The Cop City Saga
Three activists associated with the 'Defend Atlanta Forest' movement are facing 20 years for allegedly "handing out flyers" by sticking them to peoples mailboxes.
I’m rather appalled at the charges these activists are facing for putting flyers up, assuming this is being accurately reported on of course.
The Intercept reports:
ACTIVISTS FACE FELONIES FOR DISTRIBUTING FLYERS ON “COP CITY” PROTESTER KILLING
The activists face 20 years in prison for handing out flyers that identified a cop they said was linked to the killing of a protester in the Atlanta forest.
THREE ACTIVISTS INVOLVED in the Defend Atlanta Forest movement are facing charges of felony intimidation of an officer of the state and misdemeanor stalking for placing flyers on mailboxes in a neighborhood in Bartow County, Georgia, about 40 miles from Atlanta.
The report goes on to explain that according to the suspect’s attorney, Lyra Foster, her client was held in solitary confinement over the weekend after being arrested and was denied bail on Monday despite having no criminal record.
The detainees were held for days in solitary confinement, a lawyer working on the case and a relative of one of the activists told The Intercept.
The flyer, according to the lawyer, named a police officer who lives in the area where the activists were arrested and alleged he was connected to the killing in January of forest defender Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán during a multi-agency raid on the Atlanta Forest protest encampment.
There is also a new autopsy report that challenges the determination that Teran was shot 13 times, suggesting that he was actually shot upwards of 57 times with his hands up, subsequently ruling it a homicide.
This entire story is rather alarming for a few reasons:
The state has escalated its approach to the protestors occupying the space in such a manner that has only made the tensions more severe and resulted in an increase in violence as a direct result of their actions.
The charges brought against the activists who put out flyers represent a disdain for the right to protest, freedom of speech, and they establish a clear message that peaceful civil disobedience will likely be prosecuted more viscously than what would become a rapist or murderer in many cases.
It’s difficult to make a comprehensive determination with so much variance in the reports from the GBI, and other relevant agencies.
For myself, this is fostering a distrust in both parties, but skewing heavily in favor of the environmentalists. The conflicting determinations and lack of evidence to prove the claims in this circumstance really make it difficult to believe that the GBI’s investigation has been conducted in a fair, and unbiased manner.
If there were not some retaliatory actions being taken against those associated with the activist group, there would be no reason to come after something as simple as posting flyers on mailboxes with charges yielding two decades in prison.
The reporting I was initially privy to had me believing that these were simply “left wing extremists” who were prone to violence in the name of environmentalism. It was not outside the realm of possibility, and considering there was an officer who had been hospitalized for his wounds, as well as a forensic report which had allegedly tied the firearm that Teran was confirmed to have purchased in 2020. I had no problem accepting the narrative.
This is seemingly a consequence of an intense “lambasting” that took place by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the area’s largest daily paper. According to The Guardian, at least a dozen articles in the last year, “failed to mention that Alex Taylor, CEO of the paper’s owner, Cox Enterprises, was also raising funds on behalf of the Atlanta police foundation, the main agency behind the training center.”
They continue:
At some point, Kemp and other civic leaders began referring to the protesters as “terrorists”, in response to acts of vandalism such as burning construction vehicles or spray-painting corporate offices linked to the project.
Does this not seem eerily reminiscent of the grievances expressed by some on the right? They contend that the federal law enforcement agencies have been targeting citizen who are simply exercising their constitutional rights, and inaccurately labelling them “terrorists” to not only paint them as malicious, but as a threat to national security.
How many times must we watch the government justify their abuse of power with claims of “threats to national security” before we realize the problematic nature of how national security issues are handled by the feds. From The Patriot Act to the newly proposed Restrict Act, we can see a pattern of behavior by our government where political, financial, or international issues are addressed by passing legislation which continually broaden the scope of federal and state authorities.
Many of these power grabs are arguably unconstitutional, yet there is little debate over whether we should push to reign in these powers, or whether there are any available avenues to achieve this, considering the current power structure weighing heavily in favor of the Duopoly.
I will conclude by saying that I AGREE with the growing calls for an independent investigation into the raid that occurred that day. I also believe there is a high chance of more widespread subversion of constitutionally protected rights in the name of national security, and if we do not shift our focus away from manufactured and divisive party politics, we will watch our freedoms disappear right before our eyes while we scream in each others faces, failing to see where our enemies truly are.
Additional Details on the “Cop City” raid
There are two separate narratives at play in the killing of Teran “Tortuguita” by state troopers who were involved in the move to clear the activists from the soon-to-be police training facility:
The first being that the multi-agency task force murdered the activist, claiming they executed him while he was on his knees with his hands up. Tortuguita family lawyers have tied this event to an increasing criminalization of climate activism, suggesting that this is a historical moment considering Tortuguita would be the first climate activist killed by the government in US history. This comes on the heels of the “deadliest years for climate activists.”
Decatur-based civil rights attorneys Brian Spears and Jeff Filipovits plan to hold a press conference Monday morning. They and Teran’s family are calling on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to release more information about the incident, which they called “the first time any environmental activist in the United States has been killed by the government.”
Those on the side of the Atlanta Forest Defenders had demanded the release of body cam footage of the incident, looking to test the veracity of the agencies claims that Teran shot first. Other activists present during the multi-agency raid claimed he had not fired his weapon. This has been the basis for calls to have an independent agency investigate the incident, as their trust in the GBI’s conclusions is non-existent.
Initially, the agency stated there would be no body cam footage, but according to The Intercept, Atlanta police were present and shortly after he was killed, body cam footage captured a moment where you can hear an officer suggest that the state trooper who was shot, was actually shot by another officer. “You fucked your own officer up,” one officer said in the video, who then walked up to two other officers asking, “They shoot their own man?”
This footage has been used to cast doubt on the determinations of the GBI, but they stand firm in their assessments, which seems to be grounded.
The alternate narrative is that the activist fired upon the state troopers with a handgun, hitting one in the groin, which prompted them to return fire, hitting him with 13 rounds and subsequently killing the activist. An investigation conducted by the GBI turned up forensic evidence that tied the bullet that injured him to the weapon found at the scene, AJC reports.
The GBI says it has tied the bullet that struck the trooper to a gun found at the scene, and provided documents showing Teran, 26, had purchased the same gun in Sept. 2020. There is no body camera footage of the shooting.
This single piece of evidence alone would be enough to dismiss the assertions by those challenging the Department’s narrative.
Regardless, activists challenged this after a new autopsy report was conducted by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s office the day after the shooting, which conflicts with the conclusions of the independent autopsy that was conducted shortly after the incident, included in the report by AJC that I linked to above.
CNN reports:
“The autopsy revealed at least 57 gunshot wounds,” the report said. “Collectively, the gunshots resulted in (the activist’s) death and therefore the cause of death is designated as multiple gunshot wounds.”
The report did not specify the total number of bullets that made contact.
It lists the manner of death as “homicide.”
The report says, “the gunshot wound to the head would have been fatal by itself,” but that shot was “unlikely” to have been “the first wound inflicted.”
Despite all the claims made by the family, their lawyers, The Intercept, and other activists who witnessed the incident, GBI has officially concluded their investigation and say they remain committed to the facts of the case. They have given the case to the special prosecutor, the Mountain Circuit District Attorney’s Office.