A radical environmentalist group has called for “reciprocal violence” against police after a protestor was shot and killed in Atlanta on Wednesday.
Leftist activists had been camping out on the scene of the planned “Cop City,” a new training city for Atlanta law enforcement, for over a year, when police attempted to clear out the protestors on Wednesday.
“As law enforcement was moving through the property, officers located a man inside a tent in the woods,” the GBI said in a statement. The man allegedly “did not comply” with verbal commands, who then shot a Georgia State Patrol Tropper. Other officers returned fire and killed the protestor, while the injured officer was taken to a local hospital.
During a multi-agency operation on Constitution Rd., one person fired shots at law enforcement. Law enforcement fired back. A Georgia State Trooper was hit and taken to the hospital and is in surgery. One man was killed. This is an active investigation. pic.twitter.com/HEg3I2yMEa
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) January 18, 2023
“Police killed a forest defender today, someone who loved the forest, someone who fought to protect the earth & its inhabitants,” tweeted Defend the Atlanta Forest, one of the most prominent Twitter accounts for the movement wrote. “This is why we organize to stop Cop City. And we will. In honor of their life, and the lives of everyone killed and imprisoned by the police.”
Defend the Atlanta Forest later held candelight vigils for the shooter. “No one can bring out friend back to us,” they added. “An innocent life has been taken and the machines continue.” They also denied that the deceased protestor shot police, claiming the officer was in fact hit by “friendly fire.”
Police killed a forest defender today, someone who loved the forest, someone who fought to protect the earth & its inhabitants.
This is why we organize to stop Cop City. And we will. In honor of their life, and the lives of everyone killed and imprisoned by the police.
— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) January 18, 2023
across the country, candles are lit and people sit vigil for the forest defender murdered by Georgia state police pic.twitter.com/RBiL4bK5Gk
— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) January 19, 2023
A smaller and seemingly more radical group known as “Scenes from the Atlanta Forest,” demanded that “reciprocal violence” be undertaken against “the police and their allies” as revenge for the death of the protestor, posting links to “resources that list those responsible for the murder.”
“On Friday, January 20th, wherever you are, you are invited to participate in a night of rage in order to honor the memory of our fallen comrade,” the group wrote on Twitter. “The police will kill you if given the chance. Now is the time for bravery,” they continued in a second tweet. “Take care of each other. Be dangerous together.”
A CALL FOR RETALIATION
Consider this a call for reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies. On Friday, January 20th, wherever you are, you are invited to participate in a night of rage in order to honor the memory of our fallen comrade.https://t.co/C6gfU6gfXB pic.twitter.com/WcfKGQ0Ptf— Scenes from the Atlanta Forest (@scenesatl) January 18, 2023
The police will kill you if given the chance. Now is the time for bravery.
Take care of each other. Be dangerous together.— Scenes from the Atlanta Forest (@scenesatl) January 18, 2023
Given that calls for violence are against Twitter’s terms of service, the group repeatedly hid replies from concerned users of the platform, calling for Twitter to take action against such a flagrant violation of their rules. Later they admitted that their account, which has posted about the movement since November 2021, was “not long for this world.”
In a statement to Fox News, “The Defenders of the Forest” said that they were not affiliated with the more violent group, and that they are only a “news aggregator” for a “broad, diverse, decentralized movement to defend the Atlanta Forest.”
The call for violence echoes that of radical pro-abortion group, “Jane’s Revenge,” who demanded a “night of rage” following the Supreme Court ruling last year that overturned Roe v. Wade. A number of pro-life pregnancy centres across the country were targeted after the decision leaked, along with an armed man being discovered near the home of Justice Kavanaugh.
