For Immediate Release: December 21, 2022
Media Contact: media@colorofchange.org
Statement from Michael Collins, Senior Director of Government Affairs at Color Of Change Regarding the Domestic Terrorism Charges on Six Individuals Protesting Cop City Project
“The decision to charge six Atlanta protesters with domestic terrorism is a direct attempt by law enforcement to silence and discourage opposition to the building of “Cop City” — a militarized police training facility in a forest. The joint task force responsible for monitoring the area for criminal activity is acting unjustly. They’ve taken action against demonstrators exercising their First Amendment rights and used them as an example to those who want to protect the area from an environmentally damaging project that ignores the actual public safety needs of the community.
The construction of Cop City shows that the concerns of the community – from further militarization of the police to climate harms – continue to be ignored. Cop City, if complete, will destroy the Weelaunee Forest, land indigenous to the Muskogee community, and continue to push the status quo of police-oriented solutions to public safety issues that have led to unsafe communities and the deaths of Black Atlantans.”