from thefreeonline on 22 Jan, 2023 info via @UnicornRiot, Its Going Down. + Anons
Brave masked forest protectors resist killer cops on the streets of Atlanta, Georgia
Hundreds of activists swarmed downtown Atlanta on Saturday in response to a call for a “night of rage,” after one person protesting a planned police training center was killed by police officers destroying a camp earlier this week.
A crowd of mourners marched through the streets in a “largely peaceful protest,” as described by a local FOX mis-informer. The event turned violent after masked resisters “began throwing rocks and shooting fireworks at the Atlanta Police Foundation headquarters”.
The anti Police State heroes managed to smash some of the building’s windows with hammers, painted walls with anti-police graffiti, and later set at least one police cruiser on fire”, according to multiple photos and videos shared online.
Elsewhere dozens of vigils and demonstrations were held all over the US over the death of ‘Tortuguito’
“After 30 minutes, the crowd took off. About 3/4 of the crowd were in black bloc. Activists from the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) attempted to lead the group south, perhaps towards the state Capitol building or the CNN center, but bloc members turned the crowd around and led them north.
The sun was just starting to set as the bloc, about 300 strong, turned north up Peachtree street. The commercial downtown district, gutted out by years of neoliberal policy, is populated almost exclusively by business people, university students, and unhoused people.”
“The bloc traveled north, as road flares and fireworks marked their progress. Umbrellas blocked local news video cameras as graffiti sprung up on walls, with phrases like “RIP Little Turtle” and “Stop Cop City.”
The crowd chanted, “No justice! No Peace!,” and “Be Like Water,” as they moved along at a brisk pace, flanked by reporters. Bank windows were smashed and umbrellas blocked cameras, with a Wells Fargo branch, a funder of Cop City, receiving special attention.”
“Soon, the raucous crowed arrived at 191 Peachtree Street, the building housing the Atlanta Police Foundation. Rocks flew, smashing into the front of the building, as marchers smashed out even more windows. Fireworks lit the scene up.
A cop car left unattended in the area was smashed, while another caught fire.”
https://mastodon.social/@UnicornRiot/109729926174549976/embed
“As the police pulled up, the crowd dispersed. Some individuals were tackled and violently arrested by the police, with Unicorn Riot later reporting that one person may have been run over by a police car. As the crowd dissipated, more police flooded the mile-long stretch of Peachtree Street the group had marched up.”
“In a later press conference, police, who have been violently attacking Cop City opponents for months in an effort to destroy an entire forest, claimed that property destruction was “terrorism.”
“Atlanta is safe, and our police officers have resolved the disruptions Downtown from this evening,” Mayor Andre Dickens said after police swooped in to contain the unrest.
“Atlanta Police have arrested 6 people so far, some of whom were carrying explosives. These individuals meant violence and used the cover of peaceful protest to conceal their motives,” Dickens added.
The escalation of violence comes after Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26, (a nonbinary person who used they/it pronouns and went by the name Tortuguita, according to AP) allegedly fired a gun at a state trooper and was killed by return fire on Wednesday.
“An individual, without warning, shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper… [and] was killed in the exchange of gunfire,” Georgia Bureau of Investigations director Michael Register said earlier this week. The officer was shot in the “pelvic area,” but was reportedly in stable condition following surgery.
However, since the police are serial liars and there is no recording of the shooting as most GSP troopers are not issued body cameras, the activists called the official account of events into question.
They reportedly distributed flyers calling for a “night of rage” and violent retaliation, while at least one Twitter account was banned for urging “reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies.”
Tortuguita was killed as the authorities cleared yet another protester camp from the site of the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. Activists have been camping out at the site of the $90 million project for over a year, claiming it would be “environmentally damaging” to cut down trees to build what they call “Cop City.”
The Free 