STOP COP CITY - DEFEND THE FOREST EVERYWHERE ACTION
March 9, 2023
xrnyc_press@unitedrebellion.com
New York, NY - NYC activists committed to diverse causes ranging from police abolition to gender justice to climate justice, came together for the #StopCopCity National Day of Action.
The Atlanta Police Foundation, a non-profit, is seeking to destroy 300 acres of the Weelaunee forest, replacing it with a $90 million police training facility – backed by $60 million in corporate funding and $30 million in taxpayer money. Opponents of the facility are concerned about the growing militarization of the police force, which will threaten the lives of marginalized people. Known as Cop City, the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center compound would train cops from all over the country on the use of firearms, tear gas, helicopters and explosive devices.
Over 100 activists marched from St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan to the offices of JPMorgan Chase & Co (“Chase”) at 277 Park Ave, to demand Chase terminate the company’s associations and charities with the Atlanta Police Foundation, and all other police foundations in the country. As part of this action, we submitted an open letter to David Miree, head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Chase, as the bank’s support of this project violates their own stated principles and aspirations.
“We don’t need militarized police officers anywhere in this country. Cop City will have a damaging impact on the surrounding black and brown communities,” said Sharonda Allen, Executive Director of Operation Grow Inc. “Cops will be right next to those folks, and possibly beat them down and put their knees to their necks, and beat them to death.”
“Tortuguita was murdered by a cop. Tortuguita themselves were non-binary and queer”, said Hennessy, a climate justice organizer with Sixth Street Community Center. “It would be remiss of me not to discuss the intersectional nature of all of this. Climate justice is the liberation of queer and trans people. Climate justice is racial justice.”
Shayok Mukhopadhyay, Extinction Rebellion spokesperson, said: “It makes perfect sense from the bank’s point of view. They need to train the cops. Because they know that the coming disaster will cause conflict in society. That is why the people who are funding fossil fuels, funding insurance companies, funding the big law firms… They are also the people on the Atlanta Police Foundation board.”
Today’s protest was one of many actions happening throughout the country. Other groups represented at the NYC event were Operation Grow Inc, Movement 4 Black Lives, Girls for Gender Equity, Sunrise Movement NYC, BLM Greater NY, Black Opportunities, Six Street Community Center, Fridays for Future, and No North Brooklyn Pipeline Alliance.
Photos and videos for the event can be found here.
Read our open letter to the Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Chase here.