FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 6, 2023
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens Says No Excessive Force Used Despite Killing of Protester and Ongoing First Amendment Rights Violations
Mayor Also Admits to Political Prosecution Against Stop Cop City Movement
ATLANTA, GA — Over the last two-and-a-half years, community members have mobilized, protested, and acted in solidarity to stop Cop City. Police repression of dissent against the project has escalated from tackling and arresting people at community marches to using chemical weapons against people for sitting in treehouses in defense of Weelaunee Forest, to the homicide of Tortuguita, a 26 year old queer, nonbinary Indigenous anarchist on January 18, 2023.
The State has relentlessly waged an attack on the Stop Cop City movement since it began; Mayor Dickens, Governor Kemp and Atlanta Police Chief Schierbaum continually escalate excessive police force has been escalating under the leadership of Despite nationwide outcry against the political repression of the Stop Cop City movement, the surveillance, aggression, and violence against people for protesting the project has continued. In May 2022, a group of protesters at a Stop Cop City march were tackled, tased, and arrested, only to have all charges later dropped. A lawsuit for wrongful arrest has been filed in response, with more lawsuits in process for similar police behavior at other protests. On March 5, 2023, the police indiscriminately used tasers and choke-holds on concertgoers at the South River Music Festival. On May 31, 2023, SWAT aggressively raided the home of three Atlanta Solidarity Fund organizers. Roughly 70 human rights organizations have spoken out against the use of force and unsubstantiated domestic terrorism charges against Atlanta activists.
During a July 5 Press Conference, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens claimed that “after all of the protests and actions and events, zero incidents of excessive force have been found” against participants of the movement to Stop Cop City.
“The Mayor is blatantly lying to the people of Atlanta about this project,” said Annie, an Atlanta resident who is active in the Stop Cop City movement. “First he lied about the project being about public safety, when the project is actually about profiting off of contracts and making money off of the facility,” continued Annie. “Then the Mayor lied about how much taxpayer dollars he was giving away to the Atlanta Police Foundation for the project. Now, he’s lying saying that there has been no excessive force by the police, when we are seeing the police showing up to community marches and randomly tasing and arresting people. He has never acknowledged the assassination of Tortuguita, an Indigenous climate activist and beloved community member who was killed by police with their hands up. They call people violent for vandalism, meanwhile the police killed someone for camping in these woods without any condemnation from the City of Atlanta. The Mayor claims there have been zero incidents of excessive force, but there is clearly excessive force, including lethal force. There is clearly political persecution against people for standing up against Cop City. The Mayor said it himself in this press conference, when we said he supported any police response that would lead to an end to people dissenting against the project.”
Additionally, the Mayor refused to condemn the indiscriminate application of domestic terrorism charges against 42 protesters, vaguely stating he is supportive of any action that “keeps criminals off the streets.” A letter signed by 69 national and international human rights organizations called for the domestic terrorism charges to be dropped and condemned the political prosecution as an attempt to chill 1st Amendment protected activities:
“Americans have long drawn on civil disobedience tactics akin to the occupation of the Atlanta forest by the Stop Cop City protesters. Based on the information contained in the arrest warrants, many of the people charged with domestic terrorism are accused only of trespassing or other minor crimes. In all cases, application of the domestic terrorism statute is an escalatory intimidation tactic and a draconian step that seems intended to chill First Amendment protected activity.”
Many Atlanta residents have also come out against the use of trumped up charges to suppress the movement; over 250 people protested outside the DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston’s office on January l5, 2023, demanding all charges be dropped. She recently withdrew from the process of prosecuting protesters, leaving the cases previously in her county solely to be prosecuted by Attorney General Chris Carr.
The Mayor’s press conference was in response to a series of acts of vandalism to property of contractors for the Cop City project and the Atlanta Police Department. Over the last week, there have been several alleged acts of vandalism of construction equipment belonging to Brent Scarborough, a contractor for the Cop City project. As of June 24, the company had reported over $2,000,000 in losses of construction equipment, but this does not account for several additional acts of vandalism that occurred last week and July 4, according to recent posts on scenes.noblogs.org. In addition, on the morning of Saturday, July 1, at least $280,000 in damage occurred to police vehicles. Allegedly, eight police motorcycles were set on fire at one of the current police training sites and windows of three police cars were broken.
The press conference also briefly discussed a recent protest in Minnesota at the residences of various employees of Atlas Technical Consulting Inc. One employee told protesters that Atlas was no longer affiliated with the Cop City project, calling the protesters “nightmares” and citing broken office windows as a reason for dropping the contract. This would mark the third company to drop out since the start of the campaign to pressure contractors to drop all ties with both the Cop City project and the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) at large.
Protests against the project continue in many forms. The referendum initiative continues to build momentum with tens of thousands of signatures already gathered, and canvassers tapping into new neighborhoods every day. Organizers recently announced an international boycott of Home Depot for its ties to the Atlanta Police Foundation. In Columbus, Ohio, protesters disrupted the headquarters of Nationwide Insurance, demanding they immediate cease participation in the project. The pressure on Cop City contractors and funders continues to successfully hold contractors accountable for participating in a project that harms local community.
Several top donors to the APF include project contractors Brasfield & Gorrie and Brent Scarborough. Given that the APF’s lease from the City has specific guidelines requiring an equitable process for choosing contractors, legal experts have called into question whether the APF has violated their lease and charitable donation laws.
It is unclear whether the APF has the funding needed to complete the project. They have consistently failed to meet their private fundraising goals, and construction delays have led to increasing project costs. Additionally, Cadence Bank required that APF secure funding from the City Council before approving their loan, but the funding is now called into question with the launch of the public referendum against the ordinance that approved the funding. The APF has not recently disclosed whether they have enough funds to complete the project. As reported by the Atlanta Community Press Collective, most recent budget documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act have revealed that various basic elements of the facility are not included in the APF’s budget, including neglecting to budget for costs to furnish the building and utilities.
“The momentum to hold corporations accountable for destroying forested land for Cop City is growing,” said Mark, a movement participant using a pseudonym. “This illegitimate project goes against the will of the community. Cop City is destined to fail.”
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