Three years have passed since Georgia State Patrolmen Jerry Parrish, Bryland Myers, Jonathan Salcedo, Ronaldo Kegel, Royce Zah, and Mark Jonathan Lamb entered the Weelaunee Forest in southeast Atlanta with their guns drawn. They shot and killed Manuel Teran, known to fellow forest defenders as Tortuguita. Today, the same struggles continue against the same forms of oppression, animated by the spirit of Tortuguita. The past does not pass.

This is a call to take action on the anniversary of that tragedy.

This January 18, take action to remember Tortuguita and all who have fallen in defense of the Earth. Organize a march, rally, or vigil. Gather with friends, comrades, and family to mourn and heal and grow stronger together. Plan an information session on those living on the run, under siege, or under surveillance. Host a power-mapping session about a local police foundation, a detention center, or a surveillance network. Organize a hike through a public park or forest and commit to defend that place from destruction.

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After the killing of Tortuguita, thousands of people surged into the movement for which Tortuguita gave their life—the movement to stop Cop City and abolish the police. Community members gathered to weep, to support one another, and to grieve—but also to fight back. People blocked roads, lit flares, smashed windows, and torched police vehicles. Over the following months, the movement struck blows against the contractors and funders of the Atlanta Police Foundation on a daily basis. On March 5, 2023, hundreds of people raided the Cop City construction site chanting “Viva, Viva Tortuguita.” They threw fireworks, stones, and Molotov cocktails at police and wrecked the site.

A year later, thousands of people across the country gathered in assemblies, rallies, demonstrations, and vigils to remember Tortuguita and all of the other people who have fallen in defense of our planet. As climate chaos caused by the burning of fossil fuels continues to disrupt vital systems across the globe, greater numbers of people are forced to flee to safer, calmer, lands. In the privileged core of global capitalist society, we do not often experience the collapse of vital systems directly. Rather, we notice price hikes, layoffs, and shortages. We see wars and massacres caused by the instability produced by collapsing standards of living and the competition among strongmen to control scarce resources.

Today, the United States and its allies are veritable cop nations. Flock Safety, a company once known only to activists watching the perimeter of the Weelaunee Forest, has blanketed the entire country in AI-powered license plate scanners. They partner with bigots and federal authorities to track down undocumented immigrants, those who need abortions, and dissidents.

Tort 1996–2023

Those who take action against the emerging autocratic state confront the same draconian measures and criminal charges that Tortuguita and the Cop City protesters faced. Witness the Prairieland defendants who have sat in jail since July 4, strip-searched daily, in solitary confinement, denied medications, smeared by the FBI as terrorists. They stand accused of rallying outside of a migrant detention center.

We can stop the downward spiral into autocracy. To do so, we will need to draw from deep community ties, from memories and examples of fortitude, courage, and grace in the face of adversity and tyranny.

To struggle is to remember.

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