‘Stop Cop City’ Week of Action Day 4: Rally to Reopen Intrenchment Creek Park
Decatur, GA — Student activists organized a protest outside the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners on the fourth day of an ongoing ‘Week of Action’ as part of the ‘Stop Cop City’ movement.
The rally demanded that DeKalb County officials reopen Intrenchment Creek Park, also known as Weelaunee People’s Park — an area that had been used as a gathering place for the ‘Stop Cop City’ movement as well as a nature trail and park area enjoyed by locals.
Intrenchment Creek Park was closed by DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond on March 24 citing “safety concerns” related to protest activities in the forest. The park has remained closed to the public since then while police and the private, corporate-funded Atlanta Police Foundation consolidate control of the forest that they are currently clear-cutting to make way for the unpopular urban warfare training complex officially named the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, but generally known as ‘Cop City.’
On June 4, Thurmond announced that DeKalb County would “reopen” Intrenchment Creek Park — however, this ‘reopening’ refers to a ‘redevelopment’ process that would likely see more trees cut down and keep the park area closed to the public for additional months and possibly up to a year, according to activists.
Much of Intrenchment Creek Park is currently caught up in a ‘land swap’ arranged between DeKalb County and Ryan Millsap, a billionaire developer who originally planned to clear-cut the land and build a sound stage complex. While the original plan has shifted, Millsap still intends to convert the public land into his own private property. The land deal which Millsap claims entitles him to the forested area that makes up Weelaunee People’s Park is currently being challenged in court.
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For Unicorn Riot's coverage on the movement to defend the Atlanta Forest click on the image below.
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