Originally published May 18, 2022
It’s approaching summertime and things are heating up in so-called Atlanta. Forest defense continues as bold as ever, and my friends and lovers are putting their bodies and freedom on the line to stop the encroachment of development and the police into the forest. Around the city and even outside of it, we are bringing the struggle to those that would prefer to quietly profit from destruction, we are laying aside the machines that kill the forest. People are starting to pay attention. Ecofascists are starting to pay attention. I have cried tears of joy at the mass movement my friends have made, the diversity of tactics fostered, and the huge number of people brought in. But this movement can only exist if we remember that we are engaged in a three way fight (http://threewayfight.blogspot.com/p/about.html). Fascists are engaged in their own fight with the state as well as their own eliminationist campaign against all they deem as deviant, especially those with Black and trans identities. Rather than simply serving as a tool for the state, fascists are seeking to overthrow the state to create their own murderous regime, and will try to use us, to co-opt our movement. The movement to Stop Cop City has already seen attempted fascist creep (https://dirtysouthrightwatch.org/2021/boogaloo-in-atlanta/). Not everyone who hates the cops and hates that state is our friend. As our movement continues to grow, ecofascists will see us as a useful tool for their own goals. After all, they like trees, we like trees, we hate the state, they hate the state. But that’s where the similarities end. In their calls to action, they will tell us to protect a specific “people” rather than all people, who we stand for. They will throw around words like us being “slaves” to technology – as we fight to remember the lives lost of enslaved Black people. They will evoke spirituality, but they will ignore the spirituality of the Muscogee people whose land we are on. Most importantly of all, they will publicly call on us to take action that will directly lead to our friends and lovers being jailed, being beaten, and potentially being killed. We are a militant movement for sure, but we are avoiding undue risk as we continue this joyful struggle. To the ecofascists, we are just another tool, and they would see us locked up and dead if it meant supporting their cause. Just this past weekend, a self-described ecofascist who cited Kaczynski killed 11 people in so-called Buffalo, New York in an explicit attempt to murder as many Black people as possible. We reject all calls to violence for a “people”. AS THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES, WE CALL FOR A REJECTION OF FASCIST CREEP IN THE MOVEMENT TO STOP COP CITY WE CALL FOR A REJECTION OF FASCIST CREEP IN THE WELAUNEE FOREST WE CALL FOR A REJECTION OF THE EMBRACE OF FASCIST AETHETICS WE CALL FOR VIGILANCE AGAINST THESE THREATS TO OUR FRIENDS AND LOVERS WE CALL FOR A COMMUNITY BASED ON LOVE AND PROTECTION OF THAT WHICH WE HOLD DEAR
Received anonymously over email
ATLAS OFFICE ATTACKED WITH POWERFUL STENCH AGENT
LAST WEEKEND WE SMASHED ALL WINDOWS AND THE GLASS DOORS OF THE ATLAS OFFICE IN HIGHLAND, IN, AND ATTACKED THE INTERIOR WITH A POWERFUL STINK BOMB, LEAVING THE OFFICE PERMANENTLY INOPERABLE. SIX ATLAS VEHICLES PARKING OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE WERE ALSO VANDALIZED.
UNTIL THE MURDER OF TORTUGUITA, NO COP OR CONTRACTOR WAS INJURED AS A RESULT OF ACTIONS IN DEFENSE OF THE WEELAUNEE FOREST. NOW, THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT MAY HAVE TO CHANGE. ATLAS TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS, AS WELL AS ITS SUBSIDIARY LONG ENGINEERING, HAS PHYSICALLY ATTACKED THE WEELAUNEE FOREST AND IS STILL COMMITTED TO BUILDING COP CITY. UNTIL ATLAS PUBLICLY ANNOUNCES THAT IT WILL NO LONGER WORK ON THE PROJECT, THE COMPANY, ITS EXECUTIVES. AND ALL OF ITS PROPERTY ARE LEGITIMATE TARGETS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COP CITY AND THE HOLLYWOOD DYSTOPIA.
THERE ARE THREE ADDITIONAL ATLAS OFFICES WITHIN AN HOUR DRIVE OF THIS ONE. THERE ARE ATLAS OFFICES IN EVERY STATE. THE NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF ATLAS EXECUTIVES, AS WELL AS OTHER COMPANIES IMPLICATED IN COP CITY AND THE MURDER OF TORTUGITA, ARE LISTED ON STOPREEVESYOUNG.COM.
THE ENEMIES OF THE WEELAUNEE FOREST ARE TERRORISTS WHO DO NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN PEACEFUL AND MILITANT PROTESTORS, NON-HUMAN AND HUMAN LIFE. WE WILL NOT CEDE A SINGLE INCH OF THE FOREST AND WILL NOT NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS, BUT THEY HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THIS TRAGIC AND UNNECESSARY ESCALATION OF FORCE BY SIMPLY DROPPING THE PROJECT.
WE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL YOU DROP COP CITY. EXPECT US.
-TORT’S REVENGE
Submitted anonymously over email
NO FASH IN THE FOREST
FUCK YOUR FAR RIGHT ENTRYISM
FUCK YOUR RED BROWN ALLIANCE
FUCK YOUR DOGWHISTLES
FUCK YOUR BOOGALOO
WE SEE YOU AND WE KNOW WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE
NO FUCKING FASCISTS IN THIS MOVEMENT
WE ARE IN A THREE WAY FIGHT
WE WILL FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE, WE WILL RUN YOU THE FUCK OUT OF TOWN, WE WILL BEAT THE FUCK OUT OF YOU IF WE HAVE TO
WE KEEP US SAFE
YOUR VOLKISH CONCEPTIONS MAKE US FUCKING SICK
WE SEE THROUGH YOUR COVER
YOU WILL NEVER BE SAFE IN ATLANTA
Submitted anonymously over email
US BANK AND WELLS FARGO SMASHED FOR TORTUGUITA AND TYRE NICHOLS
1/29/2023
In response to the murders of Tyre Nichols and Tortuguita by fascist pigs, militants from occupied Dakota/Lakota/Anishinaabe land -so called Minneapolis- attacked two banks on the south side. US Bank and Wells Fargo were chosen due to their funding of “cop city” in the Weelaunee forest.
Militants tagged bank windows with “defend the forest”, “fuck 12”, “eat shit Frey” and “rest in peace Tortuguita and Tyre Nichols”.
Our message of solidarity extends past written words to the shattered windows and broken ATMs in our wake.
We appreciate the work of the bloc tonight in Minneapolis. Drawing the attention of and keeping distracted an entire city’s pig department is no easy task in these freezing temperatures. Your bravery is radiant.
Long Live the Forest
Rest in Power Tyre Nichols and Tortuguita
Eat Shit Frey
This is only the beginning <3
Submitted anonymously over email
MARCH/VIGIL IN VANCOUVER, CANADA
Solidarity from Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territory (so-called Vancouver, Canada).
On Monday, January 23rd a crowd of masked people coalesced and took over Cambie street at a major intersection. We walked up the road, singing, chanting, and holding signs to express our support for the Atlanta forest defenders and our rage at another life lost to police violence. At one point in the walk, an Indigenous man leaned out of his apartment window facing onto the street to drum along with our singing.
After blocking traffic for a 2 kilometers walk we arrived at an island of greenery in the concrete jungle and dissappeared among the trees, where we shared words and silence in honour of Tortuguita.
Stay strong, forest defenders!
Submitted anonymously over email
from across the false border separating the land and people in struggle, we commemorate TORTUGUITA in the streets of so-called mexico city.
and on this day, January 28, 2023, as so-called justice progresses in her absence, we also remember EMILIA BAU, defender of the earth and animals in Walmapu, executed by hired hands of the company she dedicated her life to resisting.
from across ABYA YALA, we honor our trans comrades stolen from us by the state and its agents – we honor the earth and the animals they defended.
For them – not a moment of silence but a lifetime of struggle!
Desde otro lado de la frontera falsa que separa la tierra y el pueblo en lucha, los conmemoramos TORTUGUITA en las calles de la “ciudad de méxico.”
Y en este día de 28 de enero, 2023, mientras avanza la “justicia” en su ausencia, nos recordamos EMILIA BAU, defensora de la tierra y los animales en Walmapu, asesinado por los manos contratados del impreso que ella dedicó su vida a resistir.
De todo ABYA YALA, nosotrxs honramos nuestrxs compañerxs trans robada por el estado y sus agentes – honramos la tierra y los animales que defendieron.
Por ellxs – ni un momento de silencio, sino una vida de lucha!
(submitted anonymously – XO)
Submitted anonymously over email
Forest Creatures in Milwaukie, OR Descend on Cushman & Wakefield Office
On Tuesday 1/24, a flock of angry forest creatures descended on the Milwaukie, OR office of Cushman & Wakefield to disrupt the corporate monotony within their lifeless office building. One of Cushman & Wakefield’s executives, John O’Neill III, sits on the board for the Atlanta Police Foundation. In solidarity with forest defenders in Atlanta, and in remembrance of Tortuguita, we stuffed flyers under doors and threw them in the air like confetti while chanting “Stop Cop City!” Although our action was brief, it succeeded in convincing the businesses in the office building to close for the next day, lock the lobby entrance doors, and consider hiring expensive security guards. Corporate allies of the police and Cop City should be afraid, and no amount of precaution will keep them safe from the wrath of the forest creatures. From Portland to Atlanta, we’re all united in the fight to stop Cop City.
Tuesday afternoon a group of activists marched in memory of Tortuguita, and in solidarity with Atlanta's forest defenders, into the offices of Cushman & Wakefield in Milwaukee, Oregon. Inside the office complex they marched around chanting "Stop Cop City" and distributed flyers. pic.twitter.com/gVqjuF8coX
— Daniel V. Media (@danielvmedia) January 27, 2023
Submitted anonymously over email
Durham Wells Fargo Tagged
On the night of Tuesday, January 24th, some willful vandals visited the Hope Valley branch of the Wells Fargo in Durham, NC. Both entrances were covered in paint, both ATMs and the drive-thru covered and clogged, and the phrases “Stop Cop City” and “RIP Tort” left on the walls.
Wells Fargo is one of many investors in Cop City, a massive counter-insurgency playground for the country’s police forces, planned to be built in the Atlanta Forest.
We do this for Tortuguita, a forest defender murdered by police while defending the forest, and for Keenan Anderson, Tyree Williams, and Tyre Nichols, all recently murdered by police in LA, Raleigh, and Memphis, respectively. If Cop City is built, police departments will be even more capable of terrorizing black and brown communities, and even better at crushing our movements for liberation.
We do this out of rage and sadness, but also gratitude and joy for life. We have all experienced so much loss these last few years. While we mourn, it can sometimes be easy to forget: action is the antidote to despair. In a crowd of thousands or a team of two, the right time is now. The right person is you.
Stick around to fight and to love and to see what happens.
We can stop this.
In anarchy,
anons
Submitted anonymously over email
Alta Vista Office Attacked in Lenapehoking
In the early hours of January 25th, the New York City office of Alta Vista, a subsidiary of Cop City collaborator Atlas Technical Consultants, was attacked in revenge for the killing of a beautiful queer Afro-Indigenous revolutionary some of us knew by the name Tortuguita. Alta Vista’s glass lobby doors got smashed—we hear for the second time—and messages were left in spray paint: Avenge Tort, Stop Cop City
Tortuguita should be here. It is unbearable that they are not—biking through the forest; cracking jokes about kratom; excitedly debating anarchist theory; organizing to sustain life in their communities; meeting all power and borders with unwavering hostility. We will never forget how these monsters took our friend’s precious life. We will make sure they never forget either.
May Tortuguita’s smile be the flame we carry to set this civilization on fire, and may it be the light that reminds us to love each other over the ashes.
Submitted anonymously over email
Atlas Offices Redecorated in Novi
From so-called Novi, MI:
On the Night of Rage (January 20) the Detroit MI Atlas offices were artfully decorated with acid-etching paint. Hope you had fun discovering that your windows are totally fucked, you shitheads. Atlas, until you stop supporting Cop City, there will be no safe corner for you on Turtle Island.
We did this in Tortuguita’s name. We love you, friend, and will never stop fighting. Love and rage to all those fighting in Atlanta.
-Your friends up north
Submitted anonymously over email
KPMG Office Vandalized in Boulder
Over the weekend, forest defenders vandalized the Boulder, Colorado office of KPMG, one of the financiers of the destruction of the Atlanta forest. Messages of “Stop Cop City” “Viva Tort” and “KPMG: Divest From Cop City” were left on the office windows in self-etching paint. A nearby UPS box was also hit.
¡Viva Tortuguita!
Submitted anonymously via email
FIRE TO THE EARTH DESTROYERS
Answering a call for retaliation against the murder of Tortuguita, we burned a large excavator in Portland yesterday night.
Tortuguita died trying to kill a cop in defense of the Weelaunee forest. Never let this be forgotten.
With these flames we honor their bravery. With smoke we send a prayer into the night that the next cop won’t be so lucky.
We attack the same machines that threaten the forest in Atlanta and everything wild.
FIRE TO THE EARTH DESTROYERS
Until every cop is dead and all they defend burnt to ashes.
Submitted anonymously over email
Philadelphia: Vigil and Stroll for Tortuguita
On Saturday 1/21 there was a vigil for Tortuguita Manuel Teran. A group of about 40 adults and children placed candles and homemade signs by the turtle in Clark Park.
People spontaneously made speeches about Tortuguita’s death. The speeches touched on people’s experience of them, grief, martyrdom, and continuing to struggle. People called on each other to target cop city’s sponsors and the contractors responsible for building.
After people had been speaking for a while a small group broke off from the vigil. They took the street with banners. Barricades from a nearby construction site were pulled into the street to block cops and traffic. As the march moved graffiti memorializing Tortuguita and against police was tagged. A realty office had its windows smashed.
Even though Philly is far from Atlanta, Tortuguita’s death has been deeply felt here. We are angry. We are watching. We are acting. Cop city will never be built.
RIP Tortuguita
Neither innocent nor guilty
Neither terrorists nor protesters
Simply anarchists!
A warm embrace to those arrested in Atlanta, Seattle and everywhere else
Death to civilization
Submitted anonymously over email
REPORTING FROM NYC
It looks like Atlas received a visit from some disgruntled little forest bunnies and had to close down shop for the weekend. We wonder what possibly could have happened to their glass front doors…
Atlas isn’t safe even in the center of the so-called police state of NYC. They aren’t safe anywhere. We do this so comrades everywhere feel empowered to act with swiftness, creativity, and freedom. We are taking our revenge for the life that was stolen from us.
Atlas Engineering – drop the contract now. This is only the beginning. We are coming for you …
TORTUGUITA VIVE
Submitted anonymously via email
Vengeance from Oakland – ¡Viva Tortuguita!
On the night of January 20th 2023, 30 mournful anarchists took vengeful action against our enemies for the murder of Cami/Tortuguita in the Atlanta Forest two days prior. We shattered dozens of windows along the glass facade of a Bank of America building in downtown Oakland, destroyed the ATM’s, and repainted the walls with people’s messages of love, memory, solidarity, and rage at the assassination of our comrade before lighting the place up with molotov cocktails.
Bank of America is an enemy of the people and life itself. They currently fund the construction of cop city in Atlanta, the same project that threatens the forest that Tortuguita died defending. They deserve no place in our landscape. We destroyed quickly but tirelessly. Like the peasants in the Jacquerie, the Luddite wreckers, or the Haitian revolutionaries, we seek liberation in the most obvious way: the destruction of what we know is the cause of our suffering. And if we destroy much, it is because we have suffered much. “Vengeance! Vengeance!” is our war-cry.
To our enemies who seek to liquidate our lives and the earth: you will not murder us with impunity! We will strike back, each time more fiercely than before. The more you take from us, the more we have to fight for—the less we have to lose.
To our fallen comrades: your deaths will never be in vain! We will avenge you one thousand times over! Your blood is our blood. Your lives light the path of our struggle, and this is only the beginning.
We support Tortuguita whether they shot at the pigs or not. A shot fired at police is an act of liberation.
TORTUGUITA VIVE, LA LUCHA SIGUE
MARTYRS NEVER DIE
THE FLAME OF ANARCHY BURNS BRIGHT
COP CITY WILL NEVER BE BUILT
FOR A WORLD FREE OF MONEY, COPS, AND PRISONS
FOR A WORLD FILLED WITH TREES, ANIMALS, AND LIFE
WEELAUNEE PEOPLE’S FOREST FOREVER
Submitted anonymously over email
CHICAGO ABOLITIONISTS SHUT DOWN BANK OF AMERICA ATM BY GLUING ACCESS POINTS
CHICAGO, IL — Friday night, January 20th, Chicago abolitionists in solidarity with the movement to Stop Cop City and Defend the Atlanta Forest glued shut the card reader and keyhole at a Bank of America ATM and “Virtual Banking” facility in Chicago’s affluent Lincoln Park neighborhood (2428 N Lincoln Ave). They also left messages, including STOP COP CITY, DEFEND THE ATLANTA FOREST, and ACAB on the ATM windows and door. The incident was in response to the murder of a forest defender by police in Atlanta on January 18th, 2023.
Bank of America is a top funder of police foundations across the US, in particular the Atlanta Police Foundation, which is funding the destruction of Weelaunee Forest in “Atlanta” to build “Cop City.” The intended facility would be a militarized police training compound, including a mock city for cops to practice urban warfare on Atlanta’s residents, particularly the Black and Brown and poor communities adjacent to the forest. In 2020, BOA gave at least $50,000 to the foundation; tax data from 2021-22 is not yet available.
Bank of America also bankrolls the Chicago Police Foundation, with BoA Senior Vice President Patricia Provenzano sitting on its board.
On January 18th, police in Atlanta murdered a forest defender, Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran, as they attempted to force people out of the forest to allow the destruction to proceed. This violence is further proof that police only serve and protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful – bankers and capitalists who will happily have people murdered and ecosystems destroyed to continue hoarding wealth.
From @defendtheatlantaforest @stopcopcity on Instagram, friends said: “Tortuguita was a kind, passionate, loving person cherished by their community. They spent their time between Atlanta, defending the forests from destruction and coordinating mutual aid, and Florida where they helped build housing in low income communities hit hardest by the hurricane. They were a medic, a loving partner, a dear friend, a brave soul, and so much more.”
Chicago activists echo the calls of Atlanta forest defenders to immediately stop the attacks on the forest and abandon plans to build Cop City.
Submitted anonymously over email
Bella Ciao (For Weelaunee)
THE WORLD IS WATCHING
OUTSIDE MY WINDOW
BELLA CIAO, BELLA CIAO, BELLA CIAO CIAO CIAO
DRAGS MY SENSES INTO THE SUNLIGHT
FOR THERE ARE THINGS THAT I MUST DO
WISH ME LUCK NOW
I HAVE TO LEAVE YOU
BELLA CIAO, BELLA CIAO, BELLA CIAO CIAO CIAO
WITH MY FRIENDS NOW IN THE FOREST
WE’RE GOING TO SHAKE THE GATES OF HELL
AND I WILL TELL THEM
WE WILL TELL THEM
BELLA CIAO, BELLA CIAO, BELLA CIAO CIAO CIAO
THAT WEELAUNEE IS NOT FOR FRANCHISE
AND WISH THE BASTARDS DROP DOWN DEAD
NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME
I MAY BE SMILING
BELLA CIAO, BELLA CIAO, BELLA CIAO CIAO CIAO
I’LL BE IN PRISON OR ON THE TV
I’LL SAY THE FOREST CALLED ME HERE
Submitted anonymously over email
THE APOCALYPSE
Around the country tonight, solidarity attacks against the police in response to the call for a “night of rage” are expected. Even after the night has ended, we cannot forgot what Tortuguita died fighting for. We must pick up the mantle in its stead.
***
It’s late. The sun is setting. We are running out of time.
Wherever you are, destroy the property of the contractors that make this project possible. Make it absolutely impossible for them to justify maintaining a relationship with the Atlanta Police Foundation. Make the Cop City contract a financial disaster for them.
Alternatively,
Come to Atlanta. Defend the forest with us. Participate in the proud tradition of activists that have traveled to Atlanta, Georgia in order to fight police-enforced repression. Bring a group of friends that you trust. Live in the forest. Live on your own terms.
We have the numbers, but our advantage will slip without immediate support from comrades around the country and around the world.
The walls are closing around Weelaunee. We cannot win this battle alone.
This is the apocalypse.
Submitted anonymously over email.
MPLS Forest creatures descend on the Atlas Office
Forest Creatures descend on Atlas Technical Consultants office in Minneapolis, Minnesota demanding that they drop their contract to build Cop City. https://t.co/gPg4cUSmll
Watch: pic.twitter.com/vP2QXeMr6R— Scenes from Weelaunee (@ScenesWeelaunee) January 19, 2023
Submitted anonymously over email
Remembering Cami 🐢
From Atlanta Community Press Collective:
We are devastated by the loss of our friend who was killed by the police. Tortuguita was a kind, passionate, and loving person, cherished by their community
They spent their time between Atlanta, defending the forest from destruction and coordinating mutual aid for the movement and, and Florida where they helped build housing in low income communities hit hardest by the hurricane. They were a trained medic, a loving partner, a dear friend, a brave soul, and so much more. In Tort’s name, we continue to fight to protect the forest and stop cop city with love, rage, and a commitment to each other’s safety and well-being.
Many people have reached out with memories and accounts of Tortuguita. They are remembered and cherished by many friends, loved ones, and people
who they supported with mutual aid.
“They loved all life and people -especially their qtpoc community — deeply.“
“Tortuguita was a very kind person. They were always willing to help and take care people in need around them, especially the qtbipoc community. They were always attentive to others needs and offer always the best of them. A truly warriors for the forest and the people! I miss them so much.”
We don’t know what happened yesterday, but we know that the police killed them while they were defending the forest. Please reach out with accounts of Tortuguita to honor their memory to RememberTort@protonmail.com
