cross-posted from Defend the Atlanta Forest
MARCH 5, 2023
CONTACT: defendtheatlantaforest@
MULTIPLE STATE AND LOCAL POLICE AGENCIES VIOLENTLY RAID
ATLANTA, GA. Tonight multiple police agencies dressed in militarized gear and armed with lethal weapons raided a local family-friendly music festival in a public park within the Weelaunee forest. They used excessive force to arrest dozens of concert-goers and threatened to shoot people in the park. The event was being held on the second day on the fifth Week of Action to protect the Weelaunee (Atlanta) Forest and stop Cop City.
Around a thousand people gathered in a field among the trees in Weelaunee Forest for a second day of the music festival to listen to musicians perform, catch up with friends, enjoy an inflatable bounce house and share food.
A separate protest group with hundreds of people marched to the forest near the Old Prison Farm, the site leased to the Atlanta Police Foundation for Cop City. The march was in response to the murder of activist Tortuguita and a move to reclaim the Weelaunee Forest as a public commons through non-violent economic sabotage.
Sometime after this action, police retaliated
People attending the festival say police tased
When police approached the remaining 100+ festival goers with riot shields, everyone linked arms & formed lines in front of the stage, following a plan announced on stage. "We have children!! Let us go home!" chants reverberated through the forest as the music finished playing. pic.twitter.com/4XatHGg9GN
— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) March 7, 2023
Despite this indiscriminate and violent attack by the police, the festival continued for over an hour with the crowd chanting “Stop Cop City” and “the show must go on” between musical acts. Then, an army of police forces, without warning, raided the festival en masse. Unicorn Riot reports that officers surrounded the inflatable bounce house, pointed guns inside and later tore it down. The heavily-armed officers then surrounded the remaining crowd, which included children, and deployed LRAD (acoustic warfare equipment). The police threatened to arrest all of the music festival participants on domestic terrorism charges. In defense, festival-goers, park-goers, children, and musicians stuck together and chanted, “We have children here!” and “Let us go home!”. According to the Atlanta Community Press Collective, after festival-goers demanded to be released, the police checked identification cards of those leaving the forest. At least one legal observer was confirmed to be arrested, as well as several musicians. Additionally, a reporter from It Could Happen Here was threatened with arrest by police. No serious injuries have been reported because organizers and activists on the ground looked out for every single human in the Weelaunee Forest.
There have been many additional reports of police aggression that are still being confirmed. The Atlanta Solidarity Fund stated, “Indiscriminate police violence tonight against Stop Cop City festival-goers. Police seem to be lashing out at anyone present at the music festival. Music is not a crime, protest is not a crime. People lawfully exercising first amendment rights cannot be held criminally liable for the actions of others. ”
Cop City will never be a legitimate project. It continues to be widely opposed by Atlantans. The civil rights violations committed by police today reaffirms that this cop training facility should never be built. We stand steadfast in our conviction to build a new world in which all people are safe from police terror.
To support those arrested, please visit https:/
Tomorrow, the Week of Action continues with a Faithworkers/Clergy Press Conference and city council address at noon, forest tours in the afternoon, a Purim celebration in the evening, and more. You can visit https://
for a full schedule.”