Join us for a mass mobilization in Atlanta, Georgia to Defend the Forest and Stop Cop City. On the morning of November 13, masses of people from across the city and country will gather in the Weelaunee Forest and bring construction to a halt. Together we can Block Cop City.
This movement has drawn in people from all walks of life and using all means of resistance: canvassing; pressure campaigns; speaking out at city hall; children's marches; traditional Muscogee stomp dances; music festivals; Weeks of Action; sabotage; and demonstrations all across the country. This is the secret of the movement's inner strength: that it is large enough to contain multitudes, and that it finds within itself an endless capacity for innovation.
A protest encampment in the forest itself, sustained for over a year, has been key to the movement's effectiveness. Forest defenders, sometimes dozens, at other times hundreds, sleeping in tents and treehouses, put their lives on hold and their bodies on the line. Their determination and courage captured the national imagination. By physically blocking construction, this opened space and bought time for many other effective ways of participating to become possible.
A series of multi-agency police raids on the protest encampment have finally cleared the way for construction. During a raid on January 18, our beloved comrade Manuel "Tortuguita" Paez Terán was shot and killed by police. Forty one forest defenders now face preposterous "domestic terrorism" charges.
The efforts to defeat the movement have backfired. The repression has catapulted a seemingly local struggle into the forefront of national consciousness. More people than ever are getting involved and the momentum is only growing. What is needed is simply to give form and direction to this momentum and scale-up our resistance.
One hundred and sixteen thousand local residents have signed a petition for a referendum on Cop City, which would allow the people of Atlanta to decide the project's fate through a popular vote. However, the mayor's administration continues to undermine the democratic process, now refusing to even count the petition signatures in a bad faith legal runaround.
Over 85 acres of forest have been clear cut. Without a legal order to halt construction, whatever happens at the ballot box will be too late.
The people will have to enforce their own stop work order. This is the only way to honor the overwhelming popular sentiment in favor of ending this project. With our future on the line and the whole world watching, we’ll take a stand to bend the course of history.
COP CITY WILL BE DEFEATED