Category: Uncategorized
-
APF Seeks to Reassure Board and Funders Cop City Construction Will Not Slow
New emails show the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) views Mayor Andre Dickens’ proposed South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force as a continuation of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee rubber stamp approach and reaffirms that corporate interests are driving the Cop City project, which the Foundation believes will open by late…
-
Trans Rights Under Threat with SB140 Up for Final Vote Today
On March 16, the Georgia House passed an amended version SB140, a bill with potentially disastrous consequences for LGBTQ+ youth. The Georgia Senate, where the bill originated, is expected to vote on the amended version of the bill Tuesday. SB140 prohibits licensed healthcare facilities from performing procedures such as hormone-replacement therapy and gender-transition surgeries for minors with…
-
“We are not in the least afraid of ruins”: Food Autonomy in the Weelaunee Forest
On Friday March 10th, the first annual Weelaunee Food Autonomy Festival began in the Weelaunee (South River) Forest. The festival was a practical experiment in food production and distribution outside of, and against, the forms of state and market control that dominate industrial agriculture. Attendees came from all over the continent for the four-day event,…
-
One Rabbi’s Purim in the Forest
By Nate DeGroot The Atlanta Community Press Collective received this submission from Nate DeGroot, a rabbi and Associate Director of The Shalom Center. Rabbi DeGroot recounts his experience of the police raid on the South River Music Festival on Sunday, March 5th, as well as the celebration of the Jewish holiday, Purim, in the Weelaunee…
-
APF Believes Forest Defender Indictments are Coming, Construction Plans in Disarray and On Hold
True to concerns brought by The Atlanta Solidarity Fund late last month, emails obtained through open records requests show that the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) and its contractors are awaiting “indictments to the leaders” of the Stop Cop City and Defend the Atlanta Forest Movement. In an email to the members of APF’s Board of…
-
The Show Must Go On: On Sunday’s arrests at the South River Music Festival
By the Sonic Defense Committee The Atlanta Community Press Collective (ACPC) received the following submission on 3/7/2023. In the following statement, the authors describe the South River Music Festival that took place on the first and second day of the Week of Action and the police violence and repression directed toward festival goers on Sunday…
-
ACPC Now Accepts Funding
In the spring of 2021, a dear friend of mine asked a question: “I wonder if there are graves there?” They were referring to the ruins of the City of Atlanta prison farm. At the time, the news was dominated by stories about the mass, unmarked graves discovered on the grounds of residential schools in…
-
Work Continues at Cop City Site, Injunctive Relief Filed with Ted Terry and Watershed Alliance
Residents living near the site of the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, commonly known as “Cop City,” reported contractors engaging in construction work Monday morning, despite the appeal filed on behalf of Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee member and local resident Amy Taylor last week. According to Jon Schwartz, the lawyer for the appeal, filing…
-
For Immediate Release: On the Possibility of Compromise
Submitted for publication to the Atlanta Community Press Collective As national attention and pressure builds, the City of Atlanta, Dekalb County and Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) now claim to have reached a “compromise” between themselves on Cop City. There is no such compromise: this project is failed. What trust can exist between Atlanta residents and…
-
Over 40% of Anticipated Cop City Trainees Would Come from from Out-of-state
Documents shared with the Atlanta Community Press Collective from an open records request show that 43% of trainees for the proposed Cop City police training facility would come from outside of Georgia. The documents is a community impact survey from Cop City lender Cadence Bank that Ryan Smith, the Program Manager at the Atlanta Police…
