Struggle continues to Stop Cop City

Atlanta

Neither intense police surveillance and repression nor record-breaking heat prevented the Week of Action to Stop Cop City from holding a series of events daily from Saturday, June 24 to Saturday, July 1.

Stop Cop City petitioners, July 1, 2023. PHOTO: Tim Franzen

There were multiple protests and demonstrations, including at a DeKalb County Commission meeting, a midtown Atlanta Home Depot store and at Cadence bank locations. There were daily workshops, discussion groups, community meals and rallies — many held in Brownwood Park, a Southeast Atlanta park. 

The police presence was notable despite the family-friendly atmosphere with a bouncy house and children’s games ongoing. And dozens of police cars were stationed throughout the week at Weelaunee Forest Park, where acres of trees have been cut down in preparation for the ill-fated Cop City.

Arrests occurred at the Home Depot and Cadence Bank demonstrations on petty and fallacious charges. Three people, including Lorraine Fontana, a 75-year-old respected activist, were arrested outside the Home Depot store in the public parking lot for holding signs which denounced Home Depot’s support of the Atlanta Police Foundation and Cop City. 

Video from the noise demo at Cadence Bank shows the protesters walking away from the bank site with police chasing after them, then one person tackled and handcuffed. Cadence Bank is lending the construction funds for Cop City.

The rollout of the petition campaign to allow Atlantans to vote in the November election to cancel the lease for Cop City and end the city’s arrangement with APF is well underway. 

Canvassers took to the Atlanta Beltline, a popular walking and biking trail, July 1, to reach out to the scores of people found there on weekends. Already thousands of signatures have been secured, but the time to gather at least 70,000 valid signatures was shortened by the city clerk’s repeated delays in approving the petition language.