WEBVTT - Stop Cop City, Dispatch from Weelaunee Summer: Part One 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.320 This summer has been a critical junction in the fight 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:13.399 against copp City, the Atlanta Police Foundation's massive proposed training 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.160 facility in de Cab County, which is slated to begin 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:20.680 construction later this very month. The last week of action 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:24.000 in March of twenty twenty three drew in over a 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:27.480 thousand people against cop City and saw hundreds of forest 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:31.680 defenders attack in mass the construction equipment and police infrastructure 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.680 stored on the site in a pretty successful action. The 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.120 police repression came down hard, but the militancy of the 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:43.240 force defenders left a pretty impressionable mark. Later that month, 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:47.440 to Cab County closed and barricaded in Trenchman Creek Park 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:53.040 citing public safety concerns and allegedly found booby traps. Police 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:56.320 did an exhaustive sweep of the forest and established a 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:00.840 relatively firm control of the territory. After a year and 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:03.680 a half of there being a nearly continuous presence in 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.680 the Mulani by forest vendors, now the police began a 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.720 forest occupation of their own. During the month that followed, 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:15.559 the Atlanta Police Foundation or the APF, rushed to clear 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:19.800 cut around ninety acres of the Mulani Forest, seemingly in 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.800 a ploy to show investors and the city that they 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.120 are committed to the project and to crush the spirits 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.839 of those who spent years opposing the facility and defending 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:33.800 the forest. People then set their sights on the Atlanta 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:37.720 City Council, who in early June was to vote on 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:42.000 whether or not to provide taxpayer funding for the APF's project. 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.279 Over twenty three hours of public comment across multiple days, 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:51.480 almost universally against copp City, culminated at the June fifth 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.680 City Council meeting, which lasted into the early hours of 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:58.560 the next morning. Despite the record breaking turnout opposing the 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:02.080 facility in the earth early morning of Tuesday, June sixth, 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:06.000 the Lanta City Council voted eleven to four in favor 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.680 of the sixty seven million dollar funding package to build 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:13.560 cop City. The next day, a group of community organizers 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:17.080 announced a referendum campaign to collect tens of thousands of 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:21.080 petition signatures from Atlanta voters to put the cop City 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:25.760 land lease on the upcoming ballot. City council approving public 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:30.760 funds for cop City was certainly disappointing, but not quite unexpected, 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.120 because another week of action to Stop Cop City was 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:38.960 already planned for later that same month. This is it 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:43.600 could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis. In this three part series, 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.320 I'll be talking about what's been happening in Atlanta this 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.639 summer to Stop cop City. If you want to hear 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.600 more about the background of this movement. In the month 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:54.920 of May, we put out a five part series on 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:58.000 the Week of Action from that spring, along with the 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.119 few other previous Defend the Forest, Stop Cup City mini 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.760 series published over the course of the last year and 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:07.400 a half. With much of the forest already destroyed and 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:11.160 no easy access to Entrenchment Creek Park, this week of 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.520 action in June was set to be very unlike any 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.920 that had come before. The kickoff rally was to begin 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:22.040 on Saturday, June twenty fourth at Brownwood Park in East Atlanta. 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:24.600 I made my way there and met up with Matt 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:28.640 from the Atlantic Community Press Collective. My first feeling walking 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:30.840 in is like it felt very society of the spectacle 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.359 in terms of like the ratio of cameras to participants 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.000 was the most extreme that I've really ever ever seen 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:38.360 for like, you know, a week of action. 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:40.320 I think there was there was outside of like a 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:41.040 press conference. 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.960 Yeah, and like it felt like there was so many 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:48.120 just cameras looming around, and it's like it's like there's 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:50.080 so many people trying to make a similar frum of 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.280 the movements to sell back to other people at this 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:56.800 point in time, and like there's just a very like 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:59.400 that's just a very large, pervasive feeling, and that combined 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.120 with the more of the more liberalization of certain certain aspects, 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:05.560 again compared to the last week of action, which felt 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:08.200 there was a strong militant continuent. 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:13.080 And like the liberals continued was still there if you will. 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:17.040 Burn it, And that's not the vibe here. That's not 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.640 the vibe here. There's definitely a big separation in terms 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:21.560 of what types of people at what side of the park. 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.440 Right now, there's a more like more like forested section 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:25.560 of the park with a creek. 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.360 On the south side, which is where people are setting 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.000 up some camping sites had a kitchen, that's where the 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:33.200 well content is. And then there's the other side of 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:35.360 the park that has like the rec center and the playground, 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:37.080 which seems more like family friendly stuff. 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:39.440 Yeah, there are kids there, there's the popcorn setup. 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:41.880 It's more like there is a Bounty House, which is 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:43.799 great return. 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:46.760 They couldn't, they couldn't keep this moving down. 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:48.880 I won't. 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:54.520 I won't rest until is destroyed, until the conty every 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:56.200 Mounty Castle is in Atlanta. 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.760 Till till every Bounty Castle is to that is. 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:03.200 That is the new Movement's so good. 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.920 In contrast to the last kickoff rally at Gresham Park, 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.760 which felt very unified, this time there was a noticeable 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:13.840 separation in terms of what types of people are on 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.560 the two sides of the park. People wearing camouflage and 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.279 masks were more situated on the south side of the 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.560 park where tents were being set up, versus people by 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.240 the playground who were going around with the referendum signup 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.800 sheet and where all the food was being handed out. 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.280 It's so separated the game. 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:34.040 No, the two groups. 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:38.000 Cannot cannot, cannot count see each other and even like 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:38.359 people like. 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:41.200 Yeah. 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.600 Turnout seemed to be a bit lower than some people expected, 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.920 and it was definitely much lower compared to the previous 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:51.720 few weeks of action and overall the rally was very 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:55.560 muted and lacked a sense of energy or focus. Like 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:57.680 the rallies, was start at eleven, which kind of kind 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.720 of think nothing happened like it just it felt very directtionless. 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.440 I felt like people do not quite know why they 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:04.600 were there at this point in. 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:09.480 Times, almost Nune before anyone really spoke on the bullhorn, 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.480 and the music didn't start until noon, and then what 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:16.880 was it like a half hour ago, so like twelve 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:21.320 thirty probably when when the first like speaker said anything 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:22.560 from the Faith Coalition. 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:23.360 I don't know. 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.160 So far, the rally kind of feels like a microcosmum 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:28.880 of the entire movement at this point, just not quite 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:30.440 sure where to direct the energy to. 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:32.640 There's a feeling that like people should do. 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:36.440 Something, but they don't quite know how to. They haven't 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.640 decided how that should be directed yet, and so like 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:40.680 there's some people showing up, but it's just like it 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:42.840 feels kind of stagnant, and like there's this there's this 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:44.279 need to evolve. 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:48.000 Right now, and I don't know. 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:50.040 I think maybe people got burnt out from the city 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:51.880 council things and there's a lot of energy being. 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.280 Pumped into that. Yeah, and then I guess some people. 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.320 People like three weeks of pushing energy. 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.240 And that that was only like two weeks ago, like 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:02.760 that that's still very recently three weeks it still feels 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:05.800 it still feels very raw. Walking down the pathway on 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:08.480 the south side of Brownwood you can see people setting 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.800 up tents, carrying camping supplies and big jugs of water. 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:15.760 Other people were assembling a makeshift kitchen in the tree line, 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.200 and all of that was physically reminiscent of the last 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.400 week of action. But being four miles away from the 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.320 forest at Brownwood Park instead of the Wailani impacted the 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.320 feeling on the ground. We're both were so far away 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:31.480 from the forest, but there's like that separation of space, 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:34.440 like it feels so distant. 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:38.920 And distant, even more than than Gresham Park, even more Gresham, 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.600 Like if this were happening in Gresham Park, I think 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:45.840 that might even be a different feeling. Yeah, because at 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:50.840 least you're attached to the Leilani. 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.640 There was more determination on like the south side of 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:55.960 of the park. 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:57.480 And you could feel like the people want at least 0:07:57.480 --> 0:07:59.160 people want to do something physically, and they were. 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:01.400 But it's even still unclear how it's going to get 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:03.760 directed towards, like like what is this to bring. 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:05.240 To stop prop city right now? Like that is and 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:05.640 that's the. 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.240 Big thing is like people are trying to figure that out, 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:12.320 and there's people here, but like what are what are 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:13.640 people actually going to be doing? 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:19.480 Like that's that's the question that is You're going to 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:20.880 be unanswered at least today. 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.000 I would say the last Week of Action in March 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:27.320 was very important in terms of setting the stage for 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:31.040 what the next few months would look like. The direct 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.560 action that happened on Sunday during the music festival was 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:39.440 very important and successful, but also carried large ramifications for 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.840 how the rest of the movement would be shaped in 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.640 terms of the police repression and increase police presence in 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:50.000 the forest. The weeks of Action definitely have this ability 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.360 to affect how the movement as a whole evolves in 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:57.319 the subsequent months. On Saturday, there were worries that if 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.920 things were simply going to continue to be like the 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.800 kickoff rally, that wouldn't be a positive direction and would 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.160 be a bad sign. It's just so, I mean, it's 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:08.839 hard not to convey this to the to the last 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.679 Week of Action kickoff rally at Gresham, which is felt 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.640 so different like that there was like almost ten times 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.600 as many people. There was like a feeling of like motion, 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:19.280 There was a feeling of like we can, we have 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:20.840 we have to go do a thing, and we're gonna 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.120 do it no matter what, Like we don't know it's 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:24.560 gonna be on the other side of the tunnel, but 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:26.440 we're going there to do it anyway. 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:27.680 We're gonna find it out together. 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:30.280 And there was that was a lot of determination, and 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:31.679 then there was a lot of like there was like 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.640 a pointedness, like they knew where they were going, and 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:39.160 this does not It lacks that pointedness. It feels like 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:41.640 people aren't quite sure why they're here or what to 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.320 do at this point in time. And if the movement 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.760 wants to be able to continue in its goals, it 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.440 has to find some way to evolve in these next 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:50.360 two months as construction is going to ramp up. 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:54.640 And I guess this this week will kind of. 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:58.120 Will the bell weather either well, either a bell weather 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:02.480 or a learning experience. Yeah, it might not be any 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.840 sort of death now, but it will have to be 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:07.080 a learning experience probably. 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:08.080 Yeah. 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:10.240 That's that's kind of most of most of my thoughts 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:13.800 so far based on walking through both places. 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:16.120 There's just not much else talk looks and how much 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.040 is happening, Like it soon. 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:21.240 Enough However, other things did start happening thanks to the 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:26.160 Atlanta Police Department, but throughout that afternoon things remained mostly 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.960 low key, and as the day went on, the gathering 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.200 at Brownwood Park turned into a community barbecue and people 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:34.960 started to get a much more clear idea of what 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:39.000 the expectations for that day were. As people settled into 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:42.040 the park, there ceased to be any big anticipation for 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.120 what everyone was going to be doing that first day. 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:47.680 There wasn't supposed to be a vigil for Tortighita in 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:51.680 the park that evening, which was interrupted by Atlanta Police 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.640 officers who swept through the park issuing a quote unquote 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:58.640 friendly reminder that the park closed at eleven PM. 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:00.120 All right, it's around eight thirty. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.200 How about forty police officers just walked through Brownwood Park 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.000 telling people that are gathered here that the park closes 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.800 at eleven and everyone's basically anticipating the police are going 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:10.559 to try to sweep the entirety of the park, including 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:13.320 the sections where people are trying to camp out. Around 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:16.960 eleven PM, the cops were walking south through the park 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:19.800 as the crowd was walking and chanting along the way. 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:26.599 As well, cops left under the heels of like maybe 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:30.120 seventy five to two hundred people who were chanting along 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:33.520 the south side of Brownwood. They've been staging around Brownwood 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.560 Park and Portland Avenue for the past hour or so. 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:42.079 They had like twenty thirty cars, it's around forty fifty officers. 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:44.760 People decided they did not wish to stand their ground 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.640 and fight off a possible police raid at Brownwood Park, 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.280 so they spent the next few hours packing up all 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.920 the supplies and equipment that they just spent all day 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:57.080 setting up, and then evacuated from the area. Okay, it 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:01.520 is eleven ten PM. It seems like the cops essentially 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.000 just did what I'm referring to as advanced bluffing. So 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.160 they walk through it on eight thirty warning people, hey, 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.320 park closes at eleven, which very much, very much indicating that, hey, we're. 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:12.640 Going to sweep through and fuck with your shit if 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:13.160 you're still here. 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.240 So the next few hours people spent time, you know, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:20.280 packing up, breaking down the tents, of leaving heading to 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:22.920 other locations, and then at eleven we kind of just 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.240 expected police to do a standard sweep through, you know, 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:27.880 destroy anything they find if they find people tell them 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:31.079 to leave or else get arrested, standard stuff. At this point, 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:34.160 there's about seven or eight police cruisers staged around the 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:37.720 south side of the park, but they're not actually sweeping 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:40.240 through because it's pretty clear that there's like no one 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:42.600 actually in the park at this point. It's just very 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:46.600 clearly like empty and quiet, So I don't even I 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:48.400 don't even think cops are going to sweep through. It's 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.520 it's been already like ten to fifteen minutes. We expected 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:52.640 them to kind of sweep on the hour, but they 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:54.640 just like don't need to. It's very clear that no 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:56.679 one's in the park, so they just kind of like 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:01.480 successfully bluffed themselves into getting everyone to leave. I mean, 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.080 if there were people still here in invisible capacity, I'm 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.280 sure police would sweep through, but there's really there's no 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:09.840 invisible in the park for many of like the perimeters around, 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:12.680 so they're not even gonna bother sweeping through. But yeah, 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.920 it looks like this is the end of Brownwood Day 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:20.600 one and the very kind of low key kickoff rally. Still, 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.240 the week definitely is lacking a sense of direction. There's 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:28.000 been a cab swat doing perimeter sweeps around the Wailani 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:31.000 forest and the round Greshian Park where there's some future 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:31.760 events planned. 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:34.320 We will see how that plays out in these next 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:34.800 few days. 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.840 It certainly seemed like police wanted to make some show 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:41.720 of force early on in the week to stifle the 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:44.760 week of action. The threat of array the very first 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.680 tonight was indeed disruptive to the logistics for the week, 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:51.559 but ultimately people were able to band together to keep 0:13:51.559 --> 0:14:05.679 each other safe and cared for. During this current general 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.920 sense of directionlessness, there were a lot of questions on 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.439 how the movement will change during this turning point, With 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.800 little in the way of obvious answers or new paths 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.840 of resistance, The following Sunday and Monday of the week 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:23.560 continued to be mostly low key. People used those days 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:27.520 to facilitate workshops and discussions to work through the shift 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.520 the movement was going through. At the end of the week, 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.640 I sat down with Matt in East Atlanta Village to 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.480 talk about the week as a whole and compare notes. 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:39.960 Here's a bit of our conversation talking about the discussions 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:43.720 that started happening during those first few days. This was 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.280 a week of discussions, like it was, it really was. 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:48.680 There was a lot of meetings. There was a lot 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.360 of discussions happening, people figuring out what do we do, 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:53.600 like if we actually want to stop cop City and 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:55.680 it's going to get built in these next few months, 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:57.440 like now. 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.400 Is the time to figure out what the fuck to 0:14:59.480 --> 0:14:59.960 do next. 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:02.520 So people have been having those discussions this week, and 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:04.560 if anything, the Week of Action has been useful in 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:06.200 this in this sense that it's brought a lot of 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:10.160 people together so they can have these generative conversations. And 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.720 there was a lot more conversations during this week than 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:14.960 last week. There was one on like what the state 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:17.640 of the movement is now, especially with the referendum taking 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.680 up more visibility, how are like radical is going to 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:25.240 navigate this space and this movement with a lot of 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:27.040 things in flux, And I think that that was definitely 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.440 my first read. Even even on the Cookoff rally, I 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:31.160 felt like there's a lot of people like not sure 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.080 what to do, is very directionless. People were asking a 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.320 lot of questions and more questions were being asked all 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:36.880 throughout the week. There's a lot of discussions, a lot 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:39.720 of meetings about like what do we do now, Like 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:41.960 if construction is going to start in the next two months, like, 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.600 what is this movement going to do? Like that people 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:46.760 can chant if you build it, we will burn it. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:50.920 But chanting it and doing it two different things. And 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:53.400 the movement is it's going to go through a period 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:57.000 of evolution and in these next few months, and with 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.520 all those questions being asked, I feel like the answer 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:02.040 to those quiesequestions is going to be the actions people 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.600 do take in these next few months. In the aftermath 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.320 of the clear cutting, it felt like in some ways 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.840 that the window of possibility for this movement was closing 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:14.840 as options seemed to be getting smaller. More people started 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:18.040 pursuing the referendum as a potential means of stopping Copcity, 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.560 but those in the more militant anarchist wing of the 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:25.280 movement were left questioning, after two years of employing a 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.720 diversity of tactics largely led by direct action, if it's 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.480 the right and move to switch to an electoral strategy 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.360 now when the situation is approaching its most dire but 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:37.560 since it is happening whether they like it or not, 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.760 anarchists were wondering, what can people do so that the 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.680 referendum doesn't completely dominate the narrative of the movement or 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:49.120 disincentivize other evolutions of the struggle. Now, obviously, a group 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:52.480 of people pursuing a referendum does not prohibit other people 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:55.880 from engaging in direct action, but there still were worries 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:59.000 that the referendum could become a sort of release mechanism 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.440 for the movement, both in terms of new people's involvement 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:06.440 being pushed toward this more liberalized electoral strategy instead of 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.280 radical action, or if the petition or even potential ballot 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:14.040 vote fails, then that being used as an indicator that 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:18.320 most people in the city actually do want copcity. But 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:21.160 through all this, what anarchists can do, and what they 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:25.240 typically do, is to encourage radical autonomy and self determination 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:30.080 regardless of electoral strategies or outcomes. Whether or not a 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:34.119 petition gets sixty some thousand signatures does not affect a 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:39.240 burning construction vehicle. Just as these sort of discussions were happening, 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:42.480 It's kind of fitting that on Monday, June twenty sixth, 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.199 we saw the first communication in months claiming responsibility for 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:50.639 equipment sabotage. After the last week of action in March 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:54.240 and subsequent police raids on the forest, increased security, the 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.320 rapid clear cutting and big push for city council public 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.399 comment followed by the start of the referendum wrote that 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:03.119 series of events, there really hadn't been much in the 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:07.320 way of nocturnal direct action sabotage happening in Atlanta or 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:11.600 across the country in solidarity once a core component of 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.919 this movement was seriously lacking in the months leading up 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:18.400 to this summer, and then suddenly, after the June week 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:22.159 of action's mostly uneventful start, a post went up on 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.880 the sketchu web site scene stott no blogs dot org 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:28.399 claiming that a group of anonymous individuals snuck into a 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:32.800 subcontractor's machine storage lot and poured hydrochloric acid into the 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:37.640 oil tanks of three vehicles. The target was Brent Scarborough Company, 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.880 a Georgia based subcontractor who was hired to clear cut 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:44.720 the Waalani forest and was currently engaged in mass land 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:49.520 grading on the site. I drove by the site on 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:55.639 Monday and I saw like over twenty machines like actively 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:56.760 working on the land. 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.240 Very avatar much Yeah. 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:06.280 Yes, y or FORER and Gully the superior film, but no, 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:08.800 like it's like the site's being very actively worked on, 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:10.880 like I've never seen that many machines doing active work 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.520 like all moving at the same time. Early Monday morning, 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.600 the Stop Cop City Referendum put out a strong statement 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.960 of solidarity with quote all tactics on the road to 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:25.320 collective liberation unquote and openly rejected the state's framing of 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:29.720 quote unquote violent and nonviolent resistance. To briefly quote a 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.439 few of the last sentences of the statement, quote, the 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.800 Cop City Vote Referendum campaign is grounded in the values 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:40.560 of abolitionist organizing and racial and environmental justice. We also 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:43.600 recognize our chosen tactic is a single intervention in a 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:47.240 wide rainbow of fighting state repression. We seek to use 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:51.240 the Cop City Referendum to leverage local power, educate and 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.760 activate our communities, and build networks that can strengthen our 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:59.040 city and future mobilizations. The referendum is one piece of 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:04.000 a vibrant, multi faceted movement, one that defies respectable categorization 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:07.760 as well as its state violence and repression. The Cop 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:11.640 City Vote Referendum Coalition stands in solidarity and full support 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:14.600 of the Stop Cop City Week of Action, The larger 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:18.639 movement and abolitionist organizers and activists across this city. 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:23.639 Unintentionally, these two things coincided. There was the release of 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:26.760 the scenes like the first sabotage in months, and then 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:31.400 the referendum released that same day, the solidarity statement for 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.840 all yes actions taken to stop Cop City. No, I 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:37.800 just think that needs the statement itself needs to be highlighted, 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:41.639 and yeah, I think it seems like they're going to 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:42.119 stick to that. 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.640 The solidarity statement was widely applauded and seen as a 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.920 good sign regarding the referendum's place in the larger fight 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:52.199 against Cop City and how it was not intending to 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:56.600 take space away from other aspects of the movement. Tuesday morning, 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:59.639 there was a small protest outside the Cab County Border 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:04.080 Commisson's building to call for the reopening of Entrenchment Creek Park. 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.600 The park was a common gathering spot for the movement, 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:10.680 at where many people camped during previous weeks of action. 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:15.399