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Cop City has begun construction. What can you do?
The City of Atlanta, the Georgia state government, the police, and the corporate elites have doubled down on Cop City, and are using their power to intimidate and suppress the movement to stop it. They murdered a Forest Defender, Tortuguita, in cold blood, have charged over 40 protestors with Domestic Terrorism, and voted to approve $67 million in public funding for Cop City despite over 15 hours of public comment against the project. They continue to ignore public opinion, so now it’s time to bring this question to the people itself.
According to the City Charter, Atlanta allows residents to gather petition signatures to call a binding referendum on any subject, on which local residents are eligible to vote. This means that the City Council or the people can call a referendum on whether Cop City should be built. If you are City of Atlanta resident, sign the petition to put a referendum on Cop City on this November’s ballot! And if you don’t live in Atlanta, you can still get involved to support the campaign!
What is Cop City & why is City Council Bulldozing a Forest?
In a move that underscores the strong ties between policing, City Government, and corporate elites, Atlanta’s ruling class is demolishing of a large portion of historic forest to construct a new, privately funded $90,000,000 cop training facility — equipped with a shooting range, weapons testing, and burning buildings tests. The city elite is pushing this proposal through an undemocratic process that ignores residents’ demands to reduce the scope and size of policing in Atlanta. Read more here!
While it’s clear that City Council intends to prioritize policing and profits over the needs of working people, we have the power to organize against their plans!
Corporations, Cops, and Cash — Oh, my!
The land is being leased to the Atlanta Police Foundation — a board of corporate ghouls which acts as the PR machine for the Atlanta Police Department, actively gentrifying neighborhoods and funding mass surveillance projects. The APF’s training facility will be supported by the Atlanta Committee for Progress, a committee of over 40 corporate elite figures, including the CEOs of Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and Cox. These close relationships underscore the ties between policing and capitalist interests, and the Mayor and City Council’s endorsement of this proposal exemplifies their alignment with corporate elites over the working-class people of Atlanta.
Fund Community Not Cops!
After years of protest, uprisings, and communities urging for change in response to police violence, including the murder of environmental activist Tortuguita, it is disgraceful that the City of Atlanta intends to offer more space and resources to APD so they can practice brutalizing residents. True safety in Atlanta will not be attained via increased policing, militarization, or carceral punishment — and it will only be made worse by the construction of cop city! Atlanta City Council must be held accountable to everyday working class people, and provide for people’s basic needs — including food security, clean water, housing, healthcare, public transit and education.
Get Involved
The Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America (ATL DSA) is one chapter of the largest socialist organization in the United States, with over 1,000 members. We believe that working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few.
Ready to join the fight to Stop Cop City? Join DSA at www.atldsa.org/join