Eight Remain in Jail from March 5 Weelaunee Forest Raid, 15 Released

Atlanta, GA — Fifteen of the twenty-three people arrested and charged with domestic terrorism on March 5 are now out of jail. The nearly two dozen people were arrested during the South River Music Festival for their alleged involvement in the ongoing effort to stop…

Ahead of the Final Four, Houston Criminalizes Homelessness

Efforts by cities across the country to “clean up” before major sporting events such as the Super Bowl aren’t new. But when those efforts involve forcing the unhoused away from certain areas, they often employ the use of police to criminalize support services for homeless…

Georgia State Troopers making arrests after storming the Stop Cop City music festival in the "RC Field" clearing in the South River Forest near Atlanta on March 5, 2023. On the left, one arrestee is pinned down my two officers in dark blue kneeling on them. In the middle-left of the shot, a person sitting down can be seen sitting and about to be arrested. On the right center part of the image, a man in a neon green National Lawyers Guild legal observer hat is lying down on the ground with his hands out to the sides - presumably having done so on orders by an arresting officer. A Georgia State Patrol higher-up is seen striding towards the prone NLG observer with black leather gloves on his hands; other officers in frame do not appear to be wearing gloves.

Behind the #StopCopCity Domestic Terrorism Warrants

Atlanta, GA — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, in collaboration with several other law enforcement agencies, charged 23 more people with ‘domestic terrorism’ for their alleged involvement in the ongoing effort to stop ‘Cop City’ and to defend the Weelaunee Forest in unincorporated DeKalb County…

The Case of Marvin Haynes – Part Three: The Framing of Marvin Haynes

Minneapolis, MN – When Officers Rollins and Smelter pulled up in front of Jerry’s Flower Shop on Sunday morning, May 16, 2004, they saw a woman run out the front door. She was screaming.

She told the officers that her brother was inside and that…

An Historic Direct Action in a Forest Outside Atlanta

DeKalb County, GA – In broad daylight Sunday, March 5, a group of about three hundred masked people wearing mostly camouflage and black clothing stormed the main police security outpost within the Weelaunee Forest at the proposed construction site of the ‘Cop City’ project. Demonstrators…

‘Stop Cop City’ Week of Action Begins in Atlanta

Atlanta, GA – Atlanta-area forest defenders, community activists and their allies from around the country and the world are initiating a ‘week of action’ against a proposed ‘Cop City’ urban warfare campus and a movie industry facility that would demolish much of the largest urban…

Minneapolis Teachers Union, Cops Battle Over Student Recruitment

Minneapolis, MN – A Minneapolis Public Schools teacher talked to Unicorn Riot about the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) newly created PEACE Recruitment Program and the teachers union’s recent decision to oppose it.

“The police are desperate now and they’re coming for our kids.”
Minneapolis Public…

Atlanta Activists Say Prosecutors Plan to Indict them on RICO Charges

Atlanta, GA – Community organizations involved in the ongoing campaign to defend the South River Forest outside Atlanta, Georgia and ‘Stop Cop City’ say state prosecutors are planning on releasing indictments in the coming weeks charging them as a “criminal organization” under RICO statutes.

The…

Supporters of ‘Cop City’ Opponents Rally in Philly

Philadelphia, PA – Protests around the U.S. have increased recently against the proposed Public Safety Training Center near Atlanta. At the Philadelphia City Hall on around noon on Friday, Feb. 24, opponents held a rally.

Full livestream of the protest on Feb. 24, 2023.

The…

Atlanta PD Releases Bodycam Footage from Deadly Jan. 18 Forest Raid

Atlanta, GA – The Atlanta Police Department released body camera footage captured during the multi-jurisdictional raid in the South River Forest that resulted in police killing Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Paez Terán last month.

Footage from four body-worn cameras used by Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers was…

Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Terán’s Family Seeks Transparency in Police Killing

Atlanta – The family of Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán, the forest defender killed by police in Atlanta’s South River Forest, addressed the public for the first time Monday to ask for transparency in the state’s investigation into the killing.

While some details about the Jan. 18…

​​The Case of Marvin Haynes – Part One

Minneapolis, MN – The grainy surveillance camera footage shows a small interrogation room—fifteen-by-fifteen, white walls, short cut-pile dark carpet, circular table, and a blue swivel chair. A door on the far wall stands open to the hallways and cubicles beyond. The date in the corner…