Rioting in Atlanta

Rioting in Atlanta began Saturday night after a protestor against a new Atlanta public safety training center was shot and killed by police. Manuel Teran shot at police wounding an officer as they were clearing out protesters at the site, officers then returned fire killing Teran.

Teran was part of a protest with the group of Cop City, who are against the site of a new Atlanta public training center. As police moved in to clear out protesters on Wednesday January 18th, Teran shot at officers wounding one. Fellow officers returned fire killing Teran. The trooper that was shot was rushed to the hospital and under went surgery, the trooper is stable but remains in the intensive care unit.

After days of protesting things got violent on Saturday evening with the destructing of public property and the burning of Atlanta Police vehicles. The group “Stop Cop City” made no apologies for their actions and tried to justify themselves releasing 2 statements.

Perceived Justification

“Destruction of material is fundamentally different from violence. All reported acts appear to be explicitly targeted against the financial backers & goons of the Atlanta Police Foundation, a shady nonprofit that funnels weapons and military gear into our city to wage war on black and brown folks. The police have raided the forest for over 7 months, destroying material by trashing camps and water supplies, threatened the lives of forest defenders and now have murdered one. Protestors are only leveling the playing field & preventing future violence by disabling the economic machine of the Atlanta Police Foundation that seeks to sterilize all life within the Weelaunee Forest.”

Stop Cop City statement

Later on they released another statement

“What is the proper reaction to police killing Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Esteban Paez Teran? Destruction of material is fundamentally different from the violence that led to extinguishing someone’s light. We are seeing what we have seen across the country, a community in grief seeking accountability against the financial backers and goons of the Atlanta Police Foundation, a shady nonprofit that funnels weapons and military gear into our city to wage war on Black, Indigenous, Brown and poor folks in the community. The police have evoked violence when they raided the forest for over 7 months, destroying material by trashing camps and water supplies and threatening the lives of forest defenders. It seems the community is trying to disable the economic machine of the Atlanta Police Foundation that seeks to sterilize all life within the Weelaunee Forest to protect the community they love from further violence.“

Stop Cop City “revised” statement

This eco terrorist group rioting in Atlanta believes they are completely justifiable. Just look at the statements they put out. Screams extremism to me. I guess their parents did not say no to them enough so now they think anything goes with no thought of repercussions.

I am a firm believer in protesting peacefully. It is part of what is supposed to make America great. With that said, once things turn violent it’s game on and it needs to be shut down swiftly and by whatever means necessary. Not saying start beating people etc, but use the force that is needed to end the violence.