WEBVTT - Stop Cop City, Dispatch from Weelaunee Summer: Part Two 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.320 Welcome back to it could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis. 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:11.800 This is part two of my mini series about what's 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:15.240 been happening this summer in Atlanta to stop cop City. 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:18.720 Last episode we left off with the attempted march from 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.439 Gresham Park to Entrenchman Creek Park, which some might say 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:25.960 was a disappointment, but it also gave everyone more clarity 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:28.760 about the current state of these types of direct action 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:33.319 marches in Atlanta and the necessity for evolution. The main 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:36.760 event on Thursday, June twenty ninth was a protest outside 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:40.519 the Home Depot in the upscale retail district off of 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:43.920 Ponce de Leon Avenue. Home Depot is one of the 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:46.440 Atlanta Police Foundation's financial backers. 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:48.800 There had been a rumor that Home Depot was going 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:51.279 to be close earlier in the day. I got there 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.360 four thirty. It wasn't closed, so I didn't see any signage. 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:57.360 So I went and parked my car and came back 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:01.120 and like, I think I got out there for fifty 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.520 and people were starting to line up along the road, like, uh, 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.680 there's a Starbucks. And they were lining up along ponts 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:11.279 next to the Starbucks. And you know, I'm I'm talking 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.800 to them watching this. They're chanting, they're they're pulling out banners, 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.800 and we get a call that they are arresting Lorraine Fontana. 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.720 So Lorraine Fontana is a seventy six year old activist 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:26.720 in Atlanta, and she's great like she she pops up everywhere. 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:31.240 She's beloved by everyone. And so we get this call 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:38.000 that Lorraine Fontana is being arrested, and I bolts as 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:39.640 far as my little legs will take me, and then 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:41.240 I have to stop and catch my breath, like right 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.240 before I get there. But Lorrain and one other person 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:47.720 were arrested in the parking lot right outside the Home 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:49.080 Depot's store. 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.840 Called for brays here and why anybody protests in the. 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:57.280 Store when they start reading now the layer I asked, 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:01.000 the boy handed the practices and the time I also. 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.720 Learning telling them how people cannot want their faces or side. 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:11.120 After protesters left the store, they stood by a corner 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:14.120 in the parking lot to holding signs, where they were 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.880 then approached by APD officers, who then arrested two people 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:18.760 without warning. 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:24.200 It does kind of just show APD like basically doing 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:26.760 exactly what they would with anyone, except in this case 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.880 it's a seventy six year old woman who's like five 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:33.120 or four eleven or something like. 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:36.960 That, Like, yeah, no, I mean it was a lot 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:41.000 of people were like surprised that this happened, Like how 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:42.959 could the police do this? I think others were like 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:45.760 not as surprised, be like no, it's the APD. They 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:49.160 like it was a good demonstration for people being like 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.520 showing that they do not care. They don't really care 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:54.720 if you're a seventy seven year old woman or if 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:58.560 you're a nineteen year old eco terrorist, they're gonna treat. 0:02:58.360 --> 0:02:59.839 You roughly the same. Yeah. 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:04.040 After Lorraine's arrest, more and more people began showing up 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.600 across the street from Home Depot calling for their divestment 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:09.400 from the Atlanta Police Foundation. 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:13.359 It got up to like thirty maybe forty people mostly 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.360 just like chanting on the sidewalks sidewatch, but then they 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.160 started to like walk back and forth when when the 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.920 crosswalk was like there, yeah, and they were they were 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:25.639 pushing the limit, like seeing seeing what they could get. 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.000 But there was also my favorite part was the APD 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:29.840 officer who was sitting. 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:29.920 In his. 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:36.280 I'm sorry. My favorite part was, fuck, I gotta do 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:40.480 this about breaking down in the middle. I did hear 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.440 a little bit about this? All right? Take three? Take three? 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:44.120 Uh. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:46.240 There was the APD officer that was sitting in his 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:50.320 ford explore on Ponts and at one point he calls 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:53.280 out on his you know, loud speaker, I'm not an idiot. 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.160 I swear I'm not an idiot. While he's backing up 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:59.520 on Ponts with his lights on, just like what are 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:07.240 you doing? People are asking a lot of questions. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.560 They are already answered, I'm on an idiots shirt. 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.280 Oh it was great. So I caught like the briefest 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.400 snippet of that audio, thankfully. That's funny. 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:22.480 On Thursday night, after the Home Depot rally, there was 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:25.920 a jail vigil around ten pm for Lorraine at the 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.120 Rice Street Fulton County Jail. 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:31.960 So there there are two jails. There's Atlanta City Detention 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:34.880 Center and then there's Fulton County Jail, which we just 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.600 call Rice Street because it's off off Rice Street. So 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.360 when you get charged with criminal trespassed, it's like a 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.520 misdemeanor charge, and typically you would go to Atlanta City 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.320 Detention Center, which still a jail is still terrible, but 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:52.800 relatively like better. Okay, Fulton County Jail is you know 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:57.480 atrocious it is, you know Leshawan Thompson. Of course that 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:02.320 the guy who was eating a lot in his cell 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.320 by bugs because of neglect, that is Rice Street Jail. 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:07.560 That's the Fulton County Jail. That's the Fulton County Jail. 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.520 So we get worried that Lorraine is at Fulton County 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:17.480 Jail and not ACDC, which is pretty striking. So everybody 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:20.200 goes down to do a jail vigil and noise demo 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:21.720 for context. 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.800 Last September, Lashawan Thompson, a thirty five year old man, 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.200 was found dead after spending three months in an infested 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:33.040 Fulton County Jail psychiatric cell. His body was covered in 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.360 a thousand bug bites and insects were found in his mouth, ears, nose, 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:41.440 and all across his body. Such inhumane incidents are not 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:45.360 in irregularity in Fulton County Jail. Just earlier this month, 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:48.040 a thirty five year old named Christopher Smith died in 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:51.440 Fulton County Jail. He had been held in custody since 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:56.679 October sixth, twenty nineteen, without bond on several unspecified felony 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.800 and misdemeanor charges according to the County Sheriff's Office. Last month, 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.560 a nineteen year old girl died in Fulton County custody 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:07.679 after being arrested on a minor misdemeanor charge. This past 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.919 year alone, six people have died in the Fulton County 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:15.320 jail system. People in Atlanta have been doing jail vigils 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:17.760 and noise demos for years and it's never really been 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:20.600 a problem. Cops might tell people to move off to 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.840 the side if the crowd gets to a certain size, 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.320 but they have typically gone on without issue. But this 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.679 time Fulton County deputies came out and declared that people 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.040 are not allowed to protest outside the jail and ordered 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:36.040 everyone to completely leave the parking lot and go all 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:38.080 the way to the other side of this big hill 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.080 off of Rice Street to jail property in order to 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:45.839 continue protesting, which no one was really keen on doing, 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:48.640 so this kind of game of chicken began. 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:53.280 They eventually they pull on a bunch more sheriff's deputies 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.159 and threatened arrest, So people started making their way up 0:06:56.200 --> 0:07:00.600 the hill, linking arms and get to the top of 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:02.440 the hill and they're they're met with another group of 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:06.080 protesters who had tried to come down, but they were 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:07.440 stopped by police at the top of the hill. So 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:11.000 now the crowd size like essentially doubled. Yeah, and the 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.119 energy just goes through the roof. You know, both sides 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:19.200 are just going back and forth. This This deputy is 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:23.520 like completely overmatched, doesn't really They didn't seem like Fulton 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:26.840 County had a plan. You know, usually APD or the 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:29.800 cab they have some sort of protest planned. Fulton was 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.520 flying by the seat of their pants, and so all 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:35.400 of our cars were down at the bottom of the hill. 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.880 They were back in the right street parking lot. And 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.400 this this becomes like an issue because some of the 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.520 protesters cars are there, all of the media cars are there, 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:49.320 like down at the bottom of this hill, and they're 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.480 not letting anyone go down there. And this woman shows 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:54.960 up to like put I think money on her son's 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:57.200 commissary car and they don't let her. Now she is 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.080 like they're just shutting down j oracial loud, Yeah exactly. 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:06.920 So they finally first they're like we're gonna let you 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.680 go down one by one, and everyone's like hell no, 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.240 like we are not trusting you. 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:16.760 Yeah, sure, sure, sure, buddy, let's go, let's isolate isolated 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:21.120 move through this police fortress in an isolated venor. 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:25.040 Here. Uh So then they're like, okay, you can go 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:27.120 as a group. Yeah, okay, as long as you have 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:28.560 your vehicles down there, you can go as a group. 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.480 So they slowly start to make their way down. 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:34.000 They do not see in the next five minutes we 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:34.520 want to start. 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.480 We have to do. They get all the way to 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:39.800 the bottom hill. They're in the parking lot and just 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:41.760 like on the edge of where the cars are, and 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:45.719 they kind of stop moving, and the shriff's deputy is like, yeah, 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.040 I gotta keep moving, and so they start moving again 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:51.880 and then stop again, and then the shriff's deputy says, 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:56.000 all right, get them. And so then the deputy start 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.959 moving in to make a rest. And quickly, you know this, 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.480 this march kind of becomes this backward moving thing. Yeah 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:05.880 I can't see that. I'm moving my hands to showcasson, 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:09.600 but it becomes this backward moving thing up up the hill. 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:11.200 That's the bottom line. 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:14.120 I couplot to be you in the street, who will 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.160 be taking ample cush get out the street, Get. 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:20.360 Out the street, will be taking in the crowd was 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.480 able to leave before anyone was detained, but it was 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:27.319 a quite tense situation. The sort of dynamic we saw 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.240 at the jail vigil and home depot protest led it 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.840 directly into the next event on Friday morning, a previously 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.360 announced second protest outside of Cadence Bank in Midtown calling 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:41.400 on Cadence Bank to cancel the Atlanta Polace Foundation's twenty 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:45.120 million dollar construction loan. All Right, people had a protest 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:48.800 on Friday morning at Cadence Bank in Midtown Atlanta. 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:50.440 There's maybe like. 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:57.680 Around a dozen people here, uh, chanting outside of the building. 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:02.400 Also about a dozen ap the officers walking walking down 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.640 from up the street, preparing to meet the crowd. They're 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:10.760 moving in closer that they're walking in again people still. 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:13.960 I don't think anyone's even touched touched the class door. 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:16.880 Most of the people are just standing here on the sidewalk. 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:19.560 You know that game you play with your cats where 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.360 they come at you but they stop when you're watching them. Yeah, 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:24.200 that's the game we're playing. 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.920 Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we turn away the cops 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.439 advanced We like. This is also like half of like 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:33.000 the Loony Tunes gags. Is this they're doing a Michelin 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.760 frog all right, and they're they're now on the King's 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:36.360 Bank property. 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:39.679 They're start starting to advance. 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.760 Police were yelling at people that they couldn't touch any 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:47.000 of the steps leading up to the bank entrance, and 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.320 that you weren't allowed to lean against any hand rails 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:54.880 because the metal pole was bank property. So once again 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.680 we got this little game of back and forth, except 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:00.800 one side has guns and the power to rescue. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:04.679 Property. 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.520 This cup said in the crowds trying to incite a riot, 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.120 it feels very much like what you saw I guess 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:28.720 in Portland. 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.840 Obviously I wasn't there. Where there's an object that becomes 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:33.160 this sacred goal and. 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:36.800 Then you're you're battling over the thing because the thing 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:38.200 has now been given. 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:42.199 Given something like me actual physical like presence, and that 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:43.880 is the thing that you are now fighting for. It 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:46.560 becomes it becomes a symbolic in front of a building. 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.040 It don't matter, but the police gave it significant. 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.760 Because the police turn it into this like symbolic thing, 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:54.080 it now means more than a just just being stabbed. 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.040 So there was this camera guy who like kept kind 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.439 of stepping up and like pushing the envelope. 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.640 And eventually or activists put one foot on the steps, 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:04.480 being like, Okay, if you're gonna come after us for 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:06.439 putting a foot on the bank steps. 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.920 Fine, come at us, like call the bluff. Yeah. 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.080 So there was like people yelling at the CoP's face 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:16.160 for like forty five minutes, maybe maybe longer. Time always 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.640 stretches during these sorts of things. It's hard to start 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:20.480 to keep it's hard to keep a sense of like 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.320 temporal stability, even just during during weeks of action. In general, 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:26.360 it's always hard to keep a sense of temporal stability. 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.240 That's the sense of time warps around. Days blend into 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:31.280 each other. A day feels like a week, a week 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:35.040 feels like a day. It's it's very it gets very fuzzy. 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.760 It gets incredibly trippy, and you're like yeah, and the 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:41.360 exhaustion right like just compounds. There's a lot of things 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:42.400 that that feed into it. 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.480 Despite about a dozen people putting their foot on the 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.440 sacred steps, the police did not decide to arrest anyone 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.199 at this protest, and after about an hour of disruption, 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:54.760 the crowd departed. 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:06.800 The week of action. 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:09.520 Ended much like the last one, with the final rally 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:14.160 being the Youth March back at Brownwood Park. Lorraine just 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.000 got out on bail and spoke about the jail conditions 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.360 to the crowd of one hundred or so people gathered 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:21.439 in the park on the morning of July first. 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.840 And I don't want people to forget that our movement 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:28.440 is connected with lots of other stone, one of. 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:30.760 Which is prison abolition. 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:37.080 And the idea that our so quote criminal justice system 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.959 is such that people get just shoved behind bars. 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:42.880 We don't want to see them. We don't care what 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:43.719 happens to them. 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.120 And even if they're not hadn't gone to trial yet. 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:50.640 And they're in a jail awaiting hearing or awaiting a. 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.400 Trial, they're treated like they already want the. 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.640 People that they're criminals, we don't. 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:58.199 Have to care as much about them. 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.120 They're kind of the people. 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.360 Lorraine said that she was in a crowded holding cell 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.920 with twenty two other women and just a few metal benches, 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.600 nothing else. This is where nearly two dozen people had 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.520 to sleep, had to eat, use the bathroom, all in 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:18.360 one place for days on end. Women were trying to 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.600 sit or sleep on either of the hard benches or 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.440 the floor. Some were attempting to use menstrul pads in 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.640 place of a mattress. If they were lucky enough to 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.440 be asleep. They were woken up at two am for 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.760 breakfast and then again at four am for head counting. 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.680 They were so full, I didn't have bloom for the 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:40.960 people that were being arrested, so they were in this 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:41.840 holding sale. 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:44.520 Some of them been there three days. 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:48.240 It was something like eighteen feet by six feet across. 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.840 The last six feet were behind a divider that had 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:56.040 a toy as toy, so it was even less. The 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.800 prison system is every day doing these kind of being 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:02.680 u and treatment to people that get arrested or not 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:03.920 yet guilty of anything. 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:08.680 Student organizers and parents also briefly spoke on why people 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:10.440 are fighting against cop City. 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:12.480 I don't want to live in a city. 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:14.080 I don't want to live in a country in a 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:18.360 world that prioritizes the protection of private property through murder 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:22.840 in state violence over the fundamental building blocks of life. Okay, 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:26.040 I think we need to be focusing on giving people 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:29.640 places to live, giving people food to eat, water to drink, 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:33.320 not on giving the police playgrounds where they can blow. 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:34.560 Up bombs and shoot their guns. 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.360 And that's why all of us together here need to 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:42.640 come together be as one here in beautiful community, with children, 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:47.000 with elders, everything in between, doing this amazing community. I 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:48.640 love being out here with y'all. It's so much fun 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.240 to just like be working the popcorn machines and all that. 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:55.160 And that's why we're all here together, because we know 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.160 that community is the key for us to stop cop City, 0:15:58.520 --> 0:15:59.560 Stop cop City. 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:02.360 And so as we fight to. 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:04.800 Stop top City, we are fighting for investment in the 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:09.720 things that make families thrive in this city. Were telling 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.120 all dreat chickens, were telling the little police foundations, and 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.600 we command that money be reinvested, and they're housing for 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:20.400 the people, child care for the people, education for the people, 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:22.800 health care for the people. But those are the things 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:28.120 that make our communities truly safe. And if they won't 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:29.880 give it to us, we're gonna build those networks of 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:34.040 care in our communities ourselves. That is what makes days 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.520 like today so beautiful, the fact that the people have 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:38.920 the capacity to feel and feed the people. The people 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.040 have the capacity to make sure that people say hi, drating. 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.600 People have the capacity to give each other medical care. 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:46.280 And as we build out those networks of care, we 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:48.440 make the government irrelevance. 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:52.320 You try to tell us what they do all day long. 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.600 But if we continue to build people's power, well they 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.520 have to say don't even matter. 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:00.400 So are you ready to build that. 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:00.920 Kind of world? 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.400 As people got ready to depart, the energy was noticeably 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:09.760 higher than most other events that week. All right, it 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:13.480 is Saturday morning on July first. This is the last 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.520 day of the sixth Week of Action. The Youth Rally 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.800 just left Brownwood Park and is now marching through East 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:25.639 Atlanta Village. Shortly before the Youth Rally, news started to 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:30.520 circulate that early early that morning, just after midnight, several 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:36.440 Atlanta police motorcycles and cop cars suffered mysterious damages, which 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:40.359 possibly could have contributed to the more bolsterous energy among 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:42.119 some of the radical attendees. 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.200 People are driving by and honking in support. 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:53.800 As about seventy five people, maybe one hundred or marked 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.560 as about seventy five or one hundred people are our 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.000 marching next to Metropolitan Avenue. 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:09.480 Take a fire truck would pull their air horn. The 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:11.320 fire trucks were kind of busy last night. 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.480 Actually, I'm not sure the fire trucks were busy doing 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:18.240 what There's well, it seems like a lot of police 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:20.240 motorcycles were found to be set on fire at the 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:22.160 sight of the old Police Trading Academy. 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:25.280 Sounded like some police suck cruisers were wrecked somewhere else 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:25.880 in the city too. 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:28.880 On Memorial Drive Southeast, it sounded like three cop cars 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:29.879 were also smashed up. 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:35.000 Is you think there's something going around? Is it contagious? So, yeah, 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:38.239 the fire crews were a little bit busy last night. 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:40.760 Spontaneous vehicle vandalism. 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:45.840 Yeah, that's certainly one way to end this week of action. 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:55.080 This definitely feels like the most positive part of the 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.879 Week of action so far. Yeah, people have been marching 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:02.159 for about twenty minutes now. The march is now turned 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:09.800 down Glenwood and is heading back towards Brownwood Park. No 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.439 police presence at all so far. There was just complete 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:15.159 I've not seen a single cop car in this in 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:18.800 this section of town. There's also three less cop cars 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:20.639 in Atlanta than there usually is. 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:22.280 So that might have something to do with it. It 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.240 was from this zone too, that the second one where 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:29.359 the cop cars are it was like a mile and 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.640 a half away. Yeah, it's very very close, but yeah, 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:36.840 very different than what we saw on last Saturday. Yes, 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.240 where I like even on my way in I saw 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.159 APD here every you know twenty feet yeah, and do 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:48.360 not see a single Nope. APD vehicle is notable. 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.120 The youth rally that closed the last week of action 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:55.320 in March kind of felt like the end of an era. 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.800 This one on July first felt very different, much more 0:19:59.880 --> 0:20:03.280 like the beginning of a new era. After a very 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:06.520 scattered week, the movement finally started to feel like it 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:10.000 had multiple directions to grow. This week definitely started on 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:14.080 I would say, a muted note, and it's ended with 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.199 a bit more directionality for the future and a bit 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:18.040 more positivity. 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:18.360 I think. 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:21.119 I think people were able to think of ways that 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:24.879 the movement can evolve and grow from here and recognize 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.879 the necessity for that and now change and yet recognized 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:30.640 the necessity for change, and people are ready to continue 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.480 and evolve as the situation on the ground is also changing. 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:38.440 And I mean adaptability was was a part of the 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:41.080 movement from the get go. Yes, just I think we 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:44.879 got the movement got very tied to certain modes of 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:47.080 operation that are not available anymore. 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:47.480 Yep. 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:52.040 You know, for the past like a few months, people 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:54.080 have been it felt like people have been playing on 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:57.879 the police's like board, like they've been they've been following that, 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:02.560 and both both of the actual last night and the 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:04.280 sort of talks that are happening throughout the city. 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.919 I think that is probably going to change. All right. 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:10.359 We are about a block away from Brownwood Park on 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:16.159 Portland Avenue and Gresham Avenue, where there is pizza and 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:20.440 water waiting. That is, that is I'm excited for water. 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:22.679 I don't think I can have hot pizza right now. 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:27.280 I think I would just faint, but cold water is certainly, certainly, 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:32.399 enticely certainly. Yeah, and there's music back here in Brownwood. 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:36.520 Tables set up, giving out literature, giving out food, water, 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:41.560 lots of bubbles. Earlier, earlier, at the earlier, at the 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:44.200 rally before the march, there was a water balloon fight 0:21:44.440 --> 0:21:45.640 which was very dangerous. 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:47.800 Yeah, I left it. I don't know why you've stayed 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.040 around the water move. I took my laptop and left. 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:52.760 There was there was there was a few very close 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:55.720 moments there. But yeah, no, there's food. 0:21:55.960 --> 0:22:00.240 There's lots of signs, banners, lots of a lot of 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:03.840 Little Caesar's pizza. There was much more energy here compared 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:06.160 to the kickoff rally, which happened in the very same 0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:10.640 park exactly a week beforehand, which felt sort of reversed 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:14.160 from the previous week of action this past March, which 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:16.359 is interesting because like last week of action, you know, 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:19.280 the kickoff rally was like the biggest thing, was the 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:22.119 biggest energy point, and the youth rally was kind of 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:24.840 the more like muted clothes and this has kind of 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:25.840 been inversed. 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:29.280 Which honestly for when you're looking at like what has 0:22:29.359 --> 0:22:33.040 happened over the last few months, maybe reading leaning out 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:35.719 with a high note is yeah, is the ideal. 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:38.320 I like that We're also ending with the bouncy castle, 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:39.600 which is very very important. 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:43.560 Yeah, for the full flip, we have to end with 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:44.480 the bouncy castle. 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:50.040 Yes, although we should move the bouncy castle to eight 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:52.240 ninety Memorial Drive Southeast, oh my god. 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:52.919 Stop. 0:22:56.400 --> 0:22:59.000 After the youth rally, Matt and I got some coffee 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:02.160 in Eastern It's a village and talked about the broad 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:05.000 strokes of the week and the general state of the movement. 0:23:05.560 --> 0:23:07.480 Like I said, I think this week started with a 0:23:07.520 --> 0:23:11.159 lot of questions being had and it's ended with some 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:14.320 of those questions being being answered and people figuring out 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:16.600 that to answer some of some of those other questions. 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.560 The answer will will will take the form of actions 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:23.080 that happened in these next few months. And I feel 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:26.400 like there's it's it's it's ended with a bit more 0:23:26.520 --> 0:23:29.199 directionality than when it began, which is interesting for a. 0:23:29.200 --> 0:23:32.560 Week of action. Yeah, it was needed, though it was 0:23:32.680 --> 0:23:33.639 absolutely needed. 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:37.080 Like at like the first rally just felt so weird 0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:39.800 that for the first tick offf rally that the first day, 0:23:39.840 --> 0:23:43.440 that the first few days felt just very very like 0:23:43.720 --> 0:23:46.760 very scattered. It was unclear how what was happening was 0:23:46.800 --> 0:23:49.160 related to stop in Coff City. And in some ways 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:52.240 this week of action feels like the reverse of the 0:23:52.359 --> 0:23:55.160 last week of action, where like the last week of action, 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:58.080 it started with a point of directionality, like we are 0:23:58.119 --> 0:23:59.600 going to retake Wallani and they did. 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:01.640 And then they're like, we are going. 0:24:01.560 --> 0:24:04.200 To do an action to physically stop the construction of 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:06.159 cop City, and they did, like they was doing all 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.000 these things. And I think that week ended with more 0:24:09.119 --> 0:24:14.080 questions than what it started with because the police did 0:24:14.119 --> 0:24:15.480 the rate of the forest, there was a lot of 0:24:15.760 --> 0:24:17.680 there was more uncertainty by the end of the week 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:19.440 because there was so much over policing. There was a 0:24:19.480 --> 0:24:21.480 lot of a lot of changes through throughout that week, 0:24:22.800 --> 0:24:24.680 and I think this week started in like an inverse 0:24:24.760 --> 0:24:27.639 is people started this week with a directionless sense, and 0:24:27.680 --> 0:24:30.120 they had a lot of questions going into this week, 0:24:30.560 --> 0:24:33.280 and I feel like some people have started to kind 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:36.560 of figure out how the movement will evolve in these 0:24:36.600 --> 0:24:39.800 next few months, and it feels like people have a 0:24:39.880 --> 0:24:42.000 better idea of where of like how they're going to 0:24:42.080 --> 0:24:46.399 move forward in these next three months six months, and 0:24:46.560 --> 0:24:49.520 like the month and a half when construction is slated 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:50.680 to begin in August. 0:24:50.520 --> 0:24:52.760 Later to begain and you know, this referendum is looking 0:24:52.880 --> 0:24:56.920 like it's doing pretty well, so hopefully that that does delay. 0:24:57.000 --> 0:25:00.000 But yeah, of course we also ended with the bouncy casts. 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:05.000 We can't do it so acknowledging the importance of bouncy 0:25:05.080 --> 0:25:08.119 castles to this movement, or at least to Garrison, And. 0:25:08.160 --> 0:25:11.920 I yes, I think the other thing that makes it 0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:15.040 interesting in terms of this week being an inverse of 0:25:15.080 --> 0:25:17.800 the last week is that you know, on the last week, 0:25:18.119 --> 0:25:19.679 day two, there was this very. 0:25:20.320 --> 0:25:24.040 Fiery action with vehicles being smashed. 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:28.200 And then on the second to last day, which is 0:25:28.320 --> 0:25:31.080 like late last night, either like late Friday, night or 0:25:31.080 --> 0:25:34.160 early Saturday morning at like one am, two am, there 0:25:34.359 --> 0:25:38.760 was three Atlanta police cars smashed by Reynoldstown I believe. Yeah, 0:25:38.920 --> 0:25:40.560 just right like a mile and a half away from 0:25:40.640 --> 0:25:43.760 from Brownwood Park, YEP and close to the airport at 0:25:43.800 --> 0:25:48.600 the old Police training Academy. There was a it looks 0:25:48.640 --> 0:25:51.320 like a good fleet of Atlanta Police motorcycles. 0:25:51.440 --> 0:25:54.439 Yeah, that's where the motorcycle Like, that's where the motors. 0:25:54.600 --> 0:25:58.840 The credit quarters is outside and those motorcycles are going 0:25:58.880 --> 0:25:59.960 to be no longer functioning. 0:26:00.119 --> 0:26:02.639 Yes, they are all charged to a crisp with like 0:26:02.800 --> 0:26:04.520 incendiary devices found there. 0:26:04.680 --> 0:26:04.880 Yeah. 0:26:05.240 --> 0:26:07.720 One of the most noticeable differences about this week of 0:26:07.760 --> 0:26:11.840 action compared to the previous one was the turnout out 0:26:11.880 --> 0:26:14.399 of state support did not show up in similar numbers 0:26:14.440 --> 0:26:17.000 as to the last week of action in March. There's 0:26:17.000 --> 0:26:19.119 a lot of potential reasons for this. This week may 0:26:19.119 --> 0:26:22.480 have simply happened too soon, It coincided with other events 0:26:22.520 --> 0:26:25.959 across the country. Its messaging may not have reflected an 0:26:26.080 --> 0:26:30.440 adequate level of planning. There was probably some demoralization from 0:26:30.480 --> 0:26:33.720 the ninety acres of trees cut down and with entrenchment. 0:26:33.800 --> 0:26:37.800 Creek Park closed and under police occupation. Launching options in 0:26:37.840 --> 0:26:40.840 Atlanta was more of a mystery for those coming from 0:26:40.880 --> 0:26:44.200 outside the city. More time away from the death of 0:26:44.280 --> 0:26:48.479 Tortigita is probably also a factor. People in Atlanta may 0:26:48.600 --> 0:26:51.639 have to reconcile that the movement may not have as 0:26:51.760 --> 0:26:55.479 much widespread national support and all the ground numbers as 0:26:55.560 --> 0:26:56.640 it did last March. 0:26:57.320 --> 0:26:59.480 This is the smallest week of action we've had in 0:27:00.960 --> 0:27:03.199 over a year in Duisa memory. This is the smallest 0:27:03.200 --> 0:27:05.879 one I've I've reported on. Right, Yeah, you know, I 0:27:05.960 --> 0:27:08.000 think it might have even been comparable to the first 0:27:08.040 --> 0:27:10.879 week of Action, like it was around there, but it 0:27:11.000 --> 0:27:13.920 also felt more local. It did feel way more local. 0:27:14.240 --> 0:27:16.800 Once you go from like something so big as the 0:27:16.880 --> 0:27:21.480 last week of action to something more constrained, that is 0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:25.639 that sets a like a vibe shift. Yeah, that I 0:27:25.720 --> 0:27:27.600 think you've got to kind of come to terms with. 0:27:27.760 --> 0:27:30.400 And it's one of those moments where you're like, Okay, 0:27:30.720 --> 0:27:32.840 we are in a different paradigm. 0:27:33.040 --> 0:27:36.840 Yeah, fewer numbers is not necessarily a bad thing. A 0:27:36.880 --> 0:27:40.240 group of five to ten people can sometimes be much 0:27:40.359 --> 0:27:42.879 more effective at doing certain things than a crowd of 0:27:42.920 --> 0:27:46.200 two hundred or even a thousand. You just have to 0:27:46.320 --> 0:27:48.800 specifically prepare for the numbers that you know that you'll 0:27:48.920 --> 0:27:53.240 have for such a long time, I felt like this 0:27:53.520 --> 0:27:56.680 was this movement was extremely effective in delaying construction like 0:27:56.760 --> 0:28:00.520 that was like extremely effective deadline year and a half 0:28:00.600 --> 0:28:03.080 deadlines kept getting pushed back every single thing. Like the 0:28:03.119 --> 0:28:06.720 occupation was very good at doing what it attempted to do, 0:28:08.359 --> 0:28:11.159 and at a certain point that became no longer viable. 0:28:11.280 --> 0:28:15.040 And things are now changing gears. Yeah, and you have 0:28:15.160 --> 0:28:16.920 to allow yourself that evolution like that. 0:28:16.960 --> 0:28:19.720 It has to the same way people started occupying the 0:28:19.760 --> 0:28:23.400 forest in October after the city council stuff in September 0:28:23.520 --> 0:28:26.200 twenty twenty one, Like as the things change, you have 0:28:26.280 --> 0:28:27.320 to change your tactics with it. 0:28:27.480 --> 0:28:30.720 And as I mean, as revolutionary strategy goes, that's just 0:28:31.080 --> 0:28:34.000 that should be a baseline and adapting to what the 0:28:34.080 --> 0:28:37.040 situation is and not what the situation what you want 0:28:37.119 --> 0:28:37.399 it to be. 0:28:37.800 --> 0:28:41.280 Yeah, And I think more people are talking about that 0:28:41.400 --> 0:28:44.800 this week and realizing that like maybe even another week 0:28:44.840 --> 0:28:47.280 of Action does not make sense for this new paradigm 0:28:47.320 --> 0:28:50.520 that we're existing in Atlanta. I've talked about the possibility 0:28:50.560 --> 0:28:53.920 of changing the week of Action structure before in previous episodes. 0:28:54.560 --> 0:28:56.760 And I really only brought that up because that's what 0:28:56.840 --> 0:28:59.680 people were conveying to me at the time. And this 0:28:59.800 --> 0:29:02.600 has continued to be a topic of debate both during 0:29:02.760 --> 0:29:03.800 and since June. 0:29:04.880 --> 0:29:06.440 What do you do with the week of Action format? 0:29:06.520 --> 0:29:08.160 And I know that we kind of talked about this 0:29:08.640 --> 0:29:13.680 during the last YEP recap episode where you brought up 0:29:13.720 --> 0:29:15.880 that that might have been the last Week of Action, 0:29:16.680 --> 0:29:17.200 but it wasn't. 0:29:17.320 --> 0:29:19.360 It wasn't because as I was making as episodes this 0:29:19.440 --> 0:29:23.960 Week of Action what was announced, I've heard more people 0:29:24.040 --> 0:29:26.200 say that they don't think the Week of Action format 0:29:26.280 --> 0:29:29.120 is applicable anymore more. I've heard more people say that 0:29:29.560 --> 0:29:32.320 than I did last week. What if Atlanta has kind 0:29:32.320 --> 0:29:35.200 of outgrown this format? This format's proved to be very 0:29:35.320 --> 0:29:38.600 useful in these past few years. There's been very positive parts, 0:29:38.600 --> 0:29:41.000 it's been very negative parts. And what if there's time 0:29:41.040 --> 0:29:43.000 for What if it's time for something like completely new, 0:29:44.200 --> 0:29:46.240 something that the police don't know how to respond. 0:29:45.960 --> 0:29:48.560 To, because something that matches the new paradigm. Yeah, because 0:29:48.560 --> 0:29:49.400 that's the other thing. 0:29:49.400 --> 0:29:51.320 It's like people have been doing this for like two 0:29:51.360 --> 0:29:54.800 years now, Like not only have people gotten used to 0:29:54.840 --> 0:29:57.560 a pattern, but like police have gotten used to a pattern, 0:29:57.600 --> 0:30:00.600 like police have gotten very good at resting the week 0:30:00.640 --> 0:30:03.040 of action, like they have, they have had two years 0:30:03.080 --> 0:30:05.440 to practice, they have they know how to do this now, 0:30:06.080 --> 0:30:09.120 So why why keep playing on their battlefield? 0:30:09.160 --> 0:30:09.200 Like? 0:30:09.280 --> 0:30:11.880 Why why keep doing what APD is expecting you to do. 0:30:12.560 --> 0:30:15.440 That's part of what's you know, interesting about this resurgence 0:30:15.520 --> 0:30:19.200 of these nocturnal hit and run sabotages that are unannounced. 0:30:21.080 --> 0:30:23.160 That we saw the ones earlier in this week with 0:30:23.280 --> 0:30:25.640 the with the Brent Scarborough's machines. Then we saw the 0:30:25.680 --> 0:30:29.239 APD vehicles get hit last night, So perhaps there there 0:30:29.280 --> 0:30:31.200 will be more of that. Perhaps they'll be just new 0:30:31.280 --> 0:30:33.640 things that we can't even predict, Like there's so many 0:30:33.720 --> 0:30:37.320 other avenues that things could that things could go. Even 0:30:37.400 --> 0:30:39.800 during the use March, Matt and I were wondering if 0:30:39.880 --> 0:30:43.320 this new spike in sabotage actions would break the spell 0:30:43.440 --> 0:30:46.080 and we'd see a return of this type of action 0:30:46.360 --> 0:30:48.480 happening more frequently. You know. 0:30:48.840 --> 0:30:52.400 It's it's the sort of direct action that has really 0:30:52.440 --> 0:30:55.400 been missing over the last several months. Yeah, and no, 0:30:55.560 --> 0:30:57.880 And we've been talking about a lot this past week. 0:30:57.920 --> 0:31:00.440 We're talking about how there's been a lot of these 0:31:00.480 --> 0:31:03.960 sorts of like nocturnal hit and run direct actions, and 0:31:04.840 --> 0:31:07.680 late last night it seems like there was a resurgence. 0:31:07.880 --> 0:31:11.600 So we'll see how that continues, you know, after the 0:31:11.640 --> 0:31:14.480 Week of Action, if it continues, or if it was 0:31:14.520 --> 0:31:17.400 a Week of Action inspired element. But I have a 0:31:17.480 --> 0:31:20.600 feeling we'll see some of those continue to crop up. 0:31:21.040 --> 0:31:24.680 Absolutely and this did indeed turn out to be the case, 0:31:37.720 --> 0:31:39.560 all right. I will do my best to go over 0:31:39.680 --> 0:31:43.840 a short list of the claimed attacks against contractors, building Copcity, 0:31:44.200 --> 0:31:47.720 and corporations that fund the Atlanta Police Foundation from after 0:31:47.880 --> 0:31:51.120 this week of action. On a July first, over half 0:31:51.120 --> 0:31:53.640 a dozen Bank of America buildings in the Bay Area 0:31:53.760 --> 0:31:56.680 where vandalized and a dozen or so ATMs were smashed. 0:31:57.400 --> 0:32:01.120 In late June to early July, group of friends visited 0:32:01.320 --> 0:32:06.080 the home of copp City architect Anthony Kenny in Norcross, Georgia, 0:32:06.560 --> 0:32:09.480 while another group paid a visit to Ambrush baseil Walla, 0:32:09.920 --> 0:32:12.040 a member of the board of trustees for the Atlanta 0:32:12.080 --> 0:32:16.480 Police Foundation. People painted messages around their homes and tires 0:32:16.520 --> 0:32:20.880 were slashed. On the night of July second, Keith Johnson, 0:32:21.000 --> 0:32:24.840 the Eastern Regional president for Brassfield and Gory, the contracting 0:32:24.920 --> 0:32:28.040 firm who broadly oversaw the destruction of the forest and 0:32:28.200 --> 0:32:31.880 who has decided to physically build cop City, also received 0:32:31.880 --> 0:32:35.680 a mysterious visit late in the night. An unknown number 0:32:35.720 --> 0:32:39.640 of people evaded security guards and spread blood red paint 0:32:39.800 --> 0:32:43.520 around his pool and left a message reading cop City 0:32:43.560 --> 0:32:47.880 will never be built. Drop the contract and you can't hide. 0:32:48.720 --> 0:32:53.080 According to an online communicay, rotten fish and dirty motor 0:32:53.120 --> 0:32:56.960 oil were left hidden somewhere on the property. Part of 0:32:57.000 --> 0:33:00.680 the communicay, addressed to Keith reads quote, we know things 0:33:00.760 --> 0:33:03.920 haven't been feeling great in the office. You're losing money. 0:33:04.520 --> 0:33:08.280 Subcontractors are upset. There are fractures everywhere in the cop 0:33:08.360 --> 0:33:11.480 City project, and all of that weight and procarity is 0:33:11.600 --> 0:33:15.200 on your fragile shoulders. Each time you think of us, 0:33:15.320 --> 0:33:18.440 or see the reminders we left you, remember this is 0:33:18.520 --> 0:33:21.560 your own doing. You can make all of this stop 0:33:21.760 --> 0:33:27.640 by dropping the Copcity contract. On July fourth, in lieu 0:33:27.680 --> 0:33:31.440 of fireworks, people claimed to have set two Brent Scarborough 0:33:31.560 --> 0:33:35.160 machines on fire in broad daylight due to the lack 0:33:35.240 --> 0:33:40.160 of security during daytime. Scarborough is the subcontractor who physically 0:33:40.240 --> 0:33:43.480 leveled the ninety sum acres of Forest in the Wallani 0:33:44.280 --> 0:33:47.920 The same day in Michigan, Chase Bank ATMs were sabotaged 0:33:48.000 --> 0:33:51.280 with glue and the bank was vandalized with messages of resistance. 0:33:51.960 --> 0:33:55.360 Chase Bank's head of Regional Investment Banking serves on the 0:33:55.400 --> 0:33:59.120 board of the Atlanta Police Foundation. And on July eighth, 0:33:59.240 --> 0:34:02.280 a Bank of America in Berkeley was vandalized with stopcop 0:34:02.360 --> 0:34:07.080 city slogans and three ATMs were smashed. During the start 0:34:07.160 --> 0:34:10.520 of this little wave of actions, the Mayor's office and 0:34:10.680 --> 0:34:15.560 APD were none too happy, so on July fifth, Mayor 0:34:15.640 --> 0:34:19.120 Andre Dickens and Atlanta Police Chief Darren Scherbaum put on 0:34:19.160 --> 0:34:22.480 a press conference with the ATS, Georgia Bureau of Investigation 0:34:22.880 --> 0:34:26.920 and FBI to discuss the recent surge of direct actions. 0:34:27.520 --> 0:34:31.200 Our public safety facilities and property were the target of 0:34:31.239 --> 0:34:36.200 an extremely violent and dangerous attack on Saturday, July first, 0:34:36.640 --> 0:34:40.759 and there were several other destructive acts of extreme vandalism 0:34:41.080 --> 0:34:45.640 on public and private properly property that occurred that we 0:34:45.800 --> 0:34:48.759 have reason to believe are related to the construction of 0:34:48.800 --> 0:34:52.880 the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in Decab County. The 0:34:53.120 --> 0:34:57.680 current Atlanta Police Training Center at one eighty south Side 0:34:57.719 --> 0:35:02.560 Industrial Parkway was set up in the early morning hours 0:35:02.840 --> 0:35:08.960 of Saturday, July first. The targeted attack utilized extremely dangerous 0:35:09.400 --> 0:35:14.560 homemade incendiary devices to set a fire to the building 0:35:14.960 --> 0:35:21.239 and completely destroyed eight police motorcycle motorcycles. As shocking as 0:35:21.320 --> 0:35:26.000 this is, this was not an isolated incident of violence. 0:35:27.000 --> 0:35:29.880 This group actually took credit for these incidents and they 0:35:29.960 --> 0:35:34.320 stated it as I quote, we are vengeful wing nuts 0:35:34.520 --> 0:35:36.200 with nothing left to lose. 0:35:36.960 --> 0:35:39.040 Prior to that, about one hour prior to the event 0:35:39.120 --> 0:35:40.719 of one of the South Side industrial we had another 0:35:40.760 --> 0:35:42.960 precinct that was targeted in the city. This is our 0:35:43.000 --> 0:35:45.839 Path Force Precinct, Memorial Drive and the eight hundred block 0:35:45.840 --> 0:35:48.200 of the Memorial. These officers control the belt line which 0:35:48.239 --> 0:35:50.880 many of you all visit frequently. At that location, we 0:35:50.960 --> 0:35:54.520 had multiple windows broken on police vehicles. We believe the 0:35:54.600 --> 0:35:56.919 intent was to set those vehicles on fire as well. 0:35:57.800 --> 0:35:59.680 Half and fire off of the of the red fuse 0:35:59.840 --> 0:36:02.080 on the ground that has been used by this group 0:36:02.160 --> 0:36:04.960 in the past to set police vehicles on fire that 0:36:05.200 --> 0:36:09.000 was dropped when a citizen observed the criminal actions progress 0:36:09.040 --> 0:36:11.759 and actually interrupted the crimes that were occurring there. So 0:36:11.840 --> 0:36:14.239 we believe that the fire attack that was planned on 0:36:14.360 --> 0:36:18.560 Memorial Drive was thwarted by an observant citizen. A short 0:36:18.600 --> 0:36:20.680 time later, about an hour, we had the fire at 0:36:20.719 --> 0:36:24.640 our facility on Southside Industrial. Our training center has housed 0:36:24.640 --> 0:36:28.319 there most recently, and then our special operations precinct is there. 0:36:28.880 --> 0:36:31.440 The intent was for all forty to be destroyed, and 0:36:31.520 --> 0:36:34.320 had all those forty vehicles caught on fire, that police 0:36:34.360 --> 0:36:37.279 facility would have been gravely damaged, if not destroyed in 0:36:37.400 --> 0:36:39.720 the fire. And we are thankful for a police officer 0:36:39.840 --> 0:36:43.279 that saw this unfolding and likely interrupted that plan for 0:36:43.360 --> 0:36:45.600 being able to play out in its fullness. There's an 0:36:45.640 --> 0:36:49.120 indication that this was likely committed by the exact same intevisions. 0:36:49.239 --> 0:36:50.240 We will let and see where. 0:36:50.080 --> 0:36:50.720 The fact tickets. 0:36:51.320 --> 0:36:55.040 According to Chief Sheerbaum and Mayor Dickens, the actions against 0:36:55.120 --> 0:36:58.000 Atlanta Police on July first, over the course of just 0:36:58.040 --> 0:37:01.560 a few hours equaled over were three hundred thousand dollars 0:37:01.760 --> 0:37:03.319 in damages as. 0:37:03.239 --> 0:37:05.720 We're around thirty five thousand, and they once you outfit 0:37:05.800 --> 0:37:07.319 us a little bit more so, do that times eight, 0:37:07.640 --> 0:37:08.960 that's going to put you in the ballpark. 0:37:09.600 --> 0:37:13.000 Yeah, and that's not even including the rest of the 0:37:13.360 --> 0:37:17.000 smoke and damage. And other things, and the broken windows 0:37:17.120 --> 0:37:18.319 on the police car, etc. 0:37:19.320 --> 0:37:22.040 So the group that struck this weekend is a dedicated 0:37:22.080 --> 0:37:24.239 group of professional anarchists, and I know that may seem 0:37:24.280 --> 0:37:26.480 a contradiction in terms. So this is a group of 0:37:26.520 --> 0:37:29.359 individuals who don't pray, play by any rules, and we'll 0:37:29.360 --> 0:37:31.000 go to any links they need to to carry out. 0:37:31.000 --> 0:37:33.720 And this is their words. We will wage a campaign 0:37:34.120 --> 0:37:36.239 of violence and destruction, and so what we saw this 0:37:36.320 --> 0:37:37.600 weekend was part of that campaign. 0:37:38.080 --> 0:37:41.720 It's always funny when police make anarchists sound very cool 0:37:41.800 --> 0:37:46.000 and scary. But Chief Scherbaum also pretty clearly explained the 0:37:46.160 --> 0:37:51.320 reasoned methodology behind the pressure campaigns targeting contractors and APF 0:37:51.480 --> 0:37:52.560 financial sponsors. 0:37:53.040 --> 0:37:55.800 We know from the postings of this group their intent 0:37:55.960 --> 0:37:59.000 to stop the Public Safety Trading Center has left the 0:37:59.160 --> 0:38:02.920 democratic pro sess of the city Council and is now 0:38:03.040 --> 0:38:07.200 moving to intimidate and force out contractors that are committed 0:38:07.239 --> 0:38:10.520 to building the Public Safety training Center this weekend. During 0:38:10.560 --> 0:38:15.720 the week of action, three different locations private residences were targeted. 0:38:17.239 --> 0:38:20.319 Tires were flattened on contractors home. A home of an 0:38:20.360 --> 0:38:25.320 executive for Brassalgory was significantly vanalyzed. In another jurisdiction. And 0:38:25.400 --> 0:38:28.400 then we had another location where graffiti was used to intimidate. 0:38:29.160 --> 0:38:32.280 And then yesterday morning, slightly after seven o'clock in the morning, 0:38:32.600 --> 0:38:35.560 a location at four eighteen McDonough Boulevard belonging to Brent 0:38:35.640 --> 0:38:38.759 Scarborough's company, which is a key provider of work and 0:38:38.800 --> 0:38:42.240 this training centers was also targeted and attacked and equipment 0:38:42.400 --> 0:38:46.279 was set on fire at that location. These acts are 0:38:46.520 --> 0:38:49.719 of a small, determined group. These are small individuals from 0:38:49.719 --> 0:38:53.200 across the country that are using violence and fear and 0:38:53.320 --> 0:38:56.800 intimidation to stop a public safety training center. And this 0:38:56.960 --> 0:38:59.600 group cannot hide behind the dark of night or the 0:38:59.680 --> 0:39:01.800 home address and feel that they are not going to 0:39:01.800 --> 0:39:04.160 be held accountable. I have standing at this podium with 0:39:04.280 --> 0:39:08.320 me today representings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the ATF, 0:39:08.520 --> 0:39:10.920 and we are also partner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. 0:39:11.480 --> 0:39:14.720 These agencies are working together to determine where federal laws 0:39:14.760 --> 0:39:18.040 violated this weekend and ensure that the full expertise of 0:39:18.120 --> 0:39:21.080 American law enforcement is present right here in Atlanta to 0:39:21.200 --> 0:39:24.440 stop this group, stop this group across the region, stop 0:39:24.520 --> 0:39:27.360 their ability to impact the public safety network of Atlanta 0:39:27.640 --> 0:39:28.680 and hold them accountable. 0:39:28.920 --> 0:39:32.920 Despite continued threats from law enforcement, the only arrests that 0:39:33.040 --> 0:39:36.279 have happened so far in relation to this movement are 0:39:36.360 --> 0:39:42.359 from daytime protests, forest raids, and bail fund organizers. We've 0:39:42.440 --> 0:39:46.480 yet to see anyone arrested in Atlanta for doing like 0:39:46.600 --> 0:39:49.600 a specific one of these nocturnal like nights sabotage actions. 0:39:49.760 --> 0:39:51.040 That has not happened. 0:39:51.200 --> 0:39:54.680 Yeah, I mean, the scariest indictments everyone's expecting are going 0:39:54.760 --> 0:39:56.520 to come in these next few years, after you give 0:39:56.560 --> 0:39:59.560 the FBI two three, four years to investigate, after you 0:39:59.600 --> 0:40:01.760 interview or people whove been arrested, see if anyone stitches, 0:40:01.880 --> 0:40:06.879 if anyone turns state's witness. But so far, it's been 0:40:07.280 --> 0:40:10.000 safer to do nocturnal sabotage actions than it has been 0:40:10.120 --> 0:40:14.080 to attend a public protest. And that is an interesting 0:40:14.120 --> 0:40:16.280 paradigm as well, is that no one's actually got arrested 0:40:16.560 --> 0:40:20.359 for lighting like cop cars and fire in the middle 0:40:20.360 --> 0:40:23.680 of the night. No one's been arrested for sabotaging equipment 0:40:23.719 --> 0:40:26.160 in the middle of the night. All of the arrests 0:40:26.719 --> 0:40:28.880 that are you know, are being tied to like violent 0:40:28.960 --> 0:40:33.080 crime are from like daytime protests, which is an interesting 0:40:33.160 --> 0:40:37.000 factor about this movement. Direct action in the most surveiled 0:40:37.080 --> 0:40:40.720 city in America can be tricky, and even just managing 0:40:40.960 --> 0:40:43.840 cell phones and Internet search data is a huge factor. 0:40:44.520 --> 0:40:47.479 But as much real security there is out in the world, 0:40:48.080 --> 0:40:51.360 the amount of security theater is arguably a stronger aspect 0:40:51.440 --> 0:40:54.359 in getting people to not go out and do direct action. 0:40:55.120 --> 0:40:58.560 The implicit threat of the panopticon is often enough to 0:40:58.680 --> 0:41:04.120 stifle people's potential action, but these things are beatable. Guides 0:41:04.160 --> 0:41:06.640 for how to do it exist either at your local 0:41:06.719 --> 0:41:09.560 anarchist book fair or online as long as the computer 0:41:09.719 --> 0:41:12.200 is running tour browser and a reputable VPN. 0:41:13.040 --> 0:41:13.520 The Internet. 0:41:13.640 --> 0:41:18.040 The internet's a fun place. That's there is a lot 0:41:18.120 --> 0:41:21.160 of no blogs and sites and the zines that tell 0:41:21.200 --> 0:41:22.680 you how to do that. I don't know, I mean 0:41:22.719 --> 0:41:26.320 they people always make mistakes, People get caught sometimes make mistakes. 0:41:26.400 --> 0:41:29.040 It's risky, and there are cameras everywhere in the city. 0:41:29.640 --> 0:41:31.520 You have to Yeah, some of them, don't worry. But 0:41:32.239 --> 0:41:34.680 it's like, do you really want to play Russian Roulette? 0:41:34.760 --> 0:41:36.799 No, that's a part of that's a part of when 0:41:36.800 --> 0:41:39.880 people like plan these nocturnal actions is like just because 0:41:39.880 --> 0:41:42.520 it's nighttime, doesn't mean you're not sick getting watched or 0:41:42.520 --> 0:41:42.719 you're not. 0:41:42.880 --> 0:41:44.880 Like it's there's a lot of things that go into that. 0:41:45.960 --> 0:41:48.040 There's a lot of ways to get got whether you're 0:41:48.120 --> 0:41:51.879 like buying supplies and you keep a receipt and people 0:41:51.960 --> 0:41:53.960 please find a receipt, They track back, they find security 0:41:53.960 --> 0:41:56.680 acount of you'll be purchasing things and then they're like, oh, 0:41:56.760 --> 0:41:58.239 this bottle is bought it this place because you have 0:41:58.320 --> 0:41:59.879 this receipt in your house and blah blahlah blah blah. 0:42:00.120 --> 0:42:02.160 Like there's there's lots of ways that that stuff happens. 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:04.759 So like I'm not going to give a guide on 0:42:04.840 --> 0:42:09.840 how to do it right now, but like anarchists have 0:42:09.880 --> 0:42:11.560 been doing this for a long time. 0:42:11.920 --> 0:42:14.600 After you do that crime, you've never done that crime. 0:42:14.719 --> 0:42:16.680 Like it's it's not something that you do as a person, 0:42:16.760 --> 0:42:19.680 like you cease to become a person, you've become like 0:42:20.160 --> 0:42:21.000 you are that action. 0:42:21.200 --> 0:42:24.239 It is subsumed in the action, and then and then 0:42:24.280 --> 0:42:27.640 it's you never talked about it ever again. It's gone 0:42:28.080 --> 0:42:31.360 or else you end up going to prison. Yeah, and 0:42:32.120 --> 0:42:34.920 risking like not just your safety, the safety everyone's safety 0:42:35.920 --> 0:42:37.960 just by remembering that you did it. 0:42:38.080 --> 0:42:41.320 No you know, like these become standards and anarchist communities, 0:42:41.360 --> 0:42:44.080 like you never brag about something, You never allude to 0:42:44.160 --> 0:42:47.520 anything like it's it's it's not it's not a game 0:42:47.840 --> 0:42:50.879 like you're it's not a game. You're it is your 0:42:51.120 --> 0:42:53.879 your life and other people's lives on the line. When 0:42:53.960 --> 0:42:57.000 when when you're doing stuff like this and it's yeah, 0:42:57.040 --> 0:43:00.799 you you never do it to like cool. You never 0:43:00.920 --> 0:43:02.880 do it to brag about it like that. That's just 0:43:03.080 --> 0:43:07.239 not how this works, which is why there's kind of 0:43:07.239 --> 0:43:10.120 a much more like kind of insular culture around some anarchists, 0:43:10.200 --> 0:43:13.960 especially anarchists to identify as like illegalists or like the 0:43:14.040 --> 0:43:16.600 types of like like green nihilists or green anarchists. That 0:43:16.719 --> 0:43:20.840 kind of pioneered the militancy of this movement both slightly 0:43:21.080 --> 0:43:23.880 even slightly before the first City Council vote and then 0:43:23.960 --> 0:43:26.279 definitely after the first City Council vote where we saw 0:43:26.640 --> 0:43:30.360 a massive explosion no pun intended in the number of 0:43:31.080 --> 0:43:34.600 type of sabotages happening in the Wlani Forest. Yeah, which 0:43:34.719 --> 0:43:36.640 I think that drew a lot of anarchists do come 0:43:36.680 --> 0:43:37.400 to Atlanta because it. 0:43:37.400 --> 0:43:40.560 Was like, oh, they're doing a thing that's been the 0:43:40.640 --> 0:43:42.320 thing since the end of the green scare. 0:43:42.480 --> 0:43:44.720 Yeah, no, this is like the thing that I believe 0:43:44.760 --> 0:43:46.719 in that this is like, this is my politics. Now 0:43:46.760 --> 0:43:49.920 there's a spot where I can do my politics. And 0:43:50.440 --> 0:43:53.920 still no one's been caught for that. And I think 0:43:53.960 --> 0:43:55.560 that that was a big part of why Atlanta got 0:43:55.640 --> 0:43:57.920 so big last year, was that people had the ability 0:43:58.000 --> 0:44:00.759 to like live free in the forest and then do 0:44:00.920 --> 0:44:03.239 crazy shit at night. Like you can you live in 0:44:03.360 --> 0:44:07.680 this like autonomous zone during the day. You're able, whether 0:44:07.760 --> 0:44:10.800 you're you have housing instability, whether you just want like 0:44:11.440 --> 0:44:16.480 an escape from like horrible police state living. Like where 0:44:16.520 --> 0:44:18.480 in whatever, wherever the city you're in, you can go 0:44:18.600 --> 0:44:20.640 live in the Wilane Forest. You can live in a tent, 0:44:20.840 --> 0:44:23.880 you can have friends, you can defend this force during 0:44:23.920 --> 0:44:26.040 the day, and then you can do crazy, crazy shit 0:44:26.080 --> 0:44:28.280 at night. And that drew a lot of people to Atlanta, 0:44:29.040 --> 0:44:30.960 And now with the forest not being there, that also 0:44:31.040 --> 0:44:33.000 changes that that changes the type of people who are come, 0:44:33.120 --> 0:44:35.160 who are who want to come to the city because 0:44:35.239 --> 0:44:37.640 that that was a big draw for people And now 0:44:37.719 --> 0:44:39.719 that that's no longer an option, you can't really sleep 0:44:39.719 --> 0:44:41.360 in the Wilani Forest as easily anymore. 0:44:41.440 --> 0:44:43.480 Yeah, that changes the types. 0:44:43.280 --> 0:44:45.399 Of people who want to come to Atlanta and who 0:44:45.400 --> 0:44:49.200 are gonna like do crazy shit because that's just how And. 0:44:49.239 --> 0:44:51.840 Further on safety, they're not here. Yeah, no, absolutely. 0:44:52.520 --> 0:44:55.640 As the referendum is hoping to stop cop City by 0:44:55.760 --> 0:44:59.040 having Atlanta residents vote on whether to cancel the land lease, 0:44:59.719 --> 0:45:02.880 other in the Diverse movement have continued their efforts to 0:45:02.960 --> 0:45:06.560 pressure contractors and funders to drop out of the cop 0:45:06.680 --> 0:45:11.040 City project. This tactic has already demonstrated its ability to succeed, 0:45:11.320 --> 0:45:13.759 with Reeve's Young Construction dropping out of the project in 0:45:13.840 --> 0:45:17.320 April of twenty twenty two, and some material suppliers have 0:45:17.520 --> 0:45:21.239 since cut ties with cop City. This is something that 0:45:21.480 --> 0:45:25.320 APD Chief Darren Shecherbaum certainly seems worried about. 0:45:26.040 --> 0:45:28.800 This effort of fear was not going to succeed, and 0:45:29.000 --> 0:45:32.399 the coalition of law enforcement from the GBI to the FBI, 0:45:32.520 --> 0:45:35.080 to the ATF, Atlanta Police Department, and a slew of 0:45:35.200 --> 0:45:38.800 regional agencies is going to stop that campaign so it 0:45:38.920 --> 0:45:40.800 doesn't happen and individuals. 0:45:40.440 --> 0:45:41.400 Do not leave the project. 0:45:42.000 --> 0:45:46.040 On July second, protesters in Minnesota visited the homes of 0:45:46.200 --> 0:45:51.480 Atlas Technical Consultants employees during daylight, people marched around the 0:45:51.520 --> 0:45:55.880 neighborhoods with instruments and banners, knocked on doors, talked with neighbors, 0:45:56.239 --> 0:45:59.040 and left a letter of demands to drop the contract 0:45:59.160 --> 0:46:02.840 and cut ties with the Atlanta Police Foundation. The project 0:46:02.920 --> 0:46:06.600 manager for Atlas Technical Consultants engaged with protesters in the 0:46:06.640 --> 0:46:11.040 street and told them that Atlas had indeed already dropped 0:46:11.080 --> 0:46:14.839 out of the project due to mounting pressure than we want. 0:46:16.280 --> 0:46:18.240 Atlas is no longer involved. 0:46:20.239 --> 0:46:22.080 Why they decide to get out of it? 0:46:23.520 --> 0:46:28.680 We stopped doing that. Why because you guys are fucking 0:46:28.800 --> 0:46:31.240 nightmares and you broke all our fucking windows. 0:46:31.800 --> 0:46:35.160 So you remember, I don't care what you want to say, 0:46:36.520 --> 0:46:36.759 So you. 0:46:36.840 --> 0:46:41.440 Know my house and knock on my door and do 0:46:41.640 --> 0:46:45.520 this ship. My company is not involved in this, So 0:46:45.719 --> 0:46:48.400 get the fuck away from me. Okay, I'm glad. 0:46:50.680 --> 0:46:50.919 Alright. 0:46:52.000 --> 0:46:55.359 A few days later, Atlas and Long Engineering released an 0:46:55.400 --> 0:46:58.600 official statement saying that they would no longer be working 0:46:58.760 --> 0:47:02.360 on the cop City project. Anarchists and those on the 0:47:02.400 --> 0:47:06.000 left in general seem to have a hard time calling wins, 0:47:06.600 --> 0:47:09.440 But I'm not sure if it gets any more definitive 0:47:09.520 --> 0:47:12.440 than that audio clip in showing that this type of 0:47:12.520 --> 0:47:15.799 direct action can absolutely work in getting businesses to leave 0:47:15.880 --> 0:47:19.839 the project. In the next episode, we'll talk more about 0:47:19.880 --> 0:47:23.200 the referendum, the city's attempts to divide the movement, and 0:47:23.360 --> 0:47:26.239 the growing pr battle over the fate of Copcity. 0:47:26.880 --> 0:47:28.040 See you on the other side. 0:47:31.400 --> 0:47:33.760 It Could Happen Here as a production of cool Zone Media. 0:47:34.000 --> 0:47:36.640 For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 0:47:36.719 --> 0:47:39.839 coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 0:47:39.840 --> 0:47:43.200 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 0:47:43.239 --> 0:47:45.920 find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at 0:47:45.960 --> 0:47:49.160 coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.