Defendants in Georgia ‘Cop City’ case say they are in limbo as trial delays continue

By R.J. RICO
Updated 12:26 AM EDT, May 12, 2025

ATLANTA (AP) — "Single mother Priscilla Grim lost her job. Aspiring writer Julia Dupuis frequently stares at the bedroom ceiling, numb. Geography and environmental studies researcher Hannah Kass is worried about her career prospects after she graduates from her Ph.D. program.

"The three are among 61 defendants accused by Republican Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr of participating in a yearslong racketeering conspiracy to halt the construction of a police and firefighter training facility just outside Atlanta that critics pejoratively call 'Cop City.'

"Their cases are at a standstill, 20 months after being indicted under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, or RICO, which is likely the largest criminal racketeering case ever filed against protesters in U.S. history, experts say.

"Trial for five of the defendants was supposed to start last year but got bogged down in procedural issues. The judge overseeing the case then moved to another court. A new judge has set a status hearing for Wednesday.

"The delays have left people in limbo, facing charges carrying up to 20 years behind bars for what they maintain was #LegitimateProtest, not #DomesticTerrorism. The case also has suppressed a movement that brought together hundreds of #activists to protect a wooded patch of land that ultimately was razed for the recently completed $118 million, 85-acre (34-hectare) project.

"Officials say the project is sorely needed to replace outdated facilities and boost officers’ morale. Opponents say it will be a training ground for a #MilitarizedPolice force and its construction has worsened #environmental damage in a poor, majority-Black area.

"Protests escalated after the fatal 2023 shooting of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known as #Tortuguita, who was camping near the site when authorities launched a clearing operation. Officials said they killed Tortuguita, 26, after the activist shot and wounded a trooper from inside a tent.

"A family-commissioned autopsy concluded Tortuguita was killed with their hands in the air, but a prosecutor found the officers’ use of force was 'objectively reasonable.' "

Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/cop-city-rico-charges-61-atlanta-be5ef1ed1951a73870656f61fbbc567b

#CopCity Is Everywhere

Learning from the Movement to #DefendTheForest

#CrimethInc, 2025-03-14

"The movement to #StopCopCity and defend #WeelauneeForest was one of the most important social struggles of the Biden era. Its trajectory tells us a lot about the challenges we confront today under Donald Trump. In the final chapter of our chronology, we trace the movement’s concluding phase, beginning in 2023 and ending with Trump’s arrival in power, and explore what we can learn from it."

Read more:
https://crimethinc.com/2025/03/14/cop-city-is-everywhere-learning-from-the-movement-to-defend-the-forest
#ACAB #StopCopCityQueens #StopCopCitiesEverywhere #JusticeForTort #USPol

Reports from the Festivals of Resistance / Day of the Forest Defender

#Crimethinc, 2025-01-20

"January 18 is the Day of the Forest Defender, honoring the life of Manuel '#Tortuguita' Terán, who was murdered by Georgia State Troopers two years ago while protesting the construction of Cop City in Atlanta, and everyone else who has given their lives in the fight against those who would render the earth uninhabitable in the course of their pursuit of profit. This year, a call circulated for people to organize festivals of resistance in their communities on the weekend of January 17-19. Here, we share reports from some of these events.

"The situation is grim. Despite acknowledging that Trump represents #fascism, Democrats have nonetheless welcomed the arrival of #despotism, dutifully voting for new legislation targeting immigrants and doing their best to keep protesters out of the streets. #TechCEOs have followed suit, pouring millions of dollars into his inauguration and crowding into St. John’s Church to worship at the feet of their new master.

"#ElonMusk made the #Nazi salute twice from the podium during the inauguration, leaving only just enough plausible deniability to confuse the most naïve. Musk has posted fascist dog whistles on Twitter before, even before he purchased it in order to reintroduce Nazis to the platform, ban anarchists, and promote the fascist agenda.

"From this point forward, nothing should surprise us. The incoming government has made it clear that they intend to inflict as much harm as possible on those who are vulnerable while concentrating as much money as possible in the hands of the ultra-rich. These are the central points of their agenda. Attempting to spread information about their misdeeds in order to provoke popular outrage is a waste of time. From here out, all that matters is developing the capacity to defend each other from their attacks while preparing to go on the offensive as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

"The faces of the #oligarchy looked craven and servile as they lined up at the inauguration to toady to Trump. #Capitalism concentrates power in the hands of the most rapacious, but they can only hold on to power by being completely subservient to its demands.

"Fortunately, not everyone is taking this sitting down. #Anarchists around the country called for 'festivals of resistance' the weekend before the inauguration in order to bring communities together prepare to resist. Here follow reports from a few of these. You can read the original call to organize festivals of resistance here, along with a list of dozens of events around the country."

Read more:
https://crimethinc.com/2025/01/20/reports-from-the-festivals-of-resistance-day-of-the-forest-defender
#FestivalsOfResistance #DayOfTheForestDefender #JusticeForTort #StopCopCity

HT @UnicornRiot

Parents of #ForestDefender Killed by Police File #CivilRights Lawsuit

By Sean Summers, Unicorn Riot December 20, 2024

"The parents of slain forest defender Manuel ‘#Tortuguita’ Paez Terán filed a civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against three Georgia law enforcement officers they say are most responsible for the death of their child in January 2023."

https://unicornriot.ninja/2024/parents-of-forest-defender-killed-by-police-file-civil-rights-lawsuit/

#JusticeForTort #StopCopCitiesEverywhere
#Decolonize #Resist #CorporateColonialism
#DayOfTheForestDefender #StopCopCity #SmashThePatriarchy
#DefendTheForest #ProtectTheForests #ACAB

Festivals of #Resistance

A Call for Gatherings the Weekend Before Trump Takes Office

2024-12-03, #CrimeThinc

"The chaos that will accompany the return of the Trump administration represents an opportunity as well as a challenge. This is a chance to assert an autonomous pole of organizing, carrying forward the lessons of 2020 and the movement against Cop City while continuing the fight against patriarchal violence, white supremacy, and colonialism.

"By organizing ahead of Trump’s inauguration, we can seize the initiative and set our own timeline rather than being caught flat-footed and forced to react. We need to welcome new participants into these struggles and foster a revolutionary perspective that can orient us through the challenges ahead. No amount of internet activity could substitute for gathering face to face. The most important battles ahead will not be fought online, but in the streets of our communities.

"January 18 is observed as the Day of the Forest Defender. It will be the two-year anniversary of the murder of Tortuguita in Weelaunee Forest. It is an important date to gather, honor the memory of the fallen, and pledge ourselves to resistance and to one another."

Read more:
https://crimethinc.com/2024/12/03/festivals-of-resistance-a-call-to-gather-the-weekend-before-trump-takes-office

@leah POWERFUL! #RestInPower #NotForgotten #JusticeForTort

Today across the US, dozens of cities are holding community events, vigils, and memorials for martyred anarchist #Tortuguita, who was killed one year ago defending the Weelaunee forest from the construction of a corporate backed, counter-insurgency training facility, known as Cop City.

#StopCopCity #ATL #JusticeforTort

Check out the list of events here: https://itsgoingdown.org/day-forest-defender-jan-18/

Police officers won't face charges in fatal shooting of protester Manuel Teran at Atlanta's '#CopCity'

Six troopers fired shots that resulted in Teran's death in January.

ByMark Osborne and Kiara Alfonseca
October 6, 2023

"None of the #Georgia State Police troopers involved in the fatal shooting of Manuel '#Tortuguita' Teran will face charges, according to Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George R. Christian.

"Teran, who used they/them pronouns, was shot and killed by police on Jan. 18 as officers raided campgrounds occupied by environmental demonstrators who had allegedly been camping out for months to protest the development of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, dubbed '#CopCity' by critics.

"According to an autopsy of Teran sent to ABC News, they did not have gunpowder residue on their hands. Officials claimed Teran fired the first shot at a state trooper. Officers then responded with gunfire.

"In Friday's announcement that no charges would be filed, Christian wrote that Teran responded to officers firing 'less lethal' pepperball rounds by 'shooting four (4) times his 9 mm pistol through the tent striking and seriously injuring a Georgia State Trooper. Six Troopers returned fire resulting in the death of Teran.'

"'The use of lethal (deadly) force by the Georgia State Patrol was objectively reasonable under the circumstances of this case,' Christian wrote. 'No criminal charges will be brought against the Georgia State Patrol Troopers involved in the shooting of Manuel Perez Teran.'

"Teran had at least 57 gunshot wounds in their body, according to the autopsy, including in the hands, torso, legs and head.

"An independent autopsy from the family found that Teran’s hands were raised during the fatal shooting, however, the DeKalb County autopsy stated, 'There are too many variables with respect to movement of the decedent and the shooters to draw definitive conclusions concerning Mr. Teran's body position.'

"The DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office had ruled the death a homicide.

"The Georgia Attorney General's Office is conducting its own investigation into the shooting."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-officers-face-charges-fatal-shooting-protester-manuel/story?id=103782565

Don’t Stop: Continuing the Fight against #CopCity

Six More Months in the Movement to Defend the Forest
2023-12-12

"Starting in April 2021, people in #AtlantaGeorgia set out to defend #WeelauneeForest, where politicians and profiteers are attempting to build a police training compound known as #CopCity. Over the past two and a half years, this movement has given rise to one of the fiercest struggles in North America. Opponents of Cop City have repeatedly destroyed equipment and forced contractors to withdraw from the construction project, while the authorities have killed one #ForestDefender and pressed outlandish #racketeering charges against 61 more, including the members of a legal support collective."

Read more:
https://crimethinc.com/2023/12/12/dont-stop-continuing-the-fight-against-cop-city-six-more-months-in-the-movement-to-defend-the-forest

Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol Are Guilty of Murder: The Evidence and the Motive

New from @CrimethInc

https://crimethinc.com/2023/04/20/atlanta-police-and-georgia-state-patrol-are-guilty-of-murder-the-evidence-and-the-motive

@defendATLforest #StopCopCity #JusticeForTort #ACAB

"The civil rights attorney said the case to date bore similarities to one in which she defended Phoenix-area Black Lives Matter protesters. In that case, all criminal charges against protesters were dropped – including more than 100 felony rioting charges and attempts to tie defendants to what she called a “fake criminal street gang … that does not and has never existed, except as a boogeyman in the state’s head.”

Fallout in the case includes multiple resignations, demotions and even criminal investigations against prosecutors and police, after falsified evidence and other law enforcement abuses were revealed. “I heard all of the same things” at the bond hearing, she said. What happened in Phoenix, she said, “should serve as a warning as to what might happen in Atlanta."

#StopCopCity #Atlanta #DefendtheAtlantaForest #Tortuguita #JusticeforTort

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/31/georgia-cop-city-activists-prosecutors?CMP=share_btn_tw

"What’s indisputable is that police repression has extended into all corners of this movement, amounting to a profoundly undemocratic exertion of state power. From the outset, the voices of the people have been marginalized and subsumed under deference to Atlanta’s police state.

As in the days of brutal repression of the civil rights movement, so too are the levers of state power aligned against the Stop Cop City movement. But there are also reasons for hope. Despite the best efforts of Atlanta authorities to contain the movement, to smear those standing in solidarity as outside agitators, this movement is both intersectional and multilocational.

Beyond the week of action, the battle to stop Cop City continues, in forms ranging from sabotage to legal battles over environmental permitting minutiae. Only time will tell how this movement resolves — whether it succumbs to police repression or whether Cop City will indeed never be built. But it’s been a hell of a fight so far, with the full force of state power brought against the protesters that dare to defy it."

#StopCopCity #Tortuguita #JusticeforTort #Atlanta #AtlantaForest #DefendtheAtlantaForest #Weelaunee #WeelauneeForest #BlackLivesMatter

https://truthout.org/articles/atlantas-stop-cop-city-movement-is-spreading-despite-rampant-state-repression/

I was just listening to #DemocracyNow who was interviewing Jeff Filipovits (civil rights attorney representing Terán’s family) about #StopCopCity, and how by charging monkeywrenchers (as we used to call them) with #DomesticTerrorism (instead of what it is, damaging property), they are trying to discourage not only future protests, but also any discourage any potential witnesses to Tort's brutal execution from coming forward!
#news #activism #police #CriminalJustice #CivilRights #HumanRights #environment #politics #USpol #DefendTheForest #JusticeForTort #ForestDefenders

"The family of slain activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Esteban Paez Terán released the findings of the independent autopsy today that indicates Tortuguita was killed by a Georgia State Patrol (GSP) SWAT team while seated in a “cross-legged, with the left leg partially over the right leg,” and had their hands up, palms facing toward their upper body at the time of their death.

This is particularly notable, as there were gunshot wounds in both of Tortuguita’s hands which would likely show evidence of gunpowder residue had they fired their gun at the GSP trooper. The report notes that gunpowder residue “may have been washed from the body during the first autopsy, but this is very unlikely.”

#StopCopCity #Tortuguita #JusticeforTort

https://itsgoingdown.org/independent-autopsy-reveals-tortuguita-killed-while-seated-with-hands-raised/

Already, like clockwork Marjorie Taylor Greene, fresh from CPAC, where speakers called for the literal “eradication” of transgender people, is tweeting about “ANTIFA” and “Communists,” while the police are again trotting out civil-rights era tropes of “outside agitators.” But people like Jean don’t buy that these attacks will stick like perhaps they once did. “The amount of solidarity is incredible here, the outside agitator tropes are not flying in the forest struggle. From church groups to pre-schools to HBCUs, everyone is enthusiastically embracing that this is not a “local struggle” and are asking people around the country to contribute,” Jean stated. “Along with the action [in Downtown Atlanta] on January 21st, this is a show of emergent movement strength: the numbers, people showing up from around the country, the strong local showing of Atlantans, the ability of a group to cohere and take action…”

#Atlanta #ATL #StopCopCity #CopCity #BlackLivesMatter #Tort #JusticeforTort #Tortuguita

https://itsgoingdown.org/solidarity-incredible-here-atl-cop-city/

Report via @UnicornRiot that upwards of 1,000 people have now re-taken Weelaunee People's Park and a massive music festival is now underway with food and literature tables.