Dr. Damien P. Williams, Magus

Too many people still don't know Cop City— an attempt to cut down an Atlanta greenspace and neighbourhood food forest to build a COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY urban warfare training facility— is happening, let alone that APD has tear-gassed and even killed people protesting against them.

They claim that the protestor they killed shot at them first, but somehow, miraculously, only have video of the after-action, not the incident itself.

Y'know, back in 2014 many of us believed the proliferation of body cameras for cops would mean real oversight and accountability. Within months it became clear that the cameras would mean nothing, and not JUST because the cops themselves would oversee the footage rather than a 3rd party.

No, we realised then, and have had it proven time and time again, that bodycams don't mean shit for accountability, because no matter how much police negligence and malfeasance the videos show, LARGE SWATHES of the public and the media will go out of their way to excuse COPS' behaviour, and blame the victims for their own deaths. Especially if those victims aren't white.

Anyway. Check the tag #StopCopCity on some other platforms.

Jan 24, 2023 at 9:54pmWeb
Show threadDr. Damien P. Williams, MagusJan 25, 2023

For clarity, the Urban Food Forest At Brown's Mill is NEXT to the planned cop city site, not in it. The neighbourhood of south Atlanta we're talking about is down near the starlight drive-in complex… which is also right around the corner from the adult and juvenile prisons in south Atlanta.

And you may say to yourself, "well if there's already cop facilities there, wouldn't it be better to keep them all in one place?" And that might have weight if they weren't a) bulldozing 350 acres of contested greenspace b) in a city which SORELY needs its greenspace, c) and in a low-income majority Black part of that city which has been asking for affordable housing for years.

And then, of course, the murder and teargas.

Like… ask yourself the question of what it would be like to live in an area that had not only prisons but actual literal urban warfare training facilities on all sides— carceral infrastructure meant to punish, demoralize, and intimidate. And imagine that your asking for housing to be built INSTEAD, in a way that respects the existing green space and gives your family and friends and neighbors access to the outdoors in a mentally and socially uplifting way… and your efforts are met with teargas and bullets.

And then imagine the wider narrative framed YOU as violent, but not the actions or policies of the cops, and the city.

You'd rightfully be pretty upset, no?

Anyway. #StopCopCity.

Show threadBradAtlantaJan 25, 2023
@Wolven Dr. Williams, respectfully, I live 2 miles from the site and have been witness to this emerging situation for years. There is much more to this story, and you are amplifying an inaccurate narrative. I would be more than happy to fill you in with more detail and walk you through it if you’re ever in the area. Let me know.
Show threadmerlinJan 25, 2023
@Wolven Not to mention, they're already going out threatening, and in some cases already laying out, charges of domestic terrorism to essentially anyone who even steps foot near!
Show thread⚡️ axeshun ⚡️  Jan 25, 2023
@Wolven this reinforces exactly what I've said since 2020;
*IF YOU ATTEND ANY PROTEST, OR ANTICIPATE OPPOSITION PROTESTS ANYWHERE; MAKE EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMODATIONS FOR MULTIPLE, WIDE ANGLE VIDEO SURVEILLANCE MONITORING, WITH AUDIO.
Fabricating evidence and utilizing fake provocation has been the right's gameplan since the BLM protests and probably even before.
This is how FOX news capitalized on the protests. They were the ONLY major news org consistently present.
Show threadDick Smiths Fair Go SupportersJan 26, 2023

@Wolven
We heard about this #copaganda project from #LeeCamp a while back and were horrified, tooting about it at the time… and we rarely toot about internal #USA affairs.

It was the fascistic conflence of #BigConstruction, the questionable policing and downright disgusting #slaveLabour (ahem- #prisonSystem), and our distaste for #Hollywood propaganda that compelled us to toot.

As Lee Camp would say, "Keep fighting"!

Show threadDick Smiths Fair Go SupportersJan 28, 2023

@Wolven
…we forgot to mention our anger at the ecological and #greenspace destruction!

God the #environmentalDestruction!

Re-boosting and keep fighting for what is fight and non-fascist.