Cop City: Origins And Opposition During The Black Lives Matter Movement

Cop City: Origins and Opposition During the Black Lives Matter Movement of 2020, protests against police brutality disproportionately faced by Black Americans, calls for the eradication of white supremacist institutions, and demands for the strengthening of Black communities (Black Lives Matter, 2021) coalesced making the slogan “Defund the police” commonplace. Rather than addressing the root causes of crime, Black Lives Matter supporters have argued the United States has actively moved towards a police state in order to protect its capital and the interests of the bourgeoisie; institutionalizing and criminalizing the symptoms of poverty, lack of opportunity, imperialism, and inequality. In the midst of these calls for change, and in the years

Additionally, Mayor Dickens and the City Council are urged to drop the appeal against Cop City being placed on the ballot for the people to decide. With the city’s appeal, the counting and verification of 116,000 Atlanta residents’ signatures has been halted since September 2023, as deadlines for the referendum process are entangled in a legal battle (Bagby, 2023). In demonstrations, protests, and sit-ins, such calls to individuals are made apparent, representing feelings of interactional injustice and therefore disrespect; however, the injustice felt has spurred outrage towards more than just the actors, as Georgia’s governmental branches and its policies are allowing individual actors to continue curtailing democratic decision-making. The approval of Cop City with public funding failed to and continues to fail to acknowledge public opinion and input. “Process control” and “decision control” (Walker, Lind, & Thibaut, 1979), as vital aspects necessary for individuals to view a dispute’s resolution as fair and satisfying, have not only been ignored in the approval of Cop City but fully

The felt injustice is statistically supported, as police reforms across the United States, including Atlanta (“APD policy and practice updates”, 2020), have expanded since 2020 to increase de-escalation training, increase knowledge of implicit bias, and include crisis intervention training, while simultaneously the number of individuals killed by police hit a record-high in 2023 (Campaign Zero, 2024). A clear illustration of this has occurred during the protests and demonstrations against Cop City, as over 40 individuals have been charged with domestic terrorism without bond, 61 individuals have been charged with racketeering (a charge created for mafia members and used against organized crime)(Bruce & Shamsi, 2023), and one individual was shot 13 times and murdered at the hands of police officers while sitting with their legs crossed and hands raised in the air (Remembering Tortuguita,