More than 20 people from around the country faced domestic terrorism charges Monday after cops kettled concert goers near the Atlanta Forest defense where one protester was killed in January.
The site has become the flashpoint of ongoing conflict between authorities and Forest Defenders who are standing against the increased militarization of police; aim to protect the environment; and oppose corporations who are helping to fund the project through donations to a police foundation.
Flaming bottles and rocks were thrown at officers during a protest Sunday at “Cop City,” where 26-year-old environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, or “Tortuguita,” was shot to death by officers during a raid at a protest camp in January.
Almost all of the 23 people arrested are from states across the U.S., while one is from Canada and another from France.
Like many defenders, Tortuguita was dedicated to preserving the environment, friends and family said, ideals that clashed with Atlanta’s hopes of building a $90 million Atlanta urban warfare training center.
Defend the Atlanta Forest noted Monday that the people arrested were concert-goers who were nowhere near the demonstration in question.
After “Tortuguita” was killed in January, demonstrations spread to downtown Atlanta. A police cruiser was set ablaze, rocks were thrown and fireworks were launched at a skyscraper that houses the Atlanta Police Foundation.
Forest defenders on Sunday succeeded in setting construction equipment on fire at the site for the “Cop City” urban warfare training center in DeKalb County. They were able to overrun the site by throwing rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police. In addition, demonstrators tried to blind officers by shining green lasers into their eyes, and used tires and debris to block a road.
The proposed “Cop City” training center would level 85 acres of forest to build a shooting range, a driving course to practice chases and a “burn building” for firefighters to work on putting out fires. A “mock village” featuring a fake home, convenience store and nightclub would also be built for rehearsing raids.
This police facility that would be surrounded by poor neighborhoods in a city with one of the nation’s highest degrees of inequality.
This proposed site has mobilized many diverse groups from school children to civil rights non-profits. For example, Color Of Change, a civil rights organization, has been working alongside defenders in Atlanta, and has said the facility will only harm Black communities as a result of what they describe as the increased militarization of law enforcement.
“This just takes up a lot of space in a Black community … and it provides more access, more tools, and more resources to an institution that actually needs more accountability,” Color of Change President Rashad Robinson said.
Many of those already accused in connection with the training site protests are being charged with domestic terrorism, a felony that carries up to 35 years in prison, charges that confirm the critique of forest defenders by exhibiting the state’s draconian approach towards its own population.
Lawmakers are considering classifying domestic terrorism as a serious violent felony. That means anyone convicted must serve their entire sentence, can’t be sentenced to probation as a first offender and can’t be paroled unless they have served at least 30 years in prison.
Nonetheless, more protests are planned in coming days.