On January 18th, Manuel Teran – “Tortuguita” – was killed by Georgia
State Police in a raid on the Weelaunee Forest. In the weeks since their
death, word of the struggle has spread around the globe, and thousands
of people have made their support of the movement clear through vigils
and solidarity actions, spreading the message that Cop City will never
be built and that the Weelaunee Forest will be protected.

We are committed to defeating the Cop City project. In what follows, we
will outline ways that every one of you can take immediate action toward
the success of this movement, whether you are part of a large
organization, a small group of friends, or are currently alone at your
computer. We will lay out the schedule and key upcoming dates for the
movement. There will be a webinar this evening (February 9th) and this
will be another great time to plug in:

https://www.stopcopcitysolidarity.org/mobilize


THIS STRUGGLE BELONGS TO ALL OF US

This is not just a local struggle. This is the climate struggle.

Climate change and ecocide are happening to all of us. The destruction
of the habitable earth happens through the destruction individual
places. The preservation of a habitable earth requires we all fight for
individual places.

*There are no “outside agitators” on planet earth.*

Each of us everywhere has a stake in the prevention of the destruction
of a forest anywhere.

The climate struggle and the struggle against police expansion are one
and the same. It is the police who have been, are being, and will be
used to enforce the corporate eco-cidal agenda, to suppress movements
that are trying to change the world, and to kill people defending the
conditions for life on the planet.

It is more than just moral outrage at police murders that moves us to
act in this
moment: the concrete impact of Cop City would extend beyond Atlanta,
threatening the movements that offer us any hope. With Cop City, The
Atlanta Police Foundation is trying to build a training facility to
update policing to repress the struggles of the coming decades,
struggles for ecological, economic, and racial justice.

The concept of “community policing” has long been used to deflect
attention from the real problem and justify expanding police budgets:
every time police kill and cause public outrage, the police then ask
politicians for “more training” and more resources, turning outrage at
their behavior into a justification for expanding their power.

Cop City is “community policing” on steroids — it is the next wave of
militarized police expansion, and we must prevent it from gaining a
foothold.

This is a struggle for a living forest and against the expansion of
police power. But this is also a struggle for the dead who are still
with us: for Tortuguita; for those displaced from the Weelaunee forest
by settler-colonialism; for those enslaved on the Prison Farm; for those
ancestors whose spirits inhabit the forest, and who deserve more than
another century of police violence on this land. We can’t breathe in
this police state, but living and dead alike can breathe in the forest.

In order to win, we need your help. In order to win, the distance
between “we” and “you” needs to melt away, and this struggle must become
yours as much as it is ours. We have three forms of action that we are
asking you all to take and promote among your friends and networks:


IMMEDIATE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE

* Step 1. Form a “Weelaunee Defense Society”

We suggest immediately beginning to organize under this banner. We would
like “Weelaunee Defense Societies” to spread like a meme. Add it to your
group’s social media handles, spread the word, etc.

This doesn’t require making a whole new group. If you already have a
group that has signed on to the letter of solidarity, this group is also
a “Weelaunee Defense Society.” Don’t let Step 1 get in the way of the
other steps!


* Step 2. Hold a local protest for the Week of Solidarity, February
19-26.

The movement is calling for a week of solidarity actions from February
19 – 26. During this week, please organize locally for a public protest
that puts pressure on a contractor or funder of the Cop City Project. No
action is too small — or too ambitious.

Wherever you live, there will likely be an office of some entity
connected to this project. Find them at:
        stopcopcitysolidarity.org
        srycampaign.org


* Step 3. Come to the Week of Action in the Weelaunee Forest — A Mass
Convergence in Atlanta from March 4th-11th.

The movement in Atlanta has called for a 5th Week of Action, asking all
those opposed to Cop City to come prepared to camp in the forest and
participate in a variety of events and actions in and out of the forest.
Please make preparations to come or support people in your community to
do so. This Week of Action will be a key moment for re-establishing and
scaling up the camps defending the forest.  If you can stay longer than
a week, or can organize locally to support others for longer, please do
so.

Come ready to camp.

Please note: activists are still inside the forest, and groups still
come and go every day. The police have not succeeded in clearing us out
— and they will not, especially if more and more people come. The
movement has only grown despite the repression and we urge you to
organize for the mass convergence in affinity clusters: climate action,
abolition, students, and beyond.

More information and actions will be posted soon.


* Step 4. Raise funds for the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF).

It is essential that those who have been arrested for their work in
defense of the forest are supported. The Atlanta Solidarity Fund is
currently supporting 19 people charged with “domestic terrorism” for
their defense of the forest — as well as over 900 people arrested
during the George Floyd Rebellion. If you individually are unable to
organize or participate in the above forms of action, please do your
best to raise money for the ASF. Here is the link for information and
donations:

https://atlsolidarity.org/


With your help, Cop City will never be built.

With your efforts, we will build an uncompromising mass movement for a
free and habitable Earth,

Weelaunee Defense Society

---