Dear John,
Have you heard about Cop City? It is the police training facility slated to be built in Atlanta, Georgia at a cost of over $90 million. And it is a catastrophe in the making.
Plans include a mock city to practice urban warfare, burn towers, bomb simulations, multiple firing ranges, and helicopter landing pads. Police are expected to come here from around the country to learn militarized tactics all too likely to be turned on protesters. Already, people opposing the plan have been arrested under 2017 state legislation meant to criminalize protest. Even more frightening, Cop City may become a blueprint for police training in other cities.
AFSC is part of an amazing coalition of groups who are committed to nonviolence and a more just approach to public safety in our community. We also have a good chance of getting a referendum on the November ballot to let the people decide if Cop City should move forward. But we need more funding. And we have a special offer from a supporter willing to match your gift, up to $10,000. Will you donate today to help stop Cop City?
Militarized policing is not the only catastrophe we’re seeing unfold with Cop City. Here in the South, a heat dome has brought record-breaking temperatures in recent weeks, lending even more urgency to the need for action on climate change. But to make room for Cop City, the city of Atlanta is planning on clearcutting the biggest urban forest in the city. It’s not just heartbreaking, it’s dangerous. Environmentalists are warning that the surrounding area, populated by mostly Black residents who live at or below the poverty line, could experience up to 10 degrees of warming.
Environmentalists, housing rights groups, and racial justice organizers agree. This is not just an issue of policing. It is also about racial justice, climate change, and growing threats to U.S. democracy.
Please lend your support to the people of Atlanta, who overwhelmingly oppose Cop City. Make a gift today and help secure up to $10,000 in matching funds.
In peace, |
