Solidarity is How You Counter State Repression
As a movement we are only as strong as we are during times of repression.
Image shared with the permission of Unicorn Riot
For well over a year protesters in Atlanta have gathered to defend the trees, wildlife and their communities from the construction of a $90 million police and fire training facility that they have named “Cop City.” After months of police escalation, police killed Tortuguita, shooting them 13 times. In response to Tortuguita’s death and the approval of Cop City’s final permit, forest defenders made a call for others to join them in a week of mass action.
On March 5, several hundred arrived to a construction site where some destroyed a mobile surveillance tower by setting it on fire. According to a Unicorn Riot video, police showed up shortly afterward, near the forest defenders’ music festival that was also taking place, and began making arrests. Some who were detained may not have been involved in the attack. 23 people were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism. That’s in addition to the 19 forest defenders who’ve already been charged. The judge denied bail for all those arrested except for one who was a legal observer, raising alarms among human rights and civil liberties advocates. Signed by more than 30 organizations including Human Rights Watch, the letter cautions that, “broad language and severe penalties invite politically-motivated prosecutions aimed to monitor, punish, and chill free speech activities.”
And that’s exactly the point.
The degree of prosecutorial repression being waged against the forest defenders is alarming, but it’s also in alignment with how the state has used domestic terrorism threats, rhetoric and legal tools against social movements since 9/11. The USA Patriot Act expanded the definition of domestic terrorism to include anyone who “intimidates or coerces” civilians or governmental organizations. The language of “intimidate or coerce” applies such a loose interpretation that many protests and grassroot campaigns could fall under that category (an argument that the ACLU made back then).
This wide net would be used against groups like Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front in the early 2000s and later against a Standing Rock protester, Jessica Reznicek, in whose case an Iowa U.S. District Judge added a terrorism enhancement stating that Reznicek’s actions were, “calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government.”
A Guardian report found that between 2013 and 2014 the FBI listed over a dozen individuals and organizations who campaigned against fossil fuels “in domestic terrorism-related investigations,” and in 2017 an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force monitored and attempted to contact Standing Rock water protectors. So while the domestic terrorism statute they’re using against Cop City protesters stems from a state law passed after white supremacist Dylann Roof’s attack and might seem like a new level of state repression, it’s actually in line with how the U.S. government has treated environmentalists.
The use of terrorism charging or terrorism-adjacent charging, such as conspiracy round-ups, by both local and federal prosecutors is part of an overall escalation to repress social movements into non-existence. At least that’s their hope. And it’s not just environmental struggles. These are just a few examples from recent years:
During the Occupy wave, two Chicago police undercovers infiltrated Occupy Chicago and entrapped the so-called NATO 3. They were charged with “conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.”
In Cleveland, feds infiltrated Occupy Cleveland with an elaborate sting operation against 5 occupiers to blow up a bridge with dummy detonators.
In 2017 a report obtained by Foreign Policy showed that a Domestic Terrorism Analysis Unit within the FBI categorized Black people involved in Black liberation movements and anti-police protests as Black Identity Extremist.
Also in 2017, during the inauguration protest against Trump, more than 200 people were mass arrested, tear gassed and prosecuted under conspiracy charges for committing violence including property destruction. This included some people who weren’t even there but who had publicly discussed the day of action. The federal government used the fact that they were dressed in bloc as a means to charge them with a conspiracy. This was the first time in recent history that we saw federal conspiracy charges used against protesters on such a large scale.
During the early Trump years and street battles with fascists the FBI and Department of Homeland Security were warning state and local officials of “antifa” attacks. According to a Politico report, DHS formally classified antifa activities as “domestic terrorist violence.”
When the George Floyd wave hit, over 10,000 people were arrested and hundreds were prosecuted, including for conspiracy. In a statement put out during the wave’s most active weekend, Attorney General William Barr threatened that actions connected with the rioting were “domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.” A federal prosecutor in Georgia echoed these statements during the prosecution of Delveccho Waller, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to burn a cop car. A prosecuting U.S. attorney argued that Waller committed “a violent, extreme act of domestic terrorism.”
These few examples show the state using coercion and intimidation against people in order to maintain its monopoly on power.
As inequalities continue to increase, people who must sell their labor in order to survive will have fewer ways to express their grievances with the system besides direct action. Cop City is a testament to the battles that will need to be forged. Solidifying what many of us in the struggle have long known to be true: that our social movements are not isolated, that the powers that oppress us overlap, and that the climate crisis and the need to abolish the police are interwoven.
Covering repression over the last decade, I can tell you something that is unfortunately true. Once things are no longer burning there will be a loss of coverage and interest in what happens to those who were arrested during the unrest. There are people still going through prosecutions right now for arrests during George Floyd, Line 3 pipeline defense, and so many other waves that didn’t break into national news. Other than their family and loved ones, they have no greater support to tap into for legal defense, encouragement, mental health, or to put money on their books once they are convicted.
As a movement we are only as strong as we are during times of repression, not only how we support people after their immediate arrests, but all the way through their sentencing and beyond. There are many eyes on Cop City and because of that there will be a burst of support, but it won’t be sustained. The people risking their safety and literally their lives are going to need our help as the years go by. This is true not just for forest defenders but for all the previous waves too. This is how you counter the state’s repression. Through solidarity, by showing up, by being there and making sure that it’s not just the same few people who are taking these risks.
Here’s a list of places to donate and people who are imprisoned you can write to (feel free to email me if there is anyone you would like me to add to the list (contactkandist@protonmail.com):
Phone campaign to get forest defenders denied bail out of jail
Donation links
Stop Line 3 Frontline Camps Donation Links
Write to those behind bars
(letters must be written on pre-metered US Postal Service issued post cards for all those detained in Decatur, Georgia)
Dekalb County Jail
Victor Puertas #X2312485
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Priscilla Grim #X2312494
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Thomas Jergens #X2312483
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Zoe Larmey #X2312475
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Fredrique Robert-Paul #X2312488
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Colin Dorsey #X2312498
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Grace Martin #X2312493
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Luke Harper #X2312491
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Kayley Meissner #X2312495
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Emma Bogush #X2312492
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Mattia Luini #X2312490
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Max Biederman #X2312484
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Samuel Ward #X2312496
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Amin Chaoui #X2312489
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Dimitri Leny #X2312480
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Timothy Bilodeau #X2312480
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Ehret Nottingham #X2312482
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Maggie Gates #X2312478
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Kamryn Pipes #X2312481
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Ayla King #X2312479
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Jack Beeman #X2312497
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Dekalb County Jail
Alexis Papali #X2312476
4425 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA
30032
Shamar Betts #22080-043
FCI Hazelton
PO Box 5000
Bruceton Mills, WV 26525
Joshua Williams#1292002,
Potosi Correctional Center,
11593 State Highway O,
Mineral Point, MO 63660.
Urooj Rahman #83822-053
FDC Philadelphia
P.O. Box 562
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Jessica Reznicek #19293-030
FCI Waseca
P.O. Box 1731
Waseca, MN 56093
Eric King #27090-045
FCI Florence Post
Office Box 6000 Florence
Colorado 81226
Collectives/orgs with pages that list other prisoners info and how to write to them
NYC Anarchist Black Cross
Prison Solidarity’s international letter writing list