we should talk about also after the raid, there are a few, um really unique things that happened. There were a lot of people who didn't have housing and they were housed by local activists. Um. There was the bus network was set up to transport people from the site where everyone was getting arrested to somewhere safe. They moved breakfast offsite to a different location. So there was a lot of work done in continuing the Week of Action and providing some sort of infrastructure for all of these people who had come into town and didn't have anywhere else to go. Yeah, once again, the resiliency on display was impressive and people's ability to adapt to the ever evolving situation was tested, and people adapted pretty well. Tuesday, there was there was starting to be like typical non violent direct actions happening throughout to downtown. A whole bunch of banner drops happened around highways and interstates around Atlanta. People were detained for y US three people were briefly detained at the site of of of a banner drop, but throughout throughout the day there was people handing out letters to people, to folks like the CEO of Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern Alan Shaw, and then similar similar types of like non violent direct action were happening. A small a small march was led from Woodroffe Park to At and T and Georgia pacific Um. There was like maybe maybe fifty I think fifty is an accurate number. Fifty people gathered to march. Well, there were fifty marchers gathered and then like one hundred and twenty police officers in the in the in the surrounding area, massive, massive police presence. Police caused a huge, a huge disruption to to downtown. Um that's something we've seen kind of ever since the Sunday raid. The police have been incredibly heavy handed in their response to every single thing, whether that be people handing out flyers or whether that be you know, uh, you know, people at people at at at a music festival. Um, whole a whole bunch of police were mobilized to stay night near the forest, like a hundred again, like one hundred and twenty cops at least three or four different agencies, bearcats, helicopters. I think there, it's it's it's unclear what they were doing. Um, this is something that we might we might speculate further on once we have hindsight. When I when I put together my my kind of my kind of a more more intense deep dive. And then uh, then today the thing that me and Clark just got back from. Uh, how do you want to explain today's today's events? So today was a lot of leaflet handing out and marching for it was a smaller group than the march yesterday. I would say there was like twenty twenty five people. Yeah, Like it started off being like only only but like a dozen, um and it's it slowly grew to like maybe like two or three dozen. But yeah, small, small, small group of people. Yeah, a small group of people. And when they met at noon, they met and they broke into three different groups. Yeah. And so the group that we followed was just, uh, they walked a little northward and started passing out flyers at the Petrie Center Marta station. They went to all three entrances, and each group warranted its own police surveillance unit, massive police surveyless units. It was following everybody around. There was there was a SWAT vehicle parked right right outside where these people were handing out flyers. Um it was. There was there was like fifty to one hundred cops flanking people on like from from like, from like different sides. Eventually all the all of the smaller groups that kind of branched off converged again and police then gave a dispersal warning to people who were on a sidewalk outside of a hard rock cafe who were handing out flyers. Okay, well they mean they were in that case, they may have been protecting people because you want you want to get folks as far away from the hard rock cafe as possible, Garrison, And that's a real dangerous I was. I was campaigning for all of the press gathered to meet afterwards. That's a hard rock cafe between the hard rocks on that one. So, Garrison, I watched you at the Rainforest Cafe. You barely made it through that dessert. That was different, That was different. I was. I did I did get food poisoning from that Rainforest Cafe. I will, I will continue to claim. And I woke up with a headache for an under an inexplicable reason that because you were carrying around a bottle of bourbon throat through bourbon and a t or a milkshake or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, So, so cops gave it dis personal warding to people who were not not in fact blocking a sidewalk. We're simply handing out flyers. People were still walking everywhere. Um. So they basically moved to a different section of the of the sidewalk and cops kind of left him alone. Um. Near by, a group of indigenous activists from the Indian collective. I believe it's what it's It's actually a Miscogee nation, the Muscogee Nation. Uh went went to a meeting that the Mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens, was having near by. H Clark, I think you know slightly more about what happened here than I do. Yes, So several of the indigenous activists entered. So where he was having this meeting is a mall in true Atlanta fashion. Um So they entered them all and they they found where he was in the building, and uh so Miko Colonel Chabon delivered a letter essentially evicting the city of Atlanta from the Wilannie Forest. Uh So they got in without the police noticing. Um and then the moment they got out, a large squad of police mobilized. They were they were not happy how close people got to the mayor. So at this point we don't know what the full reaction of that's going to be. We do know that the mayor ran away from accepting the letter, and then one of I believe they handed it to one. There are a few few more beautiful sites than a mayor running away. More mayors need to spend time fleeing from their peoples. So I think this this episode comes out, I think like like late Thursday night, Friday morning, um, Thursday afternoon there. So, like we are, we are recording this Wednesday. There's plans for Thursday. There's gonna be there's gonna be a large march at six pm. I believe there's gonna be a youth rally at Saturday, and then on on Sunday morning. Um Manuel torn Tortoquita's family is holding a memorial for tort in the Wilani forest um where I've been told that they're going to spread towards ashes inside the woods, and that is kind of the last thing that's going to happen. Um. And so those are the things that have have not not not yet took place. Um So, but we've we've explained in pretty pretty in pretty spruciating detail, some of some of what's happened so far. So yeah, that that's kind of the current current state of on the ground at the week of action. UM. I guess, Robert, do you have any questions for Clark as someone who's kind of been on the ground in Atlanta for years covering stop city. Yeah, I mean, I'm curious what over the last few weeks, like you've you've had some direct clashes with the police that have ended in a variety of ways. Broadly speaking, is there anything that you're you're kind of leaning towards this doesn't work? And is there anything you're kind of leaning towards This seems to work really well. So there's something to be said for the more aggressive actions, and I think they serve their purpose. And there's definitely something to be said for the forest occupation. It continued the movement until there was a ground swell of support. So at this point, I think the actions have sort of switched gear into more non violent direct actions as we're seeing this week, and I think that those actions will will continue. I'm sure that the anarchistic contingent will continue to do some other more aggressive, shall we say, direct actions. Yeah, and all of the work. We have a large swath of different uh avenues of of engagement that the movement is has developed, and each of them has their place, and if they're used in the proper place, they're used to great effect. I think one kind of change that has happened we've seen We've seen a bit of a decrease in the types of like nighttime sabotage, like the the sort of like attack and disappear tactics that was was really popular in like the early days of the occupation of of like of of like the fourth occupation of people living and living and camping out in the woods. Um. And you know the because like the last two much more like militant actions were done during the daytime, during like large rallies. There was there was the protest on Saturday after Tortuguita was killed where a cop car was torched. Then there was this, then there was this protest on on Sunday night um at people that people marched, people marched to the to the power line cut and then the police started doing repression at the music festival. UM. But like those things were happening like during like before the sun was setting. UM. So I think that that that's one interesting change. I feel like some people are definitely thinking about this, especially because there's been twenty three people arrested during this week of action and they're being held in jail uh and we have no idea when they're going, when they're going to be able to have the option of getting out. So I think this is something This is something that people are thinking about in terms of how they are, how they are doing direct action, and how how their involvement in direct action will affect people who did not participate, like with people at the people at the music festival, who who were not who were not present at the power line cut direct action, and how some of those people are undoubtedly now facing like punishment from from the state. UM. So I feel like that there is definitely going to be some discussion about that. I've i've i've i've seen discussion about this threat in the city. Um. But I mean the Week of Action is still is still ongoing. It is it is only Wednesday. It feels like it's been a month, um, but it's only been like three or four days. Uh. But I mean it's people. People are in this for the long haul. Um. We're We're starting to see more solidarity from from groups that are less militant, like with the Interfaith Coalition right, like you're not. I don't think any of like the priests, the priests or the clergy were there throwing maltov cocktails um at the at the surveillance tower. Yet the very next day they're standing out outside of City Hall and demanding the same things that the people throwing maltovs are are demanding. You should be noted that they didn't denounce No, that is it is solidarity across the movement. Absolutely. They talked about how them as clergy you know, and uh, the in the history of Abrahamic religions, how many how many people associated and are the figureheads of such religions have been killed by the state, and how often often these religions have been in opposition to the state during during their formative years. Um, and they don't know. I just I just can't think of any prominent uh Christian figures or Jewish figures who were who were murdered by the state. That's just not nothing's coming up right none, zero, Yeah, No, I grew up Christian and I can't really remember anyone. So um, yeah, that is. That is. That is the week of action so far. There will there will certainly be be be a more a more detailed deep dive with like analysis and like, you know, a narrative through line in the coming weeks as we're actually able to like look back on what has happened. Um, interviews with more people who are who are like actually involved interviews with like organisers, protesters, forest defenders, UM. But people despite the ig massive amount of repression that we've seen on Sunday, the increasingly like heavy handed response police have had to both direct action that includes property destruction and non violent direct action. UH. Despite all that, people are still continuing to be in the woods. They are not letting it scare them away. The woods are still a place that the people are able to like exist in. Uh. They are still able to live, live together in the woods, stay in the woods. The cops don't like being in the woods. No, there's a real fear that you're trying to tear them down. Yes, the cops are. The cops are still very much scared of the woods. UM and and UH people have have have not have not let the violence shown by police scare them away from from wanting to stay in the forest. So that is that is something that continued every day. There's been like guided tours throughout the forest showing off the different different types of plants, the different sections of the woods, different different old campsites that people have slept at. UM. Yeah, it's it's been it's been pretty nice to see with the with just the incredible level of resilience. Well, I know that that I am, and I'm sure many people are kind of watching this from a distance and very very happy to see that folks are continuing to adapt and endure and and take punches. It's unfortunate that the punches keep coming, but the ability of the community to take those hits and continue iterating and adapting remains tremendously impressive. UM. I think kind of the note that makes most sense to end on as to say that this is still a winnable fight. Absolutely, and that is aiment that literally everyone on the ground shares like we are at a point where like people keep saying like at this point they have to win, like like there there is no other option than winning, um, And people have the ability to win this. This is a winnable fight, um. And that is that is something that people continue continue to talk about, and that that is why people are fighting so hard. That's why people are are are risking getting these ridiculous charges because they know that this fight is both worth it and they know this fight is winnable. Like these are these the actions and the risks that people are The actions and the risks that people are taking are not for nothing like they they know that it is impactful and there is a very good chance that this this will lead to victory and will lead to the forest being preserved, to being protected and being able to continue continue to grow. It does have a feeling of inevitability that they will win, that we're we will win. I don't know which the appropriate way to say that is as a journalist, but the feeling is that that Cops City will not be built and that is something that shared, I think by all of the activists in this city. And I guess the last thing I'll say is, uh, Atlanta Solidarity Fund. You if you if you've been listening to any of our coverage, you should already know what it is. You can find the Solidarity Fund at atl solidarity dot org. You can donate there to help the force defenders and you know, anyone who's who's arrested in relation to this with with legal expenses, lawyers, that sort of thing. Um. Yeah, well, um, that's gonna do it for this episode. Uh. And we'll have more from you, Garrison, more from Atlanta soon. Uh. Until next time, everybody, Uh, keep an eye on shit. It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts, you can find sources for It could happen here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.
