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Speaker 1: Welcome back to it could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis.

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Speaker 1: This is episode four of my mini series and detailing

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Speaker 1: the March twenty twenty three week of action to stop

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Speaker 1: cop City in Atlanta, Georgia. This episode, we'll be hearing

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Speaker 1: from a lot of new people as we close out

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Speaker 1: the day to day coverage of this week of action.

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Speaker 1: One of the last big organized rallies was on Thursday

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Speaker 1: night and it was put on by Community Movement Builders

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Speaker 1: and other black led groups from Atlanta.

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Speaker 2: The big event Thursday night was a six o'clock rally

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Speaker 2: that met at the Martin Luther King National Historic Site.

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Speaker 3: There was police stationed at King Center.

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Speaker 1: Before anyone got there, we saw like dozens and dozens

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Speaker 1: of police cars going by.

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Speaker 2: All around the site are various quick response forces and

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Speaker 2: riot cops ready to.

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Speaker 1: Move in large police response in the area already, as

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Speaker 1: has been expected for the past few days, multiple Sandy

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Speaker 1: Springs police buses were driving by. There was multiple unmarked

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Speaker 1: white vans full of officers. The areas crawling with police

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Speaker 1: cars and now there's a small detail of officers across

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Speaker 1: the street from the people gathering here in the park.

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Speaker 2: We are currently surrounded on every side by groups of

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Speaker 2: police officers in riodegear. The crowd started off like actually

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Speaker 2: fairly decently sized, maybe like fifty people, and then continued

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Speaker 2: as well as the speeches progressed to I would say

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Speaker 2: like two hundred two hundred fifty, maybe even a little

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Speaker 2: bit more. They were passing out signs, so like anyone

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Speaker 2: who came, like they had a sign ready for you.

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Speaker 2: Andre Dickins is a sellout of course, as a very

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Speaker 2: popular one. There were stop Coop City like banners that

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Speaker 2: people could like hold atl of Verse twelve, like you know,

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Speaker 2: just a bunch of like really clever sort of protest

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Speaker 2: slogan and things that people get behind. The makeup of

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Speaker 2: the crowd was definitely leaned like far less like white

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Speaker 2: anarchists than certainly the accusations of this movement, I think,

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Speaker 2: more representative of the movement as a whole, Like it

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Speaker 2: was a mix of a bunch of different people. I

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Speaker 2: would say, like it probably accurately reflected Atlanta demographics.

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Speaker 3: Defend the forest.

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Speaker 1: As signs and banners are being handed out throughout the crowd,

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Speaker 1: other people are passing around the jail support number and

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Speaker 1: jail support contact information.

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Speaker 3: People are starting to get ready.

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Speaker 2: So it meets it at six o'clock and for about

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Speaker 2: an hour and a half we listened to a series

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Speaker 2: of speeches as the crowd begins to swell.

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Speaker 4: So we are here in solidarity together today to make

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Speaker 4: it clearer to the mayor that he's not gonna keep

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Speaker 4: lying on our names.

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Speaker 5: They'll literally be building a mostly.

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Speaker 4: In Atlanta just how to repress my life.

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Speaker 6: They kill, and we find it ridiculous.

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Speaker 5: We find it disgusting.

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Speaker 4: We find it embarrassing that our Mayor Andre Diggins with

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Speaker 4: visits now to say that.

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Speaker 5: Black people want to be killed by the police, that

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Speaker 5: black people walk clop City.

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Speaker 4: The mayor must have forgotten that our ancestors were literally

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Speaker 4: fighting abolition since they were brutally brought to this country.

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Speaker 4: They were fighting for freedom, fighting the original police right,

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Speaker 4: the slave patrols that captured black bodies to take them

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Speaker 4: back to their white masters. He's talking to the same

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Speaker 4: black people whose elders were fighting here in the same

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Speaker 4: streets in the sixties and the seventies to stop.

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Speaker 6: Police occupation of our communities.

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Speaker 7: That's right.

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Speaker 4: Resistance to police, resistance to stay violence is literally in

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Speaker 4: our blood as black people. It is in our DNA.

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Speaker 4: They're lying on our name because they want money from

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Speaker 4: the same white corporations that are funding Cop City, Home Depot,

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Speaker 4: Chick fil A, Coco Cola, Norfolk, Southern AT and T

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Speaker 4: Cops enterprises who all say AJC and this is a

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Speaker 4: fight that we will win, that we are committed to winning.

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Speaker 3: And so when we talk about.

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Speaker 4: Winning, it's important to say, what do we mean when

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Speaker 4: we say that we'll win. We mean no Cop City anywhere,

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Speaker 4: now in South Atlanta, not in the cab not in

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Speaker 4: North Atlanta, nowhere. When we say that we will win,

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Speaker 4: we are meaning that this fight does not stop with

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Speaker 4: Cop City. This is a fight for the liberation of

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Speaker 4: all oppressed people here and abroad.

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Speaker 8: That's right.

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Speaker 4: And that why is disgusting that the mayor and that

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Speaker 4: these corporations will talk about outside agitators. Okay. The reason

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Speaker 4: that there are people coming from all over the world

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Speaker 4: to support this fight is because this is a fight

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Speaker 4: that affects.

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Speaker 8: All of us, That's right.

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Speaker 4: The Atlanta Police Foundation admitted that of the cops being

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Speaker 4: trained at that facility will not be in Georgia. Okay,

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Speaker 4: So when people come from Tennessee, from New York, from California,

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Speaker 4: it's because they know that their local police might learn

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Speaker 4: how to kill them better here, that's right. And when

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Speaker 4: people come from abroad, they know that Currently the Atlanta

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Speaker 4: Police Department trains with the Israeli police. So the same

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Speaker 4: techniques being used to brutalize black people are being used

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Speaker 4: to practice genocide on the Palestinian people. And the same

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Speaker 4: tactics being used to practice genocide on the Palestinian people

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Speaker 4: are being used to brutalize black people right here. So

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Speaker 4: when people come from all over the world to say

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Speaker 4: stop Coup City, they're not outside agitators. They're standing in

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Speaker 4: solidarity with us, because this.

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Speaker 2: Is the fight.

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Speaker 1: All as the rain picked up, Tortillita's mother, Belquise Taran

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Speaker 1: spoke next.

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Speaker 4: All the parts the friend that I called.

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Speaker 9: Them, I can them to come here to suppert us.

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Speaker 9: All the people from different religions, come here and help us.

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Speaker 1: This is a matter of the earth.

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Speaker 9: We're talking about Earth that is dying right needs our love.

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Speaker 9: That earth needs our attention, and we are we have conscience.

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Speaker 9: We know that this is not right. Don't go by

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Speaker 9: yourself when we go to activities and stay together, don't

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Speaker 9: go outside by yourself. Don't we need to make understand

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Speaker 9: that this is the right thing to do. We are

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Speaker 9: the correct people. We are right because we are driving

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Speaker 9: by love.

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Speaker 5: By carry by concerns, and we.

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Speaker 9: Love all the I love you. We're like you.

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Speaker 1: A speaker from Black Votes Matter addressed to the crowd next,

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Speaker 1: starting off by talking about the importance of mass action.

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Speaker 10: I just want to explain something because sometimes people get confused,

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Speaker 10: they get it twisted, they say, oh, y'all, look, black vote.

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Speaker 11: It's matter.

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Speaker 5: All y'all do is talk about voting.

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Speaker 10: Be clear, we understand that the way that we get

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Speaker 10: to liberation is not going to come just through a vote.

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Speaker 10: That's never been how it's worked for our people in

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Speaker 10: this country. Sister Harry didn't get a chance to vote

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Speaker 10: for liberations. She didn't get a chance to vote to

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Speaker 10: take off people off the plantation.

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Speaker 11: Right.

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Speaker 10: So we are very clear that what we have got

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Speaker 10: to be. In fact, we just celebrated, commemorated the anniversary

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Speaker 10: of Selma and the Marks of Montgomery. But be clear,

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Speaker 10: the people of Selma didn't vote for our Voting Rights Act.

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Speaker 10: They had to fight for it. They had to march

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Speaker 10: for it. In some cases, they bled for it. They

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Speaker 10: had to resist for it. They had to take to

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Speaker 10: the streets for it. It's a that tradition that we

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Speaker 10: are out here today. I believe, I believe in the

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Speaker 10: power of the vote, but house to believe in the

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Speaker 10: power of mass action.

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Speaker 1: He then talked about the intersection of cop City and

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Speaker 1: efforts to further restrict the democratic process in Georgia.

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Speaker 10: The same corporations that are that are funding cop City

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Speaker 10: are the same ones that are funding the bonus questions,

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Speaker 10: the same ones We've been our whole campaign a couple

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Speaker 10: of years ago when Georgia says that bonus prission bill,

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Speaker 10: and we called out Home Depot and Coca Cola and

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Speaker 10: tell them many of the other corporations that give money

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Speaker 10: to the people, that are that are taken away our

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Speaker 10: rights to vote. And then if you don't have a

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Speaker 10: government that reflects the people, then what do you need.

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Speaker 10: You need a police force to enforce the fact that

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Speaker 10: you don't have a government that reflects the people. And

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Speaker 10: so our message from Mary Dickens, our message for the

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Speaker 10: city council is that if you don't respond.

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Speaker 5: To the people, you are these.

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Speaker 1: We've got that power.

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Speaker 10: We've got the power to.

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Speaker 5: Make that happen.

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Speaker 1: Students from the Atlanta University Center consortium of four black

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Speaker 1: colleges in Atlanta were some of the last people to

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Speaker 1: give speeches before the march.

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Speaker 12: We have attempted to reform our police force, ad del

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Speaker 12: escalation training, add civil rights history training, and give more

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Speaker 12: money to our police, but we continue to see black

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Speaker 12: bodies across social media platforms, television, and other media platforms

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Speaker 12: being displayed being murdered. The victims have received no justice.

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Speaker 12: And when we say no justice, what do we say?

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Speaker 8: No justice, no justice, no justice.

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Speaker 4: The building of the Atlanta Public Training Center is an

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Speaker 4: insult and an act of the utmost disrespect from our

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Speaker 4: city leaders.

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Speaker 8: We have a duty to fight for the change that

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Speaker 8: we seek.

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Speaker 4: As an active member of this community, I refuse to

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Speaker 4: sit by and be idle and just let things happen.

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Speaker 13: This city has been my home ever since I was born.

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Speaker 13: I've been to various events here. I have seen the

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Speaker 13: sights and have lived with some of the most important

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Speaker 13: events right here in this city. This is my home.

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Speaker 13: This is your home. This is our home. This is

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Speaker 13: the home of black excellence. This is the home of

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Speaker 13: doctor Martin Luther King Junior. This is the home of

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Speaker 13: Jean Lewis. This is the home of Joseph Evelyn and

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Speaker 13: Joseph E.

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Speaker 14: Lowie.

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Speaker 13: This is the home of civil rights. This is the

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Speaker 13: home of ct Gillion. This is the home of great

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Speaker 13: blackness itself.

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Speaker 10: This is the home of every single black person here

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Speaker 10: in America. This city, this house, this place of black excellence,

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Speaker 10: says no to Cop City.

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Speaker 14: My Afro pessimist friends and revolution there is both agree.

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Speaker 5: We are at war.

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Speaker 14: The police in the city have said as much loudly

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Speaker 14: with their words and their actions. It feels obvious to

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Speaker 14: me that we need warriors weapons, and I know that

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Speaker 14: that fact may give some of us trepidation, But I

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Speaker 14: want to assure you that we need so much more

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Speaker 14: than soldiers to win this fight. Whatever it is that

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Speaker 14: you do, whatever skill you bring, I just ask that

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Speaker 14: you make it a weapon. If we are ever going

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Speaker 14: to experience democracy, we need your tools to be repurposed

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Speaker 14: in this fight against Cop City. If you're a writer

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Speaker 14: like me, child that Patty better look like a threat

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Speaker 14: to Cop City. If you do mutual aid, caring for

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Speaker 14: community ain't gonna get any easier. Please show us the way.

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Speaker 14: If you're an artist, where my artists at you got

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Speaker 14: a lot of them out here. Let every painting reveal

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Speaker 14: the truth, including the joy and freedom that abolition calls

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Speaker 14: us to. Let us make songs that inspire revolution. If

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Speaker 14: you're a healer, get ready, we need you.

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Speaker 5: Much will be lost in this struggle.

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Speaker 14: Let us not forget. If you're a teacher, well, we

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Speaker 14: got a lot to learn about this war we're fighting

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Speaker 14: and how police practice urban warfare. If you're a lawyer,

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Speaker 14: guide us when they say that any fighter is a criminal.

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Speaker 14: If you're a digital organizer, to keep your finger on

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Speaker 14: the pulse and tell our stories far and wide. And

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Speaker 14: if you're a community organizer, we need to tend to

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Speaker 14: our relationships, not just use them. We need real solidarity

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Speaker 14: which goes beyond unity. We need pluralism, making space for

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Speaker 14: many strategies to coexist. And ultimately, we need to practice democracy.

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Speaker 14: If we plan to build one cop city is the

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Speaker 14: police and the establishment of preparing for domestic war right

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Speaker 14: here in.

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Speaker 5: The city of Atlanta's that's right.

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Speaker 14: Any further training of the police is training against our existence.

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Speaker 14: That shit cannot be built.

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Speaker 5: It will be built.

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Speaker 14: We all must fight for the democracy we've never seen before.

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Speaker 14: What are you willing to do?

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Speaker 5: Thank you?

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Speaker 1: So after about an hour of speeches, people are now

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Speaker 1: foundly getting ready to move. They announced on the loudspeaker

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Speaker 1: where we are going. We are marching to the Atlanta

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Speaker 1: Police Foundation headquarters on Peachtree, the same location that had

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Speaker 1: the front windows broken on the protest following the killing

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Speaker 1: of Tortigita that Saturday. So people leave, they stick on

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Speaker 1: to the sidewalk because there's cops staring at them, and

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Speaker 1: cops have definitely had had had indicated that if if

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Speaker 1: people step on to the street, they would be arrested.

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Speaker 1: The length of the march is stretching for about two

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Speaker 1: or three city blocks, just because you know, trying to

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Speaker 1: cram three hundred people onto a sidewalk makes that stretch

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Speaker 1: out really long. But the cops have been pretty pretty

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Speaker 1: adamant that if anyone steps onto the street, they're going

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Speaker 1: to get arrested. That is a banner being carried across

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Speaker 1: that says what you water grows, fund our future, stop

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Speaker 1: cop city, defend the forest. People with the stop cop

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Speaker 1: City signs in the Coca Cola font signs that read

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Speaker 1: Atlanta versus.

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Speaker 3: Cop City, No cop City on stolen Land.

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Speaker 1: The Thursday march definitely had the most amount of signs

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Speaker 1: out of all of the individual marches or actions that

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Speaker 1: I want to both small handheld signs and also signs

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Speaker 1: with really tall handles to hold up above the crowd.

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Speaker 8: All right, people are being led into the street now

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Speaker 8: after walking, after walking on the hidewalk for a decent while,

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Speaker 8: people have now taken to the street.

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Speaker 3: Along the path of the march.

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Speaker 1: The projector was set up projecting like stop coop city

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Speaker 1: slogans onto the side of a building, almost like really

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Speaker 1: really good graphic design.

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Speaker 2: Visuals is definitely a strength of the movement.

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Speaker 1: There's this police riot helmet that has a tree growing

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Speaker 1: underneath it and breaking apart of the helmet that says

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Speaker 1: trees give life, police take it. We got a police

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Speaker 1: riot line set up a few blocks ahead of the

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Speaker 1: people marching on the street right next to the building

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Speaker 1: with these with the stop cop City stuff projected onto

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Speaker 1: the side. Rather than let the police do an escalatory

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Speaker 1: show of violence, people opted to move back onto the

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Speaker 1: sidewalk to continue the march uninhibited. People see to be

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Speaker 1: moving closer back onto the sidewalk as they're staring down

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Speaker 1: this riot line and police are now heading back inside.

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Speaker 1: They're white rent a bush little vans that they've been

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Speaker 1: staging their riot cops out of, and they're driving off.

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Speaker 1: People are now in downtown Atlanta outside of the Georgia

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Speaker 1: Pacific Center. We have like twelve regular police cars. The

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Speaker 1: two white vans full of riot cops and lots of

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Speaker 1: them cops is staged in places I cannot currently see.

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Speaker 1: All right, we're marching north along Peachtree Street, heading heading

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Speaker 1: to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Got the two the two

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Speaker 1: bus Max rented buses full full of riot cops right beside,

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Speaker 1: right beside the march. Cops really outavant about not letting

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Speaker 1: anybody march in the street. It's funny because a few

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Speaker 1: days ago they wouldn't let people on the sidewalk either.

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Speaker 1: Most of the cops that are surrounding the march right

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Speaker 1: now are still in their vehicles, at least from this

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Speaker 1: current vantage point. I was opposed to the non violent

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Speaker 1: direct active march. I was opposed to the nonviolent direct

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Speaker 1: action marches and actions that have happened launching out of

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Speaker 1: Woodward Park the past week, in which the police just

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Speaker 1: tailed and surrounded the march on foot. I think this

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Speaker 1: march is just slightly I think this march is just

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Speaker 1: slightly too big to use that tactic, so they're surrounding

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Speaker 1: them with vehicles instead. As the march arrived at the

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Speaker 1: Atlanta Police Foundation, the hundreds of protesters crammed onto the

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Speaker 1: sidewalk were greeted by armed APD officers. Riot police are

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Speaker 1: standing in front of the boarded up Atlanta Police Foundation

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Speaker 1: headquarters at one nine to one Peach Tree. There is

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Speaker 1: a large, large crowd in front of these relatively small

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Speaker 1: amount of officers standing in front of the boarded up doors.

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Speaker 1: A few dozen cops, some armed with aar fifteen's, a

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Speaker 1: lot of cops stationed outside the APF headquarters, and even

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Speaker 1: more stationed inside the APF headquarters. Police blokes off traffic

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Speaker 1: in the on this section of Peachtree Street, at least

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Speaker 1: basically sandwiching everybody in. They they could have mass arrested,

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Speaker 1: as I'm sure they wanted to.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the police were ready to mass rest the entire time.

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Speaker 3: This is this is kind of a wild sight.

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Speaker 1: We have hundreds of people staring down about three dozen

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Speaker 1: officers from the Atlanta Police Department on their fifteen's, obviously

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Speaker 1: all of their handguns. From hundreds of hundreds of people

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Speaker 1: holding signs, staring down the police. You can you can

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Speaker 1: feel the kind of you can feel the temperature rising

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Speaker 1: a little bit here. The cops look very nervous as one.

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Speaker 1: Hundreds of people who are chanting at them, and I'm

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Speaker 1: not very happy are facing them down. They're so they're

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Speaker 1: so close together, we're they're just sandwiched in. This is

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Speaker 1: such a tense situation right now. No one in the

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Speaker 1: crowd has any visible weapons of any kind. Of course,

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Speaker 1: they're holding big signs. Cops have some zip cuffs ready,

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Speaker 1: cops have all their guns ready. I was able to

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Speaker 1: see inside the building via a small slit in the plywood.

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Speaker 1: There were tons of riot cops inside with shields, and

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Speaker 1: all the cops on the inside of the building had

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Speaker 1: gas masks strapped to their leg. At least one riot

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Speaker 1: cop on the other side of the door was wearing

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Speaker 1: a unique armored suit, not like the regular police suits

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Speaker 1: with riot armor like on the outside. This armored padding

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Speaker 1: was built into the clothing. He had these massive, bulky

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Speaker 1: leg pants with armor on the insides of them and

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Speaker 1: like a massive riot helmet. He was one of those

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Speaker 1: cops who doesn't need a riot shield because his body

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Speaker 1: is the riot shield. It was very weird. But for

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Speaker 1: those first few minutes it was a very high stress

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Speaker 1: situation in front of the APF building. It felt like

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Speaker 1: neither the crowd nor the police knew exactly what was

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Speaker 1: about to go down as a few hundred angry protesters

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Speaker 1: were pushed up against a line of armed police. But

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Speaker 1: as time went on, you got the impression that this

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Speaker 1: crowd was probably not going to initiate conflict with the police,

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Speaker 1: and I feel like some of the moods maybe kind

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Speaker 1: of died down. Cops are trying to kind of move

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Speaker 1: around the crowd a bit. There's cops being stationed to

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Speaker 1: the north, to the south, to behind the crowd on

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Speaker 1: the other.

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Speaker 3: Side of the street.

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Speaker 1: This could go so many ways right now, This could

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Speaker 1: end in so many different scenarios. But people have not

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Speaker 1: initiated anything other than standing on the sidewalk and chanting

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Speaker 1: and given speeches. If you look, there's a small section

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Speaker 1: of the IPF building where there's still a tiny, tiny

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Speaker 1: sliver of glass by one of the doors, and you

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Speaker 1: can see lots of cops stationed inside with riot shields.

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Speaker 1: But I do not believe this crowd's gonna be busting

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Speaker 1: done any doors. Camu Franklin, the founder of Community Movement Builders,

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Speaker 1: was the last person to speak in front of the

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Speaker 1: Atlanta Police Foundation.

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Speaker 14: Really, no cop City.

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Speaker 11: It's nothing but a strategy for over policing our communities.

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Speaker 11: We know that top city is nothing but a strategy

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Speaker 11: to stop our movements.

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Speaker 15: And what movements are those?

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Speaker 11: The movements against police followings and terrorism in our community.

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Speaker 5: It is in twenty twenty.

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Speaker 11: One that they introduced this idea to stop, to put

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Speaker 11: cop city out here to stop our movements. When people

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Speaker 11: were talking about the fund the police, abolish the police,

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Speaker 11: find alternament is the public safety, they said, hell no,

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Speaker 11: we want more police, and they put that idea out there,

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Speaker 11: and the movement was born to stop cop city. This's

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Speaker 11: mo when it's two years old, and it doesn't look.

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Speaker 1: Like it's going to stop.

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Speaker 14: To me.

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Speaker 1: By the end, you got this a sense that this

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Speaker 1: march did exactly what it wanted to. There were three

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Speaker 1: hundred people standing like a foot away from two dozen cops,

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Speaker 1: staring them down, giving speeches, chanting. If people wanted to,

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Speaker 1: other things could have happened. This rally could have resulted

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Speaker 1: in many ways, many of them probably very ugly and

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Speaker 1: carrying a very high cost.

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Speaker 8: The reason we did a.

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Speaker 11: March like this today was to say to all the

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Speaker 11: nice saves. Black folks don't want cop City. People don't

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Speaker 11: want cop City. White folks don't want cop City. At

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Speaker 11: lanteds don't want cop City. Folks from outside Atlanta don't

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Speaker 11: want cop City. Nobody in the United States wants cop City.

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Speaker 11: The honest Citians don't work cops City. People in America

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Speaker 11: don't want cop City. Do in this world don't we

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Speaker 11: work cop City. We wanted to make sure that we

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Speaker 11: came in safety and we leave in safety. We wanted

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Speaker 11: to make sure that we don't have any more political

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Speaker 11: prisoners today that we wanted this to be a march

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Speaker 11: about our unity and our safety in numbers, and as

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Speaker 11: we wrap up today, that's what we want. It's not

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Speaker 11: like we gotta give them an excuse. When you're around

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Speaker 11: the cop the same way when you're around the wild animal,

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Speaker 11: what do you gotta do. You gotta be cautious, you

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Speaker 11: gotta be careful, you gotta move a certain way, you

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Speaker 11: gotta know which way to go because you're looking to

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Speaker 11: protect your safety and right now I'm looking to protect

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Speaker 11: our safety. So as we depart here today, we are

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Speaker 11: departing in unity. We are departing together. We are gonna

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Speaker 11: walk back in close quarters together.

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Speaker 9: Where our cars work.

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Speaker 11: If you're going to Martyr, you're gonna walk close together

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Speaker 11: with other people as you go to Marta if you

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Speaker 11: need a fan and pick you up if you can't

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Speaker 11: take barter to blotch this way by depriv So we

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Speaker 11: want you to be safe, secure, because you want to

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Speaker 11: be out here again the fight got sick.

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Speaker 1: There was this sense that the people there wanted to

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Speaker 1: show that if they wanted to do things, they could have,

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Speaker 1: but they knew that this was not This was not

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Speaker 1: the right time nor.

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Speaker 3: The right place.

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Speaker 2: Restraint and understanding of what like practice I would say

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Speaker 2: in that situation is, and.

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Speaker 1: I mean in the speeches that happened beforehand, there was

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Speaker 1: people from community movement builders, from Black Votes Matter, a

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Speaker 1: whole bunch of other black led groups in the city.

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Speaker 1: And similarly, like like like what happened at the clergy event,

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Speaker 1: there was not a single whiff of condemnation of militant tactics,

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Speaker 1: of of of property, destruction, of actions that people take this.

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Speaker 1: They people there who gay speeches recognize that such tactics

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Speaker 1: were a staple of the civil rights movement. Early Saturday morning,

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Speaker 1: I woke up to news that police had begun another raid,

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Speaker 1: but instead of raiding the Wallani Forest, the police were

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Speaker 1: searching the ten acre property of the Lakewood Environmental Arts

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Speaker 1: Foundation or LEAF, a local nonprofit that was offering safe

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Speaker 1: haven for people during the.

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Speaker 3: Week of Action.

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Speaker 1: All right, So the Atlant police have executed a warrant

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Speaker 1: on the LEAF meetup spot in southeast Atlanta that people

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Speaker 1: have been using as a welcome center, as like a

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Speaker 1: medic station, just another spot to hang out. It was

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Speaker 1: set up after the raid Sunday night and it is

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Speaker 1: now Saturday morning. The police have executed this warrants to

446
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,359
Speaker 1: search parisis ID everyone who's there. We got a group

447
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,440
Speaker 1: of people. It's being able to leave right now. There

448
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,639
Speaker 1: has been a prison transport vehicle called in and cops

449
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:05,840
Speaker 1: have like blocked off intersections around the area. No one's

450
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 1: allowed to get close. People are not allowed to return

451
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 1: to their cars. People are not allowed to return to

452
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,080
Speaker 1: the private property. Since Sunday night, the land was being

453
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,400
Speaker 1: used as a medic hub and provided a secondary place

454
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,399
Speaker 1: to camp for those who didn't feel safe staying in

455
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,919
Speaker 1: the forest during their raid Saturday morning. Police detained at

456
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,320
Speaker 1: least twenty two people and refused to show anyone the

457
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:28,080
Speaker 1: search warrant.

458
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 3: And yeah, the group that got released is just walking

459
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,160
Speaker 3: up now. Maybe like two dozen people have been able

460
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:34,639
Speaker 3: to walk up.

461
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:35,200
Speaker 5: Ya.

462
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:43,920
Speaker 15: We just bat through their police lines and we're gonna, yeah,

463
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 15: huddle up and get to a safe place. We were

464
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:53,719
Speaker 15: woken up by helicopters. There had been helicopters doing rounds

465
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:59,080
Speaker 15: all evening and I don't even know what time, seven something,

466
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 15: we heard loud speakers saying that they had a warrant

467
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:12,359
Speaker 15: for to search the property private property, and that was

468
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:15,959
Speaker 15: very disorienting. Obviously, I was in the middle of sleeping.

469
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,360
Speaker 15: We came out with our hands open, our hands up.

470
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 15: We had more than twenty guns pointed at us. Some

471
00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,880
Speaker 15: people have their fingers on triggers. Certainly they were screaming

472
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:33,360
Speaker 15: at me. And as I was waking up, we came

473
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 15: through the line. They said that they had a warrant

474
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,600
Speaker 15: to search the property. We know that Homeland Security was

475
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 15: one of the departments that was arrested, that was part

476
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:47,400
Speaker 15: of the arrest crew or extraction crew or whatever. It's

477
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,959
Speaker 15: very traumatic. Obviously, it's freezing this is the coldest day

478
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:56,920
Speaker 15: this week, and so we are, you know, worried about

479
00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:01,880
Speaker 15: people's health because people are cold. They detained us, they

480
00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 15: took identification. It was yah extremely violent situation, but everyone

481
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,480
Speaker 15: here was really taking care of each other and remaining prom.

482
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 1: To address the raid, activists scheduled a press conference for

483
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,040
Speaker 1: later that day after a youth rally to defend the

484
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 1: forest was to take place in East Village. And I

485
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: think you can hear said youths in the background, so

486
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,639
Speaker 1: excuse their joyous young screams.

487
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 6: We thought that it was important for us to not

488
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,399
Speaker 6: only amplify the wonderful children's march that happened here today,

489
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 6: the community in East Atlanta, this community where they are

490
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:43,760
Speaker 6: proposing to build cop City, came out this morning overwhelmingly

491
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 6: to say that they don't want cop City. So we

492
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 6: had parents, we had children, we had other neighbors and

493
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,600
Speaker 6: community stakeholders who gathered right here in Brownwood Park today

494
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 6: at East Atlanta to say that we are East Atlanta

495
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 6: and cop City is not a part of what we

496
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 6: imagine and envision for this community. Also this morning, unfortunately,

497
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 6: there is a place that was held as a commune

498
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 6: for campers who wanted to stand in solidarity during this

499
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,360
Speaker 6: week of action. The place is called LEIF l EAF.

500
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:20,680
Speaker 6: That is, the Lakewood Environmental Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization

501
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 6: that's dedicated to combating food insecurity here within the city

502
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,240
Speaker 6: of Atlanta, offered up their space to be used for

503
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,680
Speaker 6: people who did not feel safe camping in the forest

504
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:36,600
Speaker 6: because of the over aggression of police there, and they

505
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 6: wanted to stand in solidarity with this week of action,

506
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 6: so LEIF offered up their space for those people to

507
00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 6: camp safely. Unfortunately, this morning, a gang of police officers

508
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 6: descended upon that sacred space.

509
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,120
Speaker 1: During the raid, up to forty officers swarmed the property,

510
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 1: ransacking the infrastructure set up at the Leaf Encampment site.

511
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 1: Cops slashed aparts two medical supply tents, disrupting metical operations,

512
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,040
Speaker 1: broke windows of a camper van parked on the site,

513
00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:11,160
Speaker 1: and ripped apart a greenhouse. Police took pictures of the

514
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 1: people detained at Leaf and collected their ideas, but after

515
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,680
Speaker 1: being held for several hours, the police let all but

516
00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,280
Speaker 1: one person go free. To quote an article by Candice

517
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: Burned in Truth Out Quote, one person was arrested for

518
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:29,440
Speaker 1: an outstanding parking ticket demonstrating the state's desperation to snatch

519
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 1: up anyone associated with the Stop Cop City movement.

520
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:34,600
Speaker 16: Good afternoon, everybody.

521
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 3: My name is Marlon Kautz.

522
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:41,160
Speaker 16: I'm an organizer with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, where civil

523
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 16: liberties and anti repression organization that exists to make sure

524
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,959
Speaker 16: that people who participate in social movements have the right

525
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 16: to protest and don't suffer from repression. So the reason

526
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:57,360
Speaker 16: I'm here is because, as we've all heard previously, there

527
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:03,800
Speaker 16: was an internet of political repression. Early this morning, police

528
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,600
Speaker 16: executed a search warrant and performed the raid against the

529
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:12,600
Speaker 16: Lakewood Environmental Arts Foundation, which is a community space in Lakewood,

530
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:17,040
Speaker 16: Atlanta that exists primarily to serve artists and musicians. It's

531
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,280
Speaker 16: clear that it was part of a political strategy to

532
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,560
Speaker 16: repress and intimidate protesters who are associated with the Stop

533
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,520
Speaker 16: Pop City movement movement to defend the forests. This is

534
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:34,160
Speaker 16: very concerning, especially when taken in context. Of course, it's

535
00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 16: very likely that police are going to report that this

536
00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:42,280
Speaker 16: was part of a routine investigation, a law enforcement matter

537
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,400
Speaker 16: that they had every right to conduct. The other thing

538
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,280
Speaker 16: that police are likely to claim is that they made

539
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:52,560
Speaker 16: an arrest on scene, and our understanding is that they

540
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:56,600
Speaker 16: did make an arrest due to somebody who was there

541
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,440
Speaker 16: having an old traffic ticket from a long time ago.

542
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 16: So it's an important to clarify that the arrest was

543
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,600
Speaker 16: because of a traffic ticket, not because of any alleged

544
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:11,200
Speaker 16: crimes related to the movement or any other serious criminal activity.

545
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 16: So it's important that we understand this raid as part

546
00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:18,600
Speaker 16: of a series of ongoing abuses of the legal process

547
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,479
Speaker 16: to harass and intimidate political throw testers. They were unable

548
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 16: to demonstrate any criminal activity during their raid on the

549
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 16: Lakewood Environmental Arts Foundation, but they're continuing to abuse every

550
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:40,000
Speaker 16: justification that they can to raid spaces, to make arrests,

551
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:41,520
Speaker 16: and to hold people in jail.

552
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:47,000
Speaker 6: So before the police come out and say we raided

553
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:51,360
Speaker 6: this place where all of these outside aggressors were and

554
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 6: we picked up some violent offenders, we want you to

555
00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:57,080
Speaker 6: know that our brothers and sisters who were standing with

556
00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,240
Speaker 6: us in solidarity, just saying hey, we want a camp here,

557
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:02,920
Speaker 6: since we don't feel safe camping in the people's park

558
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,840
Speaker 6: that's been overrun with police repression and aggression.

559
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:08,640
Speaker 12: They raided that place.

560
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 6: They snatched people up, some people were sleeping, They took

561
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:17,240
Speaker 6: pictures of people, they took their IDs, and they searched

562
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:21,200
Speaker 6: and searched, found nothing else, never produced a warrant, and

563
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:26,440
Speaker 6: only one person was arrested because of an outstanding parking ticket.

564
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:31,160
Speaker 1: About a week after the raid, the Guardian obtained evidence

565
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 1: of the search warrant. The warrant stated that there was

566
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 1: probable cause for believing that evidence of quote conspiracy to

567
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,280
Speaker 1: commit to domestic terrorism unquote could be found at the

568
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:47,280
Speaker 1: Lakewood location listed in the warrant where objects officers sought,

569
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:53,959
Speaker 1: which included quote, cameras, radios, boxes of nails, lighters, tents,

570
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:59,120
Speaker 1: camping equipment, spray paint, black clothing, and literature related to

571
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:04,880
Speaker 1: defend the forest. These were the materials tied to domestic terrorism.

572
00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:09,160
Speaker 1: As the week progressed, there were an increasing number of

573
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,600
Speaker 1: reports of police tailing people coming and going from a

574
00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:18,319
Speaker 1: march's and especially the actions downtown. Basically, officers would follow

575
00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:21,600
Speaker 1: people suspected of participating in the movement, pull them over,

576
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,200
Speaker 1: try to id anyone within the vehicles, and then issue

577
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:30,480
Speaker 1: some nonsense traffic citation. This continued on Thursday after the

578
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,080
Speaker 1: Community Movement Builders march, as people were heading home from

579
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:37,480
Speaker 1: the public park. Police stocked a few individuals and pulled

580
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:41,360
Speaker 1: over multiple vehicles. A van carrying one of the speakers

581
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,160
Speaker 1: was targeted, as well as two other cars that were

582
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:48,319
Speaker 1: pulled over as they were leaving the protest. Marlin from

583
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,400
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Solidarity Fund talked about the various ways police

584
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 1: had been using their power to intimidate activists and suppress protest.

585
00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 16: Our organization has gotten many report sort of pretext stops

586
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,600
Speaker 16: of political protesters or people who are suspected of being

587
00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:09,440
Speaker 16: political protesters because of bumper stickers on their car or

588
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 16: the state that their license plate is from. We've gotten

589
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 16: reports of people being stop and frisked simply because they're

590
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:23,600
Speaker 16: profiled as looking like political activists. And of course we've

591
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:29,480
Speaker 16: seen dozens of protesters or suspected protesters arrested and charged

592
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,160
Speaker 16: with domestic terrorism simply because they were found at a

593
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,280
Speaker 16: music festival that's associated with the Stop Cop City movement.

594
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,040
Speaker 16: And so we can see that every step of the way,

595
00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 16: police and prosecutors are abusing the legal process to intimidate

596
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:46,560
Speaker 16: and discourage this movement.

597
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,920
Speaker 2: Throughout this time, police have been watching or monitoring one

598
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,240
Speaker 2: of the off site locations in the forest they've parked

599
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:56,920
Speaker 2: in front of this site and kept up surveillance on it,

600
00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:01,080
Speaker 2: and then leading all the way up into Friday, there

601
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:05,280
Speaker 2: was a journalist pulled over leaving the final non violent

602
00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:08,320
Speaker 2: direct action from Wodriff Park. They were pulled over with

603
00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:12,799
Speaker 2: two other people in the car and detained briefly, ostensibly

604
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:17,360
Speaker 2: to continue to identify and connect people.

605
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,000
Speaker 1: A big part of the story for this week of

606
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,719
Speaker 1: action is the excess of the police response to quite

607
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:28,320
Speaker 1: typical acts of quote unquote nonviolent protest, the sort that

608
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,320
Speaker 1: the government and even the police loved to claim that

609
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,560
Speaker 1: they actually protect. With every single action downtown this week,

610
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 1: virtually no laws were being broken, not even any civil disobedience.

611
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:43,640
Speaker 1: People were handing out flyers, marching on sidewalks giving out letters,

612
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:47,440
Speaker 1: and the police's response was to deploy SWAT, to mobilize

613
00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,279
Speaker 1: hundreds of officers, to shut down multiple city blocks, to

614
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,239
Speaker 1: carry ar fifteens as they tail crowds of a few

615
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,680
Speaker 1: dozen people just walking on the sidewalk and yelling at

616
00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,600
Speaker 1: people if they accidentally miss this, step off the curb

617
00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:04,719
Speaker 1: and threaten violent arrest. This was the sort of extremely

618
00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:08,839
Speaker 1: aggressive response to people doing protest quote unquote the right

619
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:10,040
Speaker 1: way we.

620
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,120
Speaker 2: Should highlight that. That is the apparent goal of these

621
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:15,799
Speaker 2: protests was to show that even when they are doing

622
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,680
Speaker 2: things the right way, this is how the state reacts

623
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:19,480
Speaker 2: to dissent.

624
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:23,279
Speaker 1: It reacts in this militarized fashion where you like it's

625
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 1: it's I think a big part of what's happened in

626
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:29,000
Speaker 1: these types of protests that have happened the past week

627
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:33,319
Speaker 1: is demonstrating why people are campaigning to stop Cop City

628
00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:36,600
Speaker 1: because the sheer amount of resources that the police already

629
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,320
Speaker 1: have in the city to be deploying hundreds and hundreds

630
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:43,080
Speaker 1: of officers every single day to respond to people handing

631
00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:46,600
Speaker 1: out flyers, it's like to respond to people who are

632
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:51,160
Speaker 1: walking on the sidewalks. They have this massive amount of resources.

633
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:54,239
Speaker 1: They're using tear gas in the woods, they're using paper balls,

634
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:58,840
Speaker 1: they're using flash bangs, they're they're having multiple different swat

635
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:02,600
Speaker 1: teams follow around people handing out pamphlets. The level of

636
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:07,440
Speaker 1: police militarization in Atlanta is already at this extremely high point,

637
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,480
Speaker 1: and COP City is only going to intensify that. And

638
00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:13,919
Speaker 1: that is the reason they want to build COP City.

639
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,959
Speaker 1: It's for this type of urban counterinsurgency training to quell

640
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:20,240
Speaker 1: civil unrest and to quell protest.

641
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:24,680
Speaker 6: On Thursday night, we held a very peaceful and successful

642
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,960
Speaker 6: march in downtown Atlanta, starting at the King Center. We

643
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:30,680
Speaker 6: had someone who.

644
00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:31,400
Speaker 3: Was stopped by the.

645
00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:35,760
Speaker 6: Police and asked if he was picking up protesters, taken

646
00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:39,880
Speaker 6: out of the vehicle, handcuffed for no reason. They couldn't

647
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,560
Speaker 6: find a reason to detain him any longer, so they

648
00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,399
Speaker 6: had to let him go. But Atlanta, this is why

649
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,800
Speaker 6: we're standing against cop City, because if cop City is built,

650
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,040
Speaker 6: you can guarantee that you won't even be able to

651
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:54,560
Speaker 6: go to the grocery store without being harassed by the

652
00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 6: police for no reason at all.

653
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,800
Speaker 1: When I spoke with Matthew Johnson, he brought up a

654
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:00,960
Speaker 1: similar point.

655
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:04,480
Speaker 5: With the resources that the police had to respond in

656
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,560
Speaker 5: the way that they did. The assertion that they need

657
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:12,680
Speaker 5: more training in a militarized facility or they need more

658
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:19,160
Speaker 5: resources is crazy because you had them literally outnumbering protesters

659
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:24,719
Speaker 5: and kettling them. And we have credible sources that say

660
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:29,399
Speaker 5: that there were swat forces who had instructed the officers

661
00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:35,680
Speaker 5: to arrest nonviolent protesters, and there were actually police officers

662
00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:38,120
Speaker 5: that refused to take that order, which I think is

663
00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:43,359
Speaker 5: another fascinating dynamic that is worth exploring and understanding more.

664
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:48,439
Speaker 5: But just with the resources that they had to try

665
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:54,319
Speaker 5: to shut down protesters, harass folks, constantly ticket and pull

666
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,400
Speaker 5: over people that they saw, you know, creating like a

667
00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:01,840
Speaker 5: logistical framework for the week of action is nuts, and

668
00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:08,400
Speaker 5: they're making our point for us. On Friday, the word

669
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:13,040
Speaker 5: came out that Tortugita had bullet holes through both of

670
00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:17,120
Speaker 5: their palms and that they were more than likely sitting

671
00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:20,640
Speaker 5: cross leg with their hands up when they were shot

672
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:24,680
Speaker 5: by police. And now we are supposed to be convinced

673
00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:29,480
Speaker 5: that these people that lied about this killed somebody that

674
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:33,160
Speaker 5: was absolutely no threat to them. On the same grounds

675
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:36,120
Speaker 5: that they're trying to build this police training facility, we're

676
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:38,960
Speaker 5: supposed to believe that this is going to make them

677
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:44,160
Speaker 5: less violent towards people, like as you're building a militarized

678
00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:47,320
Speaker 5: police training facility and like people that try to convince

679
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:49,719
Speaker 5: themselves that these is going to be a place where

680
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:53,880
Speaker 5: people are also being taught de escalation tactics while like

681
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,160
Speaker 5: everything around that is militarized. It's like if you had

682
00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:01,600
Speaker 5: somebody build a water park and you're like, oh, yeah,

683
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:03,800
Speaker 5: I'm just trying to stay dry. I don't want to

684
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:05,840
Speaker 5: get splash or anything like that. And it's like, oh, no, no, no,

685
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,759
Speaker 5: don't worries. We have a food court right in the

686
00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:10,719
Speaker 5: middle of it, and it's great, you're really just coming

687
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:12,960
Speaker 5: there for the food court, so don't worry about it.

688
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:18,040
Speaker 5: And then like you go there and then you get splashed.

689
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,239
Speaker 5: What were you expecting? Like, that's obviously not what that

690
00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:28,239
Speaker 5: facility's for because all the infrastructure around it is made

691
00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:31,440
Speaker 5: to be a water park or a militarized police training facility.

692
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 5: So don't be surprised when maybe they might have one

693
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:36,680
Speaker 5: de escalation program and like you know where the food

694
00:41:36,719 --> 00:41:40,520
Speaker 5: court would be, and then somebody gets killed, right, because

695
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,560
Speaker 5: they're actually building the infrastructure for killing. So that's where

696
00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:44,839
Speaker 5: we're at.

697
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:48,040
Speaker 1: This week of action has shown a lot about how

698
00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:51,839
Speaker 1: the police are operating post the twenty twenty Uprising, how

699
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,040
Speaker 1: they will respond to people exercising their First Amendment right,

700
00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:59,040
Speaker 1: and the indiscriminate way that police will respond to any

701
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:03,439
Speaker 1: active protests. One of the main takeaways from this week

702
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:07,479
Speaker 1: is that their response to protest is deployed against people

703
00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:11,680
Speaker 1: without target or focus. They care very little if you

704
00:42:11,719 --> 00:42:14,520
Speaker 1: are breaking a window or if you're marching on the sidewalk,

705
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:18,400
Speaker 1: they're still gonna send the SWAT team. Police are acting

706
00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:22,440
Speaker 1: as if they are entirely incapable of differentiating between acts

707
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,479
Speaker 1: of descent. Toward the end of the week, I sat

708
00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:29,040
Speaker 1: down and talked with an unnamed forest defender to get

709
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:32,440
Speaker 1: their thoughts on the week of action. For security reasons,

710
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:33,840
Speaker 1: we did a vocal replacement.

711
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,640
Speaker 7: The police presence has been pretty unprecedented. I haven't seen

712
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:40,680
Speaker 7: shit like that here since twenty twenty, not downtown at least,

713
00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:43,080
Speaker 7: I mean shit, I don't think we had seen gas

714
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:45,320
Speaker 7: in Atlanta in a minute, and then they gassed the forest.

715
00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:47,839
Speaker 7: It'd been a while, but yeah, I mean they're punching out,

716
00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:50,600
Speaker 7: especially like Tuesday, they were putting a one hundred and

717
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:53,440
Speaker 7: fifty two hundred cops the entirety of downtown. I mean

718
00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:58,120
Speaker 7: multi jurisdictional task forces deployed multiple different Atlanta APD SWAT

719
00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:01,719
Speaker 7: teams between like regular APD SWAT and APEX, which is

720
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:04,560
Speaker 7: like the Drug and Gang Interdiction Unit. I mean a

721
00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:08,120
Speaker 7: fucking whole drone unit, GSP, some weird unmarked cars that

722
00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:11,360
Speaker 7: I won't speculate on, helicopters, all that shit. You know,

723
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:13,520
Speaker 7: the type of police response you would expect to see

724
00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:15,759
Speaker 7: in like a dystopian fucking police state. For some people

725
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:18,440
Speaker 7: handing out flyers that just say this is bad for

726
00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:21,000
Speaker 7: the environment, doesn't matter how milk toast or not, and

727
00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:22,719
Speaker 7: like I shouldn't say milk toast, like that's not a

728
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:25,040
Speaker 7: bad thing. We need people to go hand out flyers.

729
00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:27,520
Speaker 7: We need to inform people as far as what this

730
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,280
Speaker 7: is to get people involved, but like as non violent

731
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:31,919
Speaker 7: as you can get, and still they're going to treat

732
00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:33,960
Speaker 7: you like your fucking al Qaeda, you know, and it

733
00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:37,759
Speaker 7: puts you in a weird position because then it's like, okay, cool,

734
00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:39,759
Speaker 7: if you're going to treat us the exact same for

735
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:43,480
Speaker 7: being nonviolent, why not do crime. If the police response

736
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:45,480
Speaker 7: to an assault on an outpost that drove the police

737
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:47,680
Speaker 7: out and burned five things down, the police response to

738
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:50,160
Speaker 7: fifteen people handing out flyers downtown are going to be

739
00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:53,200
Speaker 7: about the same, then why not take more militant radical action.

740
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:57,560
Speaker 1: The twenty three people arrested on Sunday, March fifth, we're

741
00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:00,880
Speaker 1: not arrested as anyone was torching a whipment. They were

742
00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:03,800
Speaker 1: not arrested at the power line cut it was people

743
00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:07,720
Speaker 1: who were attending a music festival. Arrests were not widely

744
00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:11,800
Speaker 1: targeted against people who police knew were engaged in property destruction.

745
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:15,759
Speaker 1: They were targeted against anyone the cops could grab. Same

746
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:18,600
Speaker 1: was the case at the January twenty first action, where

747
00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:22,279
Speaker 1: people were marching downtown the Saturday after Tortugita was killed.

748
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:26,840
Speaker 1: The only people arrested and subsequently charged with domestic terrorism

749
00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:31,000
Speaker 1: was anyone the police could get their hands on. Officers

750
00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:34,400
Speaker 1: went after people who were carrying banners the entire duration

751
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:37,560
Speaker 1: of the march. It was not targeted against people who

752
00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 1: were engaged in militant action. Among all this talk of

753
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:55,000
Speaker 1: police repression and multiple raids, it's easy to overlook that

754
00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:59,359
Speaker 1: throughout the week people still sought opportunities for finding joy

755
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:04,040
Speaker 1: and resistance, because most people wouldn't dedicate years of their

756
00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:07,080
Speaker 1: life to this if it was just miserable battles with

757
00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 1: police the whole time.

758
00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:11,000
Speaker 2: I think one thing that's been lost in all of this, too,

759
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:13,600
Speaker 2: is all of the lighthearted events that have continued to

760
00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:17,440
Speaker 2: go on through the week, and like the joy of

761
00:45:17,560 --> 00:45:21,080
Speaker 2: the movement that was represented in the Bouncy Castle rip,

762
00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:21,960
Speaker 2: but that.

763
00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:24,640
Speaker 1: Joy is continuing in the woods, like people still continue

764
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:26,319
Speaker 1: to camp in the woods. People are still having dinner

765
00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:29,080
Speaker 1: in the woods. People are still having camp fires, people

766
00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:30,799
Speaker 1: are still talking the woods. It is still a place

767
00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 1: that people are gathering at and are enjoying each other.

768
00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:36,920
Speaker 1: Is company in now are enjoying the woods in It

769
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:41,080
Speaker 1: is a place that the morale has never been fully crushed.

770
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:43,920
Speaker 2: The morale has never been fully crushed, And like the

771
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:50,320
Speaker 2: participatory acts of the Week of Action are continuing like

772
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:53,160
Speaker 2: none of that has been quashed.

773
00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:57,359
Speaker 1: An example of the joyful, continuous resistance during the Week

774
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:00,040
Speaker 1: of Action can be found at the youth rally that

775
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:04,160
Speaker 1: happened on Saturday the eleventh. All right, so I'm at

776
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:08,200
Speaker 1: the youth rally Saturday, after the warrant was served on

777
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:11,360
Speaker 1: the meetup spot in southeast Atlanta. There's around two hundred

778
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:15,440
Speaker 1: people marching through East Village in Atlanta. Pretty pretty joyous

779
00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:18,280
Speaker 1: group here actually, and they're actually like on the streets.

780
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:19,440
Speaker 3: This is the first time we've had a.

781
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:23,120
Speaker 1: Large march like this take to the streets because every

782
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:25,960
Speaker 1: action that was in downtown or midten Atlanta was just

783
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:30,160
Speaker 1: so heavily surveilled by police who were not letting anyone

784
00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:32,480
Speaker 1: get near the street at all, but there's no police here.

785
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:36,600
Speaker 1: They were busy doing the search warrant. So this group

786
00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:38,520
Speaker 1: is actually is actually able to take to the streets.

787
00:46:39,239 --> 00:46:42,160
Speaker 1: It's like everyone kind of in this area of Atlanta

788
00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:47,600
Speaker 1: is pretty pretty pro pro this little protest here. There's

789
00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:51,160
Speaker 1: like workers from the little shops and stores nodding along.

790
00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:53,600
Speaker 2: Fulton County Share has just walked by the march like

791
00:46:53,719 --> 00:46:57,000
Speaker 2: on there, just you know, off shift workout routine, wearing

792
00:46:57,080 --> 00:46:57,919
Speaker 2: Fulden County gear.

793
00:46:58,640 --> 00:46:59,400
Speaker 3: That's pretty funny.

794
00:47:00,239 --> 00:47:04,720
Speaker 1: People dancing in the streets, Families walking with their kids

795
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:08,400
Speaker 1: through the streets all right, walking around the park that

796
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:13,040
Speaker 1: the youth rally started at, and the press conference about

797
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:16,440
Speaker 1: the raid this morning just ended at There's as you

798
00:47:16,520 --> 00:47:18,759
Speaker 1: can probably hear, kids play in the park.

799
00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:20,440
Speaker 3: People are handing out food.

800
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:23,040
Speaker 1: It's a massive, massive amount of food just in the

801
00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:26,160
Speaker 1: middle of the park with levels table set up. Overall,

802
00:47:26,239 --> 00:47:28,760
Speaker 1: this is kind of one of the more joyous events

803
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:33,120
Speaker 1: that we've had since the initial Saturday rally at Gresham Park,

804
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:36,399
Speaker 1: just with the amount of food, the amount of kids

805
00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:39,400
Speaker 1: just running around and playing, all of all the information

806
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:42,320
Speaker 1: tables that are handing out literature and giving you know,

807
00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:45,640
Speaker 1: making connections with people. Yeah, when I was down here

808
00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:49,080
Speaker 1: in January, the mood was very somber. The mood was

809
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:52,600
Speaker 1: very grim like coming to the vigil when there was

810
00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:56,200
Speaker 1: the destroyed remains of the gazebo, the torn up parking lot,

811
00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,200
Speaker 1: all of the trees in there still within their like

812
00:47:59,719 --> 00:48:02,719
Speaker 1: winter state, with all of the leaves gone. Everything was

813
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:05,160
Speaker 1: very kind of barren. And the first thing I noticed

814
00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:08,040
Speaker 1: on Saturday as we were marching is like there's new

815
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:12,440
Speaker 1: life springing in the woods. There's this invigorated sense of

816
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:16,680
Speaker 1: the almost assurance of victory that people are carrying with

817
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:19,239
Speaker 1: them as they take action. And I think that really

818
00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:21,680
Speaker 1: does change what the action you take is, and that

819
00:48:21,800 --> 00:48:23,919
Speaker 1: does change the types of results that people will see,

820
00:48:24,239 --> 00:48:26,840
Speaker 1: is if they go at this with the idea that

821
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:28,480
Speaker 1: we are going to win this.

822
00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:30,960
Speaker 2: And I think that that is kind of why the

823
00:48:31,040 --> 00:48:34,160
Speaker 2: non violent direct actions have become like that have moved

824
00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:36,600
Speaker 2: to the floor. Right when you think that you're going

825
00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:40,120
Speaker 2: to lose and you have nothing to lose, you engage

826
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:44,800
Speaker 2: in these incredibly radical actions because what else are you

827
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,200
Speaker 2: going to do? Yeah, and then when you have this

828
00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:49,960
Speaker 2: belief that no, we can win, we just have to

829
00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:51,440
Speaker 2: find that pathway.

830
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:53,400
Speaker 1: And that is a part of the diversity of tactics

831
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:56,239
Speaker 1: is using both of those and almost every ecological movement

832
00:48:56,239 --> 00:49:00,360
Speaker 1: that's been successful has demonstrated that the pathway to success

833
00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:03,879
Speaker 1: is often paved with a diversity of tactics, with people

834
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:08,640
Speaker 1: doing nonviolent action at noon, which will pull a massive

835
00:49:08,680 --> 00:49:12,279
Speaker 1: militarized police response as people are doing regular ass shit.

836
00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:14,919
Speaker 1: And then a part of diversity of tactics is also

837
00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:18,880
Speaker 1: people leaving a music festival to go torch a bulldozer

838
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:21,800
Speaker 1: at both Both of those things are a diversity of tactics.

839
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:26,520
Speaker 1: Now I stand by most of that statement. However, issues

840
00:49:26,680 --> 00:49:30,040
Speaker 1: can arise when there is a ticking clock and during

841
00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:34,280
Speaker 1: the time spent looking for this pathway, the enemy meanwhile

842
00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:39,360
Speaker 1: is making steady progress. Issues may also arise when a

843
00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:43,600
Speaker 1: large diversity of tactics is shoved under just one roof.

844
00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:48,800
Speaker 1: I had a lot of conversations with movement participants regarding

845
00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:52,359
Speaker 1: the direct action that happened on Sunday night and how

846
00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:55,719
Speaker 1: it cast a shadow of repression over the whole week

847
00:49:55,800 --> 00:50:02,040
Speaker 1: of action. To synthesize the many conversations. In general, most

848
00:50:02,080 --> 00:50:06,200
Speaker 1: people thought that what physically happened was good. The actual

849
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:10,440
Speaker 1: actions at the North gate were successful and justified, but

850
00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:13,560
Speaker 1: there are other things on the periphery of that action

851
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:16,360
Speaker 1: that make it slightly more complicated.

852
00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:19,320
Speaker 5: And now we can have lots of questions about tactics

853
00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:23,839
Speaker 5: and cost benefit analysis about that action, which I did

854
00:50:23,960 --> 00:50:26,600
Speaker 5: not think it would be wise, especially being so visible

855
00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:29,919
Speaker 5: for me to have to be anywhere near on that day.

856
00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:33,680
Speaker 5: We can have questions about that, But what was for

857
00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:37,480
Speaker 5: certain was that the way in which the police responded

858
00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:43,520
Speaker 5: was absurd and predictably so now with the destruction that

859
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:45,600
Speaker 5: I saw, et cetera cost them less than a million

860
00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:49,880
Speaker 5: dollars and maybe like two weeks actually of construction that

861
00:50:49,960 --> 00:50:52,880
Speaker 5: they were pushed back max. These are like max numbers.

862
00:50:53,800 --> 00:50:56,840
Speaker 5: Was that worth twenty three people being arrested and quaching

863
00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:01,520
Speaker 5: what could have been a larger Aki patient and wider

864
00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:05,920
Speaker 5: participation and wider buying in the movement. Instead, by the

865
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:09,200
Speaker 5: time we got to Monday, the clergy was having to

866
00:51:09,239 --> 00:51:11,440
Speaker 5: do clean up rather than like cast division of what

867
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:15,680
Speaker 5: the world could be. And so these are tradeoffs right

868
00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:20,080
Speaker 5: where even though we have to be very clear about

869
00:51:20,200 --> 00:51:24,160
Speaker 5: what a diversity of tactics means, and also a separation

870
00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:28,480
Speaker 5: of time and space. So I mean we can't just

871
00:51:28,560 --> 00:51:31,320
Speaker 5: look at a diversity of tactics and everybody does what

872
00:51:31,440 --> 00:51:34,040
Speaker 5: they want as if they're operating in a sylo but

873
00:51:34,239 --> 00:51:37,840
Speaker 5: rather we give space for one another to do different

874
00:51:37,960 --> 00:51:42,040
Speaker 5: things that may work, respectful of the fact that some

875
00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:44,320
Speaker 5: of our actions may affect one another.

876
00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:47,440
Speaker 1: In the lead up to the Week of Action, night

877
00:51:47,520 --> 00:51:52,560
Speaker 1: time sabotage actions decreased around Atlanta in favor of these

878
00:51:52,719 --> 00:51:56,800
Speaker 1: big public demos during daylight. That seems to result in

879
00:51:57,120 --> 00:52:01,320
Speaker 1: more people getting arrested. And what the results of Sunday's

880
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:04,560
Speaker 1: action happening in such close proximity to the festival and

881
00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:08,080
Speaker 1: the encampments is that the people at the festival and

882
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:11,560
Speaker 1: in the woods who did not consent to participating in

883
00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:16,120
Speaker 1: a high profile direct action got disproportionately hit with the

884
00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:19,839
Speaker 1: immediate repression from police. A lot of the people who

885
00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:23,279
Speaker 1: were arrested were completely unaware of the actions that took

886
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:26,480
Speaker 1: place at the North Gate. Even if those actions were

887
00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:30,280
Speaker 1: one hundred percent justified in the end, it still creates

888
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:34,759
Speaker 1: a dynamic with an unequal distribution of police violence. Now,

889
00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:38,239
Speaker 1: obviously the woods are an inherently dangerous place to be,

890
00:52:38,840 --> 00:52:42,520
Speaker 1: and people are not responsible for actions that police choose

891
00:52:42,600 --> 00:52:46,000
Speaker 1: to take, but there are still considerations to be had

892
00:52:46,239 --> 00:52:50,719
Speaker 1: regarding the proximity of space and time when engaging in

893
00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:54,880
Speaker 1: more risky actions, and how the consequences of those actions

894
00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:58,080
Speaker 1: may affect people who did not consent to participating in

895
00:52:58,200 --> 00:53:03,200
Speaker 1: actions at other locations, especially when people are lulled into

896
00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:06,400
Speaker 1: a false sense of safety by claiming that police have

897
00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:11,040
Speaker 1: never cracked down hard in the forest during previous weeks

898
00:53:11,080 --> 00:53:11,439
Speaker 1: of action.

899
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:14,960
Speaker 7: Yeah, in terms of the actions done Sunday, in reference

900
00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:17,640
Speaker 7: to a group of people assaulting a like police position,

901
00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:20,040
Speaker 7: driving them out with force, and then burning their shit,

902
00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:22,200
Speaker 7: that was all good and we should not denounce that

903
00:53:22,320 --> 00:53:25,560
Speaker 7: or step away from it. It only harms the movement

904
00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:27,600
Speaker 7: to back away from radical action and act like there

905
00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:32,080
Speaker 7: are definitions of good or bad protesters, because eventually the

906
00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:35,120
Speaker 7: logical conclusion of that is snitching, and that only furthers

907
00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:38,360
Speaker 7: like the GBI's motivations to tear the movement apart. What

908
00:53:38,480 --> 00:53:41,719
Speaker 7: went wrong Sunday is as a result of two things.

909
00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:45,479
Speaker 7: It's one that the police used indiscriminate violence when people

910
00:53:45,560 --> 00:53:48,200
Speaker 7: beat them. They were beaten, they got angry, and they

911
00:53:48,239 --> 00:53:50,160
Speaker 7: were beaten because they got their shit rocked by like

912
00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:53,640
Speaker 7: fireworks and then they use in discriminate violence against people

913
00:53:53,640 --> 00:53:55,120
Speaker 7: who they knew were on the side of like where

914
00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:57,759
Speaker 7: the events were that weren't where all the militants were

915
00:53:57,760 --> 00:53:59,920
Speaker 7: coming back from. They didn't want to go up against

916
00:54:00,160 --> 00:54:03,799
Speaker 7: those people because they're cowards. And second, because of how

917
00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:06,239
Speaker 7: big the movement's gotten over the past two years, the

918
00:54:06,280 --> 00:54:09,160
Speaker 7: strategy of the Weeks of Action has stagnated. It's made

919
00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:11,640
Speaker 7: it so work so compact in a singular week that

920
00:54:11,719 --> 00:54:13,640
Speaker 7: when you have all of the diversity of tactics that

921
00:54:13,719 --> 00:54:16,680
Speaker 7: exist within Defend the Atlanta Forest and stop Coop City,

922
00:54:17,239 --> 00:54:19,759
Speaker 7: those tactics with how big everything is now, they start

923
00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:22,520
Speaker 7: to step on each other's toes. They can hurt each

924
00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:25,040
Speaker 7: other sometimes because yeah, not everyone who was at the

925
00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:27,719
Speaker 7: RC field was like ready for the consequences of like

926
00:54:27,800 --> 00:54:30,640
Speaker 7: a militant radical action like that. And that doesn't mean

927
00:54:30,719 --> 00:54:32,960
Speaker 7: that the action wasn't good or justified, because the action

928
00:54:33,160 --> 00:54:36,359
Speaker 7: was wildly successful. There were no arrests made at that action.

929
00:54:36,680 --> 00:54:38,360
Speaker 7: There were a rest made when the police got angry

930
00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:40,640
Speaker 7: and used indiscriminate violence because they were pissed off and

931
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:42,080
Speaker 7: they wanted to riot, so.

932
00:54:42,440 --> 00:54:46,080
Speaker 1: They retaliated at a music festival that was happening nearby.

933
00:54:46,680 --> 00:54:49,200
Speaker 7: Yes, and that's the fault of nobody but the police.

934
00:54:49,600 --> 00:54:51,160
Speaker 7: That's not the fault of the people who went and

935
00:54:51,200 --> 00:54:53,960
Speaker 7: assaulted that outpost. That's only the fault of the police,

936
00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:56,120
Speaker 7: and really the fault of a bad long term strategy

937
00:54:56,160 --> 00:55:00,120
Speaker 7: of too heavily compacting factors of you know, being just

938
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:02,600
Speaker 7: like a week and where making it so this movement

939
00:55:02,640 --> 00:55:05,280
Speaker 7: where people can take radical action, it feels so limited

940
00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:08,279
Speaker 7: to just inside the forest because that puts people in

941
00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:11,800
Speaker 7: harms way, and that put people in harms way, including

942
00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:14,160
Speaker 7: the people who you know, went and did the thing

943
00:55:14,239 --> 00:55:16,920
Speaker 7: on Sunday. But no, it would be wrong as the

944
00:55:16,960 --> 00:55:18,960
Speaker 7: movement to like balk out a radical action like that.

945
00:55:19,320 --> 00:55:21,080
Speaker 7: Radical action like that is such a big part of

946
00:55:21,120 --> 00:55:23,440
Speaker 7: why this movement has been as successful as it has been.

947
00:55:23,920 --> 00:55:25,719
Speaker 7: It's a huge part of why the police didn't do

948
00:55:25,880 --> 00:55:28,120
Speaker 7: like a full sweep or a larger sweep or a

949
00:55:28,200 --> 00:55:30,520
Speaker 7: series of raids in the following days, because they were

950
00:55:30,560 --> 00:55:32,719
Speaker 7: afraid that those three hundred to four hundred people who

951
00:55:32,800 --> 00:55:34,840
Speaker 7: hit that out posts were lying and waiting in the

952
00:55:34,920 --> 00:55:36,800
Speaker 7: forest ready to attack them, because they were afraid of

953
00:55:36,880 --> 00:55:37,919
Speaker 7: militant radical action.

954
00:55:38,520 --> 00:55:41,400
Speaker 1: On Thursday, when I was in front of the APF building.

955
00:55:41,640 --> 00:55:44,799
Speaker 1: I could like hear some of the supervisors and coordinators

956
00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:49,040
Speaker 1: talking about being scared of ambushes or like being scared

957
00:55:49,120 --> 00:55:53,560
Speaker 1: of splinter groups, like being staged to attack officers. It's

958
00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:57,120
Speaker 1: it's bizarre how fearful they are. Of the types of

959
00:55:57,200 --> 00:56:00,240
Speaker 1: people who are opposing the cop City project.

960
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:02,080
Speaker 7: They're the most afraid of the people who are willing

961
00:56:02,120 --> 00:56:04,719
Speaker 7: to go do physical violence to them, and not even

962
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,719
Speaker 7: physical violence, but people who are just willing to throw

963
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:09,600
Speaker 7: a rock at them or like a firework. Once they

964
00:56:09,680 --> 00:56:12,759
Speaker 7: realize that they haven't paralyzed somebody with fear, once they

965
00:56:12,840 --> 00:56:14,480
Speaker 7: realize that they have not made you so afraid of

966
00:56:14,520 --> 00:56:16,440
Speaker 7: taking action, they become such cowards.

967
00:56:18,080 --> 00:56:21,680
Speaker 1: In the aftermath of the police killing forest defender Tortigita,

968
00:56:22,280 --> 00:56:25,480
Speaker 1: law enforcement agencies tried to claim that Tortigita shot at

969
00:56:25,520 --> 00:56:30,360
Speaker 1: them first, leaving one officer injured, but recently released findings

970
00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:34,280
Speaker 1: from multiple autopsies have cast more doubt on the state's

971
00:56:34,520 --> 00:56:39,160
Speaker 1: version of events. On the afternoon of Friday, March tenth,

972
00:56:39,360 --> 00:56:42,040
Speaker 1: towards the end of the week of action, the family

973
00:56:42,120 --> 00:56:45,600
Speaker 1: of Tortighita released the findings of an independent autopsy done

974
00:56:45,640 --> 00:56:50,759
Speaker 1: by former GBI Chief Medical Examiner, doctor Chris Sperry. The

975
00:56:50,880 --> 00:56:54,520
Speaker 1: results suggested that Tortighito was sitting cross legged with their

976
00:56:54,640 --> 00:56:57,360
Speaker 1: hands in front of their face when shot and bullet

977
00:56:57,400 --> 00:57:00,000
Speaker 1: exit wounds through the palms of both of their hands.

978
00:57:01,360 --> 00:57:05,280
Speaker 1: The family ordered autopsy also did not find any evidence

979
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:09,920
Speaker 1: of gunshot residue from a GSR test kit, and then

980
00:57:10,040 --> 00:57:13,200
Speaker 1: a month later, Decab County released the results of their

981
00:57:13,280 --> 00:57:17,240
Speaker 1: official autopsy, which found at least fifty seven bullet wounds

982
00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:21,600
Speaker 1: across Tortigita's body and according to this autopsy, torte did

983
00:57:21,640 --> 00:57:25,600
Speaker 1: not have any gunpowder residue on its hands. Then, a

984
00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:29,320
Speaker 1: few days later, via a public records request, the Atlanta

985
00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:33,240
Speaker 1: Community Press Collective received the gunshot residue test kit from

986
00:57:33,280 --> 00:57:37,760
Speaker 1: the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime Lab. The document contained

987
00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:41,360
Speaker 1: the names of six Georgia State Patrol SWAT members who

988
00:57:41,640 --> 00:57:47,120
Speaker 1: shot and killed Tortigita, Bryland L. Myers, Jerry A. Parrish,

989
00:57:47,560 --> 00:57:53,560
Speaker 1: Jonathan Salceda, Jonathan Mark lamb Ronaldo Kegel, and Royce Zaw,

990
00:57:54,240 --> 00:57:57,400
Speaker 1: with Zaw being the subject of a lawsuit after he

991
00:57:57,520 --> 00:57:59,840
Speaker 1: shot a protester in the face with a les lethal

992
00:58:00,720 --> 00:58:03,760
Speaker 1: during the George Floyd protests in May of twenty twenty.

993
00:58:04,560 --> 00:58:07,640
Speaker 1: The document also included the results of the GBI's crime

994
00:58:07,720 --> 00:58:11,440
Speaker 1: lab report, claiming that they found quote the presence of

995
00:58:11,560 --> 00:58:15,960
Speaker 1: more than five particles characteristic of gunshot primer residue unquote

996
00:58:16,280 --> 00:58:20,200
Speaker 1: from a test kit, with the report also stating quote,

997
00:58:20,640 --> 00:58:22,760
Speaker 1: it should be noted that it is possible for a

998
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:27,120
Speaker 1: victim of gunshot wounds to have GSR present on their

999
00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:31,400
Speaker 1: hands unquote, considering that among the more than fifty seven

1000
00:58:31,480 --> 00:58:35,280
Speaker 1: gunshot wounds were entrance and exit wounds on Torteghita's hands,

1001
00:58:35,720 --> 00:58:38,919
Speaker 1: which could be cause for gunshot residue if the crime

1002
00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:41,960
Speaker 1: lab findings are genuine. The findings do not point to

1003
00:58:42,000 --> 00:58:45,320
Speaker 1: any specific interpretation of events, as it's not unusual to

1004
00:58:45,400 --> 00:58:48,400
Speaker 1: find primer residue on the hands of a victim following

1005
00:58:48,480 --> 00:58:51,680
Speaker 1: the path of a bullet. Plus, coupled with the ever

1006
00:58:51,880 --> 00:58:55,160
Speaker 1: changing story from the GBI, on the ground chatter from

1007
00:58:55,160 --> 00:58:58,720
Speaker 1: APD officers claiming that george State Patrol quote fucked their

1008
00:58:58,760 --> 00:59:01,920
Speaker 1: own officer up unquote, as well as reports from forced

1009
00:59:01,920 --> 00:59:05,120
Speaker 1: defenders from the day of the shooting, there is indication

1010
00:59:05,360 --> 00:59:08,480
Speaker 1: that Georgia State Patrol most likely suffered from so called

1011
00:59:08,600 --> 00:59:12,480
Speaker 1: friendly fire, with many people believing that the killing of

1012
00:59:12,520 --> 00:59:19,040
Speaker 1: Tortighita was essentially an execution. Instant reports obtained via public

1013
00:59:19,080 --> 00:59:23,400
Speaker 1: records requests also revealed that GSP fired a quote unquote,

1014
00:59:23,400 --> 00:59:27,480
Speaker 1: a Leslie thul pepperball gun at Tortighita's tent as SWAT

1015
00:59:27,560 --> 00:59:31,760
Speaker 1: initially approached, once again contradicting the claims made by GBI

1016
00:59:31,880 --> 00:59:36,720
Speaker 1: officials in the months since the killing. As the week

1017
00:59:36,880 --> 00:59:40,920
Speaker 1: came to a close on Sunday, March eleventh, a memorial

1018
00:59:41,000 --> 00:59:44,960
Speaker 1: service for Tortighita was held in the Malani Forest, where

1019
00:59:45,200 --> 00:59:48,840
Speaker 1: Towrt's family spread their ashes in the forest it died

1020
00:59:48,960 --> 00:59:54,040
Speaker 1: to protect. I attended the Sunday morning memorial. The sky

1021
00:59:54,240 --> 00:59:57,760
Speaker 1: opened up and poured down rain in South Atlanta throughout

1022
00:59:57,880 --> 01:00:02,160
Speaker 1: the whole morning of people gathered in Wallaanne People's Park

1023
01:00:02,440 --> 01:00:07,720
Speaker 1: to light candles under a canopy and hear from Tort's family. Then,

1024
01:00:08,120 --> 01:00:11,520
Speaker 1: led by Tortighita's mother, we walked through the forest to

1025
01:00:11,640 --> 01:00:14,600
Speaker 1: the site of the shooting, where a banner hung that read,

1026
01:00:14,760 --> 01:00:21,240
Speaker 1: quote on this ground, GSP assassinated forest defender, comrade, friend

1027
01:00:21,560 --> 01:00:29,040
Speaker 1: lover Tortigita unquote. Family and friends spread Tortigita's ashes throughout

1028
01:00:29,080 --> 01:00:33,520
Speaker 1: the woods along the path to quote Candice Burned in

1029
01:00:33,560 --> 01:00:38,320
Speaker 1: Truth Out. In contrast to its tumultuous start, Sunday's vigil

1030
01:00:38,440 --> 01:00:42,800
Speaker 1: and ceremony provided a somber and heartfelt close to the

1031
01:00:42,920 --> 01:00:44,080
Speaker 1: fifth week of Action.

1032
01:00:46,040 --> 01:00:46,760
Speaker 3: I met up with.

1033
01:00:46,960 --> 01:00:50,200
Speaker 1: Matthew Johnson after the memorial to discuss the week of Action,

1034
01:00:50,600 --> 01:00:53,800
Speaker 1: and we briefly touched on the memorial in the forest.

1035
01:00:54,720 --> 01:00:59,680
Speaker 5: I think that we have to hold space for very

1036
01:01:00,120 --> 01:01:04,360
Speaker 5: o grief. We lost a friend, and at the same time,

1037
01:01:04,560 --> 01:01:09,120
Speaker 5: just two days ago, on a Friday, what we always

1038
01:01:09,240 --> 01:01:12,920
Speaker 5: knew to be true was found to clearly be true.

1039
01:01:13,680 --> 01:01:17,720
Speaker 5: Torte Ghita was murdered and we have to bear the

1040
01:01:17,800 --> 01:01:21,440
Speaker 5: BRender of that pain. And all the people in power

1041
01:01:22,200 --> 01:01:27,240
Speaker 5: lied and even gave their condolences to a state trooper

1042
01:01:27,320 --> 01:01:29,840
Speaker 5: that seemed as if he was shot by a state

1043
01:01:29,920 --> 01:01:35,360
Speaker 5: trooper and did not say a mumbling word to even

1044
01:01:35,440 --> 01:01:38,280
Speaker 5: acknowledge our friend's existence and the value of their life.

1045
01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:42,200
Speaker 5: And this morning was beautiful. I had been able to

1046
01:01:42,320 --> 01:01:49,040
Speaker 5: meet bilkis Uh, Totigita's mother previously, and as she really

1047
01:01:49,120 --> 01:01:53,400
Speaker 5: does have a beautiful spirit, I really grown appreciation for

1048
01:01:53,520 --> 01:01:59,760
Speaker 5: that family and just to see just how large these

1049
01:01:59,800 --> 01:02:03,320
Speaker 5: gatherings were like throughout the week, even in spite of

1050
01:02:04,040 --> 01:02:07,560
Speaker 5: the hoopla and the opening weekend. It was very encouraging.

1051
01:02:09,040 --> 01:02:14,720
Speaker 5: But in a lot of ways, Tortigita has become the

1052
01:02:14,880 --> 01:02:19,920
Speaker 5: face of this movement because they really did light up

1053
01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:22,800
Speaker 5: wherever they were. One thing that's gotten me through I'm

1054
01:02:22,880 --> 01:02:28,120
Speaker 5: just thinking about when you would just see them sometimes

1055
01:02:28,520 --> 01:02:31,200
Speaker 5: let me just give you the biggest, like cheesiest smile,

1056
01:02:31,440 --> 01:02:32,240
Speaker 5: like out of nowhere.

1057
01:02:32,280 --> 01:02:32,560
Speaker 7: I just.

1058
01:02:34,560 --> 01:02:37,800
Speaker 5: And like that like got me through the first week

1059
01:02:39,440 --> 01:02:46,880
Speaker 5: after their passing. Yeah, but I've grown a great appreciation

1060
01:02:47,120 --> 01:02:52,160
Speaker 5: for that family because in so many ways, Tortigita is

1061
01:02:52,240 --> 01:02:55,040
Speaker 5: their hero, And just to learn how consistent they were

1062
01:02:56,520 --> 01:03:00,440
Speaker 5: as like such a welcoming and loving and caring person

1063
01:03:01,120 --> 01:03:03,560
Speaker 5: just meant so much. I mean to know that this

1064
01:03:03,800 --> 01:03:06,000
Speaker 5: wasn't something new that they had stumbled upon. They had

1065
01:03:06,080 --> 01:03:10,000
Speaker 5: lived this whole life of caring and making space for others.

1066
01:03:10,640 --> 01:03:13,919
Speaker 1: Some of Towart's friends have raised concerns that a side

1067
01:03:13,960 --> 01:03:17,280
Speaker 1: effect of Toward unwittingly becoming the face of the movement

1068
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:21,800
Speaker 1: is that the details around their death have eclipsed some

1069
01:03:21,960 --> 01:03:25,920
Speaker 1: of what they died fighting for. In doing so, stripping

1070
01:03:25,960 --> 01:03:29,400
Speaker 1: toward of their individuality and removing their own agency to

1071
01:03:29,640 --> 01:03:33,240
Speaker 1: turn them into this perfect liberal friendly avatar of the

1072
01:03:33,320 --> 01:03:37,480
Speaker 1: movement to simply be used as a political tool and

1073
01:03:37,760 --> 01:03:39,320
Speaker 1: add to a list of demands.

1074
01:03:40,040 --> 01:03:42,320
Speaker 7: There's a thing that's been happening more and more recently

1075
01:03:42,360 --> 01:03:45,760
Speaker 7: that I've been bothered by, which is when organizations, specifically

1076
01:03:45,880 --> 01:03:50,160
Speaker 7: more liberal organizations, are invoking towards name actions, they're misgendering

1077
01:03:50,240 --> 01:03:52,200
Speaker 7: the hell out of them, and it's alienating a lot

1078
01:03:52,280 --> 01:03:55,400
Speaker 7: of people. And I understand that Sunday's action alienated a

1079
01:03:55,440 --> 01:03:58,880
Speaker 7: lot of liberal orgs. This is a problem with the

1080
01:03:58,920 --> 01:04:02,960
Speaker 7: Week of Action type stress, with the diversity of tactics

1081
01:04:03,040 --> 01:04:05,520
Speaker 7: all being forced under one roof. But we cannot stand

1082
01:04:05,560 --> 01:04:08,919
Speaker 7: to alienate each other. And it's really frustrating and really

1083
01:04:08,960 --> 01:04:11,520
Speaker 7: angering to see this really beautiful soul be flattened into

1084
01:04:11,600 --> 01:04:13,400
Speaker 7: just a murder that these liberals want them to be,

1085
01:04:13,640 --> 01:04:15,440
Speaker 7: stripping them of so much of their life and what

1086
01:04:15,800 --> 01:04:19,200
Speaker 7: was a revolutionary life and a revolutionary death into just

1087
01:04:19,680 --> 01:04:22,280
Speaker 7: martyrdom by taking away their identity and who they were

1088
01:04:22,440 --> 01:04:24,960
Speaker 7: and making them nothing more than someone who was murdered

1089
01:04:26,160 --> 01:04:28,520
Speaker 7: when they were someone who is living such a full

1090
01:04:28,600 --> 01:04:31,120
Speaker 7: and beautiful life until the day they died, and this

1091
01:04:31,240 --> 01:04:33,480
Speaker 7: movement will tear itself apart if we do not accept

1092
01:04:33,520 --> 01:04:35,760
Speaker 7: the fullness of towards life, what it stood for, and

1093
01:04:35,840 --> 01:04:39,040
Speaker 7: what they live for. This movement has always been built

1094
01:04:39,320 --> 01:04:41,600
Speaker 7: on a lot of trans people in the woods fucking

1095
01:04:41,640 --> 01:04:44,240
Speaker 7: the cops up, and if we alienate those people were fucked,

1096
01:04:44,320 --> 01:04:46,480
Speaker 7: there's no winning and we can't lose. We don't have

1097
01:04:46,520 --> 01:04:48,560
Speaker 7: a choice about this anymore. We have to win by

1098
01:04:48,640 --> 01:04:49,760
Speaker 7: any means necessary.

1099
01:04:50,640 --> 01:04:53,200
Speaker 1: That will wrap up our day to day coverage of

1100
01:04:53,320 --> 01:04:56,920
Speaker 1: the entire week of Action, but much has happened in

1101
01:04:57,040 --> 01:05:00,400
Speaker 1: the intervening two months, so in the next time episode

1102
01:05:00,520 --> 01:05:04,040
Speaker 1: we'll cover where the movement is now, discuss the future

1103
01:05:04,160 --> 01:05:07,440
Speaker 1: of the fight to stop Copcity, and offer a more

1104
01:05:07,520 --> 01:05:11,120
Speaker 1: critical retrospective on the fifth week of action. See You

1105
01:05:11,400 --> 01:05:18,080
Speaker 1: on the other Side. Music Festival audio courtesy of Unicorn Riot.

1106
01:05:19,720 --> 01:05:22,040
Speaker 1: It Could Happen here as a production of cool Zone Media.

1107
01:05:22,320 --> 01:05:24,960
Speaker 16: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website

1108
01:05:25,000 --> 01:05:28,120
Speaker 16: Coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app,

1109
01:05:28,160 --> 01:05:30,640
Speaker 16: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

1110
01:05:31,280 --> 01:05:33,360
Speaker 1: You can find sources for It Could happen here, updated

1111
01:05:33,480 --> 01:05:37,480
Speaker 1: monthly at coolzonemedia dot com, Slash sources, Thanks for listening.