"Cop City" Protest Turns Violent

Cop City, South River Forest, Weelaunee Forest, Intrenchment Creek Park, Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

This 350-acre piece of land has many faces and names, playing many roles for several communities. Cop City is a face of fear and anger in a neighborhood that has been neglected by city leaders for generations, leaving it in a state of underdevelopment. South River Forest is a face of familiarity for those in this neighborhood: a dumping ground yet an important environmental protection. Weelaunee is a face of home for the indigenous community previously resident in the area, forced off the land nearly 200 years ago. Intrenchment Creek Park is the face of a history of an ugly imprisonment and exploitation. Now, the newest face: Atlanta Public Safety Training Center as the face that the city has decided to paint for its people. 

These communities and names have been in conflict for years. In the past month, these conflicts have come to a head. The death of an individual protesting the placement of this training center on the land of the forest sent the unrest spiraling. On January 18th Tortuguita was shot and killed by a police officer, in an attempt to clear the forest of this protest. Tortuguita was there to protect the forest from a sort of militarization. After the shooting, there was a clear effort from those involved to keep the press out of the situation. With people enraged by the shooting of Tortuguita, the police claimed there is no body cam footage of the incident occurring. 

It’s a complicated situation with many factors playing into the conflict. One is the environmental consequences of the state moving forward with the Training Center initiative. The 350-acre tract is one of the largest old-growth forests in an urban area. A local organizing effort had been attempting to establish a conservation area to protect the forest, its watershed, and the headwaters of the creek that starts inside its boundaries. The trees provide a heat sink in the midst of the urban neighborhoods, and the water resources are important both historically and ecologically. When the City of Atlanta signed a contract with the Atlanta Police Foundation to use these lands to build a police and fire training facility, environmentals, individuals who fight for the protection of the environment, in Atlanta and across the country were up in arms. Some of them took that literally by camping out in the forest land to prevent developers from taking down the trees. 

And the environmentalists weren’t alone. Native American peoples with generational links to the land saw the development as yet another insult piled on top of two centuries of them–another desecration of their history and land. Black neighborhood leaders saw the development under a contract with a mayor who they believed was ignoring their concerns, as another slap in the face.

At the end of the day, the most turbulent issue is the face of Cop City. It stands for fear–fear of the institution that continues to oppress the Black community of America, and of Atlanta in general. This links a local neighborhood conflict with the national concern over police violence in such environments and the never-ending cycle of violence that shortly follows. The presence of law enforcement at a protest shouldn’t be one of threat. However, it was surprising to no one hearing the news of this horrifying killing. When the police arrive at a protest, one is filled with fear, this is an image familiar to most. At its core, the police are meant to protect the people and their rights. The American people are guaranteed their freedom of speech and assembly and the liberty to express their concerns with the country they live in. When the police arrive at a protest, the act of speech and assembly, there is an inevitability of conflict, which reflects the irony of the promise to insure domestic tranquility. Once this conflict is seen on the news, the people are not shocked, they are tired and angry. What can the people do with this anger but protest against it? Thus, the cycle continues. 

By Chloé Ghazal