It Could Happen Here - Atlanta Forest Week of Action Update

Episode Date: June 6, 2022

An update on Defend the Atlanta Forest discussing what’s happened the past month from the Week of Action up to the current situation.  https://scenes.noblogs.org/ https://defendtheatlantaforest.org/https://twitter.com/defendATLforesthttps://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/contribute-to-the-atlanta-solidarity-fund   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadowbride. Join me, Danny Trejo, and step into the flames of fright. An anthology podcast of modern-day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast

for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into tech's elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires.

From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech brought to you by an industry veteran with nothing to lose. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts from. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking musica, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world

and some fun and impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories, combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only nuestra gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

get your podcasts. Greetings. This is It Could Happen Here. I'm Garrison Davis, and this episode, I will once again be talking about the Defend the Atlanta Forest project. Last month, I released two episodes totaling like three hours in content discussing the movement from its inception up until the current state of affairs at time of recording, which was like early May. If you want background on this really interesting and vital piece of resistance that's happening in Atlanta, Georgia, then I would recommend you at least attempt to check out the juggernaut of audio, which is that two-parter. Long story short, there's this police training facility that the Atlanta Police Foundation and other corporate interests in the city are trying to build on one of the city's last remaining, like, massive swaths of a continuous forested land.

On an adjacent piece of forested land, a movie studio called Blackhall is trying to expand their soundstage onto a whole other section of the woods. The joint projects of the police training facility dubbed Cop City and the Blackhall Studios soundstage expansion threaten hundreds of acres of the largest continuous piece of the Atlantic forest located in southwest DeKalb County. The area is often referred to as the lungs of Atlanta and produces a massive amount of tree canopy in the city and is a wonderful little ecological spot. I was lucky enough to visit in late April to help in putting together those two episodes. And a lot has happened since then.

Coming off the success of getting Reeves Young to cease work on the Cop City project, I felt like there was this sense of renewed optimism regarding the potential of actually winning. On the other hand, just during the week before the week of action, attempts by cops to enter the forest increased, and there was talk of increasing crackdowns against the forest offenders by local law enforcement, who also announced that they called in the FBI to assist them. Which leads us to the week of action. On the morning of May 9th, which was a Monday, barely a day into the week of action, a bulldozer was brought into the Atlanta forest.

This is based on reporting by the great folks at the Atlanta Community Press and other on-the-ground reports from forest offenders posted by the Defend the Atlanta Forest account and scenes.noblogs. So around 9.30 a.m. Monday morning, people inhabiting the Willani Forest woke up to the sounds of trees going down and metal machinery. woke up to the sounds of trees going down and metal machinery. A bulldozer marked with Dodd Drilling LLC, accompanied by two DeKalb County cops, had bulldozed a path through the forested Entrenchment Creek Park, directly adjacent to the old Atlanta prison farm. The parkland is currently under threat by the Blackhall Studios' soundstage development.

The Dodd Drilling bulldozer destroyed a significant swath of forests, injuring plants and animals in its path. When people learned about this, around 40 folks quickly mobilized and gathered around the bulldozer confronting the project managers and the police officers on the scene. Those gathered shouted at the workers and cops to go home and declared that this is a public park. When the two DeKalb County police who were protecting the bulldozer were confronted, it was revealed that they were actually working as off-duty uniformed private security, seemingly taking orders from the construction management. The management, who wore vests labeled Contour

Engineering and Dot Phillips, claimed that they were not working for Blackhall Studios. Who knows if that's true or who they might be working for then? Georgia state law does permit off-duty police officers to be hired, along with their uniforms, service weapons, and vehicles, by private companies for their own purposes. The police expressed that they were not aware that they were in a public park, along with the bulldozer they were protecting. Faced with a confident group of responders intent on defending the forest from further destruction, police and the construction management quickly made the decision to retreat from the woods. The off-duty cops had called in reinforcements from DeKalb County. Seven more

DeKalb County vehicles showed up, but by the time the extra police arrived, workers were driving the bulldozers back into the parking lot. The police were persuaded to leave by the actions of intelligent people acting quickly and collectively in defense of the land. The force defenders then escorted the cops and the workers out of the park and made sure the destruction of the woods had truly ceased. Police scanners reported that vehicles transporting the bulldozer faced a barrage of rocks and had their windshields smashed. Entrenchment Creek Park is still a public park and property of DeKalb County

under a civil court injunction. The pending case prevents construction or clearing by Blackhall Studios. Later that same day, a group of around 40 people marched to the home of Shepard Long, the principal of Long Engineering, an engineering firm subcontracted to do surveying and other pre-construction work on the Atlanta Police Foundation's Public Safety Training Center, which we call COP City. The group rallied for about 10 minutes outside Shepard Long's home and was demanding that Long Engineering sever its contract with the COP City project. One of the group members read aloud a statement directed to Shepard Long, which I will play the nucleus of a culturally rich black community full of

churches, preschools, and community centers. Dozens of children and grandparents have lived there for years. If you continue to work with Brasfield and Goree, our streets and backyards will be filled with shootings, explosions, and tear gas. We want our children and neighbors to be able to breathe clean air and experience the vastness of the our children and neighbors to be able to breathe clean air and experience the vastness of the Atlanta forest, not to be victims of a domestic war zone. You have the power to stop that. We are here to fight for the future of our city, our children, our neighbors, and our planet. We hold no ill will towards you personally.

We just want you to make this one right decision. We know Long Engineering has many other contracts with many other companies. We are only here to ask you to drop this one company, Brasfield and Gorey, until they drop their contract with the Atlanta Police Foundation." The group distributed flyers alerting neighbors to the work of Shepard Long and what his company was doing in DeKalb County. After about 10 minutes, the group quickly dispersed without incident. The next day, there was a lot of other events related to the Week of Action. There was a security culture workshop, an activist primer about building a collective understanding of ways to keep us all safe from imprisonment and government repression.

understanding of ways to keep us all safe from imprisonment and government repression. There was a night of hip-hop and punk at a local radical venue that served as a benefit show for the forest defense. Other random events throughout the week of action included stuff like clothing swaps, bike rides through the forest, yoga in the park, plus daily breakfast and dinners, history talks, art parties, woodwalks, skill shares, and a sick night rave, along with, you know, forced tours and much more. So that's just two days of the week of action, the Monday and the Tuesday. When we get back from this ad break, I will get into what happened on Wednesday and then Thursday. You know, we're going to go through it linearly.

Um, despite my criticisms of linear time, we will go through this in a linear fashion because that's how formatting this episode was easiest. Anyway, uh, here's some ads. Welcome.

I'm Danny Thrill. Would you join me at the fire and dare enter Nocturnum, Tales from the Shadows, presented by iHeart and Sonora. An anthology of modern-day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures.

I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of my Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming.

This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. with some of the biggest names in the game. If you love hearing real conversations with your favorite Latin celebrities, artists, and culture shifters, this is the podcast for you.

We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators, sharing their stories, struggles, and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme laughs and all the vibes that you love. Each week, we'll explore everything from music and pop culture to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories. Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo actual y viral.

Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez. Elian, Elian. Elian Gonzalez.

Elian, Elian. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation.

Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we are back talking about the Defend the Atlanta Forest Week of Action. So just after 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11th, two DeKalb County Park Police entered the forest to inspect the path created by the bulldozer that previous Monday. As they were exiting the forest, forest defenders ambushed them by throwing rocks and bottles at their vehicles and smashing the car's windows. At noon, so like two hours later, a van marked Law Enforcement Department of Juvenile Justice pulled up into the parking lot of Entrenchment Creek Park.

It's worth noting that the area of Entrenchment Creek Park and the forested area on the Atlanta prison farm has like two child prisons on it. We talk more about those in the two-part series from last month. But anyway, so this van marked Department of Juvenile Justice pulled up into the parking lot inside Entrenchment Creek Park. About an hour later, the van was attacked suddenly by a barrage of rocks and multiple tires were slashed. The van attempted to escape but was left stranded in the parking lot until DeKalb police were able to escort it out. Police were nervously walking backwards in order to keep their eyes on the tree line, where they knew forced offenders would be watching them at every moment. Multiple police vehicles were damaged. Nobody was detained or arrested.

Portions of that report came from scenes.noblogs.org. report came from scenes.noblogs.org. Earlier that same day, like early in the morning, around 40 people visited the home of Keith Lanier Johnson Jr. in Kensaw, Georgia. Keith is the eastern regional president of Brasfield and Gorey. Brasfield and Gorey are the current general contractor on the Atlanta Police Foundation's Cop City Project. Flyers were posted around the neighborhood, past the low barrier, fencing around the gated community. An anonymous statement released online at scenes.noblogs read, quote, Now that Keith is no longer busy on the board of the Mount Perrin Christian School, it seems he is now managing the $142,000 of fines levied against his employer for safety and wage theft violations. He's also overseeing the destruction of grave sites, leveling of a

vital tree canopy, and the militarization of the American police force. It is for those reasons that community members went to his home at 6 a.m. We hope that Keith is able to convince the two owners, currently sitting comfortably back at home in Birmingham, that the current Atlanta Police Foundation contract is untenable and there is an urgent need to cancel it. It could turn out that Keith personally is carrying to Brunt the pressure for his boss's decisions. Brassfield and Gorey will eventually drop the Cop City project. Anonymous groups are developing new methods for disincentivizing the project. The next day, on May 12th, a tightly

packed crowd of around 80 masked protesters converged on the Brassfield and Gorey Atlanta office. In broad daylight, people holding banners and launching fireworks arrived at the building, and forced offenders covered the side of the office with Stop Cop City graffiti and chanting We'll Be Back as they left. Unicorn Riot reported that five people were arrested following the action and booked on several charges, including some felonies. Charges were including riot and criminal damage to property and, quote, terroristic threats and acts. I know that some, but possibly not all, people's charges got dropped, and the listed bond amount for some individuals was extremely high, getting up to around $50,000 just for an individual.

Nearing the end of the week of action on Saturday, May 11th, a march to defend the forest took the streets in East Atlanta Village, led by local preschoolers. There were some really nice signs and artwork done by kids. The Defend the Forest Twitter account posted some beautiful photos of kids' protest signs that says, Forest is life and love you trees. Stop. Never cut down the trees. Along with very, very good art. It was very, very pleasant to see. A few hours later, another march through Atlanta to stop Cop City drew around 200 protesters.

After about an hour of marching, the crowd returned to Freedom Park, where they were then attacked by police without warning. Dozens of cop cars pulled up and police helicopters loomed overhead. Armored cops were arresting people on the sidewalks for marching on the streets, for playing drums, or for just standing in the wrong place. Atlanta police and Georgia State Patrol officers assaulted, shoved, and tackled multiple people, deployed tasers, and threatened neighbors who filmed the arrests. One person violently arrested was taken to the hospital for treatment. The Defend the Forest Twitter account posted, quote, At least 17 arrests tonight by Atlanta Police Department. Spirits high as the forest raves and the encampment grows.

Outside the forest, many stand vigil at the jail, welcoming arrestees as they are released. We are strong together. The forest unites us. The cops cannot divide us. Atlanta police say that the march was in violation of pedestrian laws, which is why they charged and started assaulting people on the sidewalk. And that wraps up some of the week of action stuff. I know there was a lot more things that happened,

but trying to cram it all into a tight package was challenging. So that was the general week of action vibes. But there's more. We still have like half the episode to go because a lot else has happened in in the days since then in the early morning on monday may 16th a week after the bulldozer descended on the forest accompanied by off-duty cops acting as security a home associated with dodd drilling ll LLC was painted with slogans including Dodd Drilling Stay Out, Stop Cop City, and Drop APD. A message for the homeowner associated with Dodd

Drilling was released, which you can read the full version of online at scenes.noblogs.org. I'll read some portions of it here. Quote, last Monday, a bulldozer with your logo forced its way into the Wallani Forest and left a 100-foot trail of destruction in its wake. Forest defenders responded quickly with rocks and rage, but some damage was already done. Despite having no permit, you allowed Atlanta police

to use your equipment to intimidate and injure the forest and its residents. Today, you know what it's like to have your space invaded. You came into our home, so we came to yours. Your private property is not as private as you may think. We demand that you stay out of the Wallani Forest and stop working with Atlanta police and Cop City contractors.

To all others who would support Cop City, it might have more costs than you anticipate, financial and otherwise. Many creatures care deeply about this forest and are prepared to defend it. Any partner of the APD or contractor for Cop City is our enemy and a potential target. The Wolani Forest is not dying. It is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses. A list of local Atlanta

evildoers is available at StopReevesYoung.com. The next day, on Tuesday, May 17th, Atlanta police, backed by other state and federal law enforcement, including DeKalb Police, Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the FBI raided the South Atlanta forest. The raid came just days after the week of action, which brought hundreds to the Atlanta forest to participate in workshops, plant gardens, watch films, and protest at the homes of developers plotting the forest's destruction. Shortly after the scheduled events ended,

police gathered their forces to raid the forest encampment. Police started staging at around 9am on Tuesday, May 17th, and started coming in at around 10am. Forest defenders started mobilizing and calling for support. Cops blocked off the roads leading to the forest access points and told drivers stuck at the blockade that, quote, were opening up the site for construction. Soon, cops started arresting protesters that gathered in Entrenchment Creek Park and towed any car on the streets outside of the park. A helicopter circled the forest trying to track the movement of forest offenders under the cover of the tree canopy. Police near occupied trees were heard talking about, quote, flushing out people inside tree houses. In the face of militant resistance, police did manage

to cut down trees and destroyed multiple tree houses, destroyed Forest Defenders' personal belongings, and other protest infrastructure set up by the land defenders, all in an effort to allow contractors to begin development of the $90 million Cop City project. On Twitter, the Defend the Atlanta Forest account posted, quote, reports that the Atlanta police and Georgia State Patrol are chainsawing in an area of the old Atlanta prison farm where people have occupied trees to defend the forest. Dozens of forest defenders moving in groups all over the woods throughout the raid. No arrests inside the forest. Dozens of forest defenders moving in groups all over the woods throughout the raid. No arrests inside the forest reported so far, only from the perimeter at the public park.

Police seem unwilling to pursue people through the forest. SWAT rifles trained on forest defenders occupying a treehouse to stop Cop City. The Defend the Forest Twitter account also posted a video of a semi-truck packed full of building supplies headed into the north boundary of the proposed Cop City site, where police were raiding the forest defense occupation. I'm going to do a little quote from Unicorn Riot, who reported on the police raid. Quote, according to police, those committed to defending the forest put up a fight, pelting the officers with rocks, and what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail was deployed along a fence line. In the wake of the raid, a truck barricade constructed months ago to protect those

occupying the forest from police incursions showed signs of having been set on fire. Flaming barricades are a common tactic used by protesters around the world to push back against police, unquote. Eventually, police let media enter a small contained area on the other side of the blockade. Police wanted to talk with the multiple press outlets that had gathered near the site in an attempt to gain control of the media narrative. Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Sheerbaum, yes, that's how I'm pronouncing it, I have no idea how it's actually said, but I think it's Sheerbaum, held an interview staged by the Public Affairs Office.

Overall, the goal seemed to be to control the media narrative by painting police as the heroes and the protesters as a very small group of outside agitators. After getting the statement from police, most media left the scene while the blockades were still up on both sides of the forest access road. Deputy Chief Schierbaum said that police escorted contractors into the forest and preliminary work was being done. Police later specified that they were at the site to accompany contractors tasked with removing some temporary illegal structures that were set up by protesters, and that, quote,

no one was hurt. Media framed the raid and subsequent arrests as the police cracking down on a group of violent outside agitators. Cops giving statements like, quote, we will not be deterred by the acts of a few that do not represent our community. And with local news covering the incident like, several protesters were arrested after they threw a Molotov cocktail at police as officers raided a camp on the grounds of the planned Atlanta Police Department's training facility,

unquote. Even though the arrests took place in a completely different section of the woods where protesters were gathered openly in a public park and actually happened before the cocktail was thrown. Yet there was a lot of attempts to link the arrests to the Molotov cocktail.

But, you know, media just do that. And they gobbled up the story of the cocktail and of the outside agitators attacking Atlanta police and it's not representing our community. Eight people were arrested and faced charges ranging from criminal trespassing to police obstruction. Despite attempts by police to paint the movement as the work of, quote, outside agitators, while also working alongside a growing list of out-of-town law enforcement organizations. The movement to oppose Cop City has been directly rooted within a broad localized opposition,

whether that be with Atlanta-based organizations fighting against gentrification, local chapters of climate change protest organizations, or just anonymous individuals that reside across Atlanta, or the indigenous people who have ancestral connections to the land. Hours after the raid, there was a Atlanta community press conference put on at Entrenchment Creek Park. And I'm going to read a statement that somebody gave at the press conference. Quote, This is an attempt to demoralize a vibrant and diverse movement led by local community members against the replacement of the largest urban tree canopy in the United States with the largest police training compound in the United States. The police will attempt to depict this movement as a small group of

hardline activists. We are all neighbors of the forest. We are intelligent people who know that the future of the world is on fire and who are determined to act and to defend what remains to sustain life in this city and on this planet. The city is only going to get hotter. Rent is only going to get more expensive. Food and gas prices are only rising. The city has no answers for this except for a more militarized police force. You can't prop up a free society with violence alone. The next day, protesters from Saturday's Stop Cop City march had court, and all of their charges were dropped. Atlanta police is just desperate to get a good boogeyman to blame any potential uprising on, and they're

not being super successful in letting any of these charges stick. There was this really great point made by this person named Adi Kali. I'm just going to quote from a thread they posted, quote, 37 arrests were made in relation to the decentralized Defend the Atlanta Force movement over the past weeks, mostly for made-up jaywalking charges. But only 12 had their legal identities revealed to corporate media and right-wing doxers. Why? All 12 protesters who were doxed these past couple of weeks were said to be from out-of-state. When journalists asked if other protesters had Georgia residences, answers were denied. The answer to why is simple. These 12 currently possessed out-of-state IDs and appeared white passing.

The other 24 arrestees might not necessarily fit these categories. Notice that right-wing troll Andy Ngo omitted the ages of the arrestees who are not in their 20s as well. This is yet another iteration of the outside agitator narrative and an attempt to delegitimize resistance while denying local agency. Unquote. Police are continuing to target Stop Copsity protesters with extremely high bails. Just getting nine protesters released during one week cost over $100,000. So please, if you're able to, consider donating to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. There will be links in the description.

So that was the raid that took place a few weeks ago. Six tree houses were destroyed. And those tree houses weren't just like tree sits to defend the forest. Those were also like people's homes. That's where people were living. So six of those were destroyed. Multiple forced defenders' personal belongings were stolen or just dismantled and decimated by the cops. And overall, the raid was pretty bad. I mean, it kind of sucked.

We will talk about what has happened since the raid when we come back from a little ad break. Welcome. I'm Danny Thrill. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows presented by iHeart and Sonora. An anthology of modern day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures.

Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hola mi gente, it's Honey German and I'm bringing you Gracias, Come Again. Apple Podcasts, or is the podcast for you. We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators, sharing their stories, struggles, and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme laughs and all the vibes that you love. Each week, we'll explore everything, from music and pop culture,

to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, El Te Caliente and life stories. Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, you look so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian.

Elian. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home, and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation.

Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we are back. After the raid, officers from Atlanta Police Department's Zone 3 field investigations team discussed using deadly force against protesters if they used Molotov cocktails to defend themselves from a raid, according to scanner audio publicized by activists. Listen closely for like 30 seconds to hear their conversation discussing deadly force. It's a good thing we didn't get our credentials today. I don't do well with fire. seconds to hear their conversation discussing Deadly Force. the fourth encounter. You liar. They were throwing rocks and cocktails at them on Key Road.

I saw the picture of the treehouse they had up there. They had cars on its side stopping people from coming in. Are you serious? That is crazy. Is this the protest against Cop City? Sure is. I'm just going to re-read one little section in case it was hard to hear.

Quote, I told you, deadly force encounter. That's why I brought it up. As long as we're on the same page, a Molotov cocktail is a deadly force encounter. Unquote. So a deadly force encounter is a situation where officers are legally allowed to shoot to kill. A deadly force encounter is a situation where officers are legally allowed to shoot to kill. Basically, what this scanner audio insinuates is that police are preparing or thinking about just killing people when Molotov cocktails are deployed.

So that's a thing. Also, it's a little interesting that police themselves refer to the project as Cop City. But yeah, keeping track of scanner audio has been a big part of the not-on-the-ground portion of the movement. Being able to track police communications, police locations, all using open source information. And cops are really scared and paranoid when it comes to stuff around the forest. And just don't seem to be able to grasp the idea of a decentralized resistance movement that is capable of a diversity of tactics, including militant ones. There's this other scanner audio that was released displaying Atlanta police's ignorance, cowardice, and paranoia related to what they believe is a group dubbed Black Flag Atlanta. Hey, you guys gotta be careful. They had a, um,

two of the cab guys are sitting in a van and they attacked the van or, you know, knocked the windows out and flattened the tires and stuff. But there's supposed to be a group called Black Flag Atlanta that are targeting police. And they have an app and stuff that can monitor our vehicles. And it shows what patrol cars are sitting at with live updates. where patrol cars are sitting at with live updates. You know, they could be jumping the fence, pointing something, or, you know, set a trap,

or damaged property inside the range. You said they got a app. What's the name of that app? Just go back there and find it. But the group is called Black Flag Atlanta. So the so-called group that police refer to as Black Flag Atlanta is likely just referring to a hobbyist website that simply collects on-the-ground reports and open-source police scanner information. The website's an open resource for anyone to use. It's not a group of people. It's just a random online tool that lets you listen to scanner audio.

The cops mentioned that they're afraid because of the actions of some anonymous individuals who surrounded a law enforcement vehicle and damaged it while officers were inside, just sitting terrified, and then did the same to a juvenile detention facility van. I discussed the details of that direct action earlier in this episode, when anonymous people threw rocks and slashed tires of those law enforcement vehicles. Quoting from an anonymous statement on scenes.noblogs, quote, The cops believe that Black Flag Atlanta is a group that tracks and monitors cops and their locations around the forest and works to attack them. This is laughably wrong. Rather than understanding that our power comes from open source intelligence, horizontal organizing, and transparency, they have conjured up a shadowy organization that organizes hits on police officers and publishes

their targets right beforehand, unquote. Cops really just don't seem to have a clue on what's actually going on or how any types of decentralized infrastructure works or how movements are really operated. It is an interesting thing to see, but scared cops are also dangerous cops, as we just mentioned about them planning to use lethal force if there's a Molotov cocktail in the area, right? them planning to use lethal force if there's a Molotov cocktail in the area, right? When cops are scared, that's not necessarily always a good thing. It just, you know, a lot of police training is based on being afraid and then using deadly force if you are afraid. So it's just a thing to think about. I'm not making any, like, commentary here. I'm just saying,

yeah, cops seem really scared, and that can be good. It also can be dangerous. I'm now going to talk a bit about solidarity actions, because, you know, not everyone's able to go to Atlanta, even if they would like to go to Atlanta to help participate. Some people just aren't able to. But that doesn't mean people are unable to assist in the movement. I'm going to do a little quote from Unicorn Riot. Quote, in recent weeks, autonomous attacks in solidarity with efforts to defend the Atlanta forest have occurred throughout the country, according to a website that tracks such actions. One repeated target has been Atlas Technical Consultants, the parent company of Long Engineering, a subcontractor of the Cop

City Project, which had its windows of its office smashed in Albany, New York, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and its building tagged with graffiti in Highland, Indiana. The website also received reports of attacks on Bank of America, which donates money to the police foundations across the country, including the Atlanta Police Foundation. Attacks were reported in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Portland, and Minneapolis, unquote. And I'm going to just go through a list of solidarity actions that have happened in May and now up into June. Most of these were posted on scenes.noblogs. That seems to be the main site for anonymously posting communiques or report backs. You can find guides to how to do so with more internet security on websites like Scenes

and websites like WarriorUp. So anyway, here's just a list of little communiques that have been released related to solidarity actions that have taken place in the past month. Quote, On the evening of May 10th, I smashed seven windows at the office building where the northeast offices of Atlas are located in Albany, New York. I also tagged Atlas. Stop destroying the Atlanta forest. Destroying hundreds of acres of forest during the sixth greatest mass extinction of species to build a police training facility following one of the largest anti-police uprisings in decades is fucking disgusting. With this vandalism, I urge Atlas to do the right thing and to drop any contracts with Brasfield & Gorey and the Cop City Project.

During the week of action, the Brasfield & Gorey Corporate HQ in Birmingham, Alabama was targeted, according to a strongly worded anonymous statement published on Seans. The report back reads, quote, On the morning of the 13th, the windows and glass doors to the Brasfield and Gorey corporate HQ were smashed. The words, drop cop city or else, were spray painted on the windows. Paint was applied to the front sign. Let it serve as a warning to the executives at Brasfield and Gorey. We know where you work and we know where you sleep. Your houses could be next. Keith Johnson, Miller George, James

Gorey, you will drop this contract eventually. Why wait to see how far we'll go? In solidarity with the struggle in Atlanta, unquote. And then just a few days ago, construction offices in Pennsylvania were hit. The communique was short and sweet, just reads, quote, Door window smashed and building tagged at the northeast office of Atlas Technical Consultants at 2126 Fillmore Avenue in Erie, Pennsylvania. Stop Cop City. Defend the Atlanta forest and forests everywhere. A few days ago, on May 31st, there was a massive police mobilization involving helicopters and a road checkpoint around the Atlanta forest at the proposed Cop City site. According to reports, Atlanta Police Department accompanied Long Engineering, who seemingly were surveying for a perimeter fence. No arrests were reported. for a perimeter fence. No arrests were reported. Long Engineering, as we've stated, is owned by Atlas Technical Consultants, and is currently being contracted by Brasfield & Gorey, the Atlanta

Police Foundation's general contractor. The Stop Reeves Young campaign released a statement discussing the events of the past few days. Quote, on May 31st and June 1st, Brasfield & Gorey subcontractor Long Engineering entered the old Atlanta prison farm with chainsaws and heavy machinery. They are cutting down trees in order to build a fence around the zone. This is where the police foundation believes they will build the Cop City Training Compound. They hope to prevent the community from seeing what they are doing. Longineering, owned by a man named Shepard Long of Kensa, Georgia, has already participated in destructive acts in the South River Forest.

For this, they have become the object of a nationwide pressure campaign by activists and communities organizing to oppose police militarization and climate change. Long is a subsidy of Atlas Technical Consultants. If activists and community members can convince Brasfield and Gory to drop their contract with the Atlanta Police Foundation, the project could lose funding and fall apart. Brasfield and Gory uses many subcontractors to do their projects, including Atlas Technical Consultants, Subsidy, Long Engineering. By encouraging Long Engineering to drop the contract with Brasfield and Gory, we encourage Brasfield and Gorey to drop their contract with Cop City. Climate collapse and police militarization are not abstract processes that nobody can stop.

They happen because of observable and preventable reasons. If you care about police brutality, if you want to stop climate change, this is your chance to do something. Unquote. And I do think there are a lot of signs that people actually can make actual impacts. At the last community stakeholder advisory meeting, Atlanta Assistant Police Chief Darren Schneerbaum said that construction plans could be, quote, delayed or deferred because of the actions of a very few, unquote, and said that this is why police agencies are working to, quote, address criminal protests very quickly so it doesn't get into that realm, unquote. And on the day I record this, which is June 2nd, earlier this morning, two police

chased force defenders into the woods near a work site and found a camp. Ten force defenders confronted and surrounded a bulldozer that was in the woods, resulting in a work stoppage. On a communique released online at Scenes, read, quote, The force defenders launched rocks and fireworks, yelling, get the fuck out of the woods, as the machine was attacked. Four to five workers, likely with long engineering, hid behind the bulldozer, while one Atlanta police officer stood idly with his hands on his hips. Forest defenders retreated into the woods, howling, no arrests were made. We call upon anyone who wants to defend the forest and stop Cop City And also today, a new timeline was released detailing the construction plans for Cop City. The Atlanta Police Foundation plans to begin cutting down massive swaths of trees in about two weeks.

The clearing is planned for nearly 90% of the 400-acre property. percent of the 400-acre property. So, deforestation seems to be just two weeks away now, based on the full site plans that are viewable online. I will link the plans in the show notes, along with the Stop Reeves Young campaign, which details ways to assist, like call-in campaigns and random stuff that is maybe more possible from afar. But the Stop Copsity project is going to continue all throughout the summer and seems to have no sign of cooling down. It is only heating up. As the summer gets hotter, so will the stuff in the forest, in more ways than one. But anyway, that does it for us today. You can check out StopReevesYoung.com for the calling campaign and for the list of, quote, evildoers that are working to deforest sections of the Atlanta South River Forest. You can go to Scenes.NoBlogs.org to read communiques and report backs.

And I'll put links for the Atlanta Solidarity Fund in the description as well. See you on the other side. Solidarity Fund in the description as well. See you on the other side. It Could Happen Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, coolzonemedia.com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here updated monthly at coolzonemedia.com slash sources. Thanks for listening. You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadow.

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