Solidarity Statement: FREE HANNAH & HER CO-DEFENDANTS!
ACTION ALERT: This is a call to stand in solidarity with the 61 Stop Cop City (aka Defend the Atlanta/Weelaunee Forest) co-defendants who have been indicted on bogus RICO* charges in a highly political prosecution against a broad social movement fighting deforestation and police militarization in Atlanta.
We extend particular solidarity to one of these co-defendants, one of our own: Ph.D. student Hannah Kass, jointly affiliated with the Department of Geography and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In early 2021, the Atlanta City Council leased a former plantation and prison farm to the Atlanta Police Foundation, which plans to clear-cut over 300 acres of the Weelaunee Forest to build a $90 million dollar militarized police training facility, funded by taxpayers as well as a range of large corporations. The plan for the facility, set near the predominantly-Black neighborhoods of Dekalb County, Georgia, mirrors the mock cities built by the United States military in the 1960s to contain the rebellions of the civil rights movement. In these training centers, police forces have historically tested the militarized tactics of urban street protest repression. The mock city design of the training facility has earned it the nickname “Cop City” by critics. Swiftly approved by the city council despite protests and extensive public comment against it, the project continues to face fierce opposition from Atlanta-area constituents.
While completing preliminary research for her dissertation research regarding the movement, Hannah was falsely arrested on felony charges over a year ago following a protest. These pending charges are the sole grounds on which Hannah has been indicted under RICO.
In the past two years, state repression against the movement opposing Cop City and defending the Weelaunee forest has escalated dramatically. The movement has been defined by decentralized and autonomous action, using a diversity of tactics, many of which have been met with criminal charges. Forms of non-violent action have resulted in domestic terrorism charges. Bail fund organizers have had their homes raided by a SWAT team and been charged with financial crimes. On January 18, 2023, Georgia State Patrol officers brutally murdered one forest defender, Manuel Paez Teran, known in the forest as “Tortuguita.” An independent autopsy revealed that Tortuguita was sitting cross-legged, with their hands up in surrender, when they were shot 57 times.
On September 5, the state intensified its repression, indicting Hannah and 60 others on RICO charges. The indictment alleges that a broad swath of people from around the country are involved in a criminal conspiracy to stop Cop City. This alleged conspiracy is claimed to have begun on May 25, 2020, the day George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officers, sparking nationwide uprisings demanding police abolition.
The indictments suggest that completely legal protest activities — such as mutual aid, bail fund organizing, handing out fliers, distributing political literature, or attending a music festival — are furthering a criminal conspiracy. They also suggest that protest activities which target property rather than people such as trespassing, vandalism, or arson should not be prosecuted as individual and contextual crimes. Rather, the indictment conflates these protest tactics with terrorism and criminal conspiracy. In reality, movement participants’ actions support a social movement. This indictment weaponizes the criminal legal system to quash political dissent. It is unlikely that the indictment will hold up in court, particularly because its accusations in themselves constitute a conspiracy of the state’s own creation. Still, this prosecution sets an authoritarian precedent for the criminalization of social movements in the U.S. more broadly.
If allowed to stand, it would set a precedent for the collective punishment of large groups of like-minded people, regardless of their actual deeds.
As scholars, researchers, organizers, activists, and educators, we value critical dialogues and movements for social justice. The movement against Cop City is an integral part of such dialogues. Academic research, methodologies, and pedagogy must be rooted in the commitment to academic freedom. Academics should therefore be deeply concerned about the criminalization of social movements and the harmful consequences suffered by our colleagues.
Hannah’s case highlights the importance of researchers’ rights to freely conduct research. Hannah’s prosecution, if allowed to proceed, could result in a chilling effect on researchers exploring crucial topics, including but not limited to criminalized social movements.
We therefore must demand that all charges to be dropped against Hannah and her 60 co-defendants. Urge your colleagues across UW and beyond to stand in solidarity with these defendants in the face of unconstitutional repression tied to ongoing legacies of racism, environmental destruction, and police militarization.
Hannah and her co-defendants need our support! FREE THEM ALL!
Sign a petition to the Attorney General and the District Attorneys of Fulton County and Dekalb County, demanding they drop the charges: https://forms.gle/DV43zBLthiB13B6T9
Donate to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, a bail and legal defense fund for forest defenders: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/contribute-to-the-atlanta-solidarity-fund
Sat. Feb. 4th 6:00 – 8:00 pm The Dispossessed – book discussion of the 1974 scifi classic by Ursula Le Guin!
On the bleak moon, Anarres, utopian anarchists have created a new society far removed from the war-torn poverty-stricken planet, Urras. But then a curious scientist pursues a dream of reuniting the societies.
This is the first in a new series on anarchist speculative fiction, hosted by the Madison Infoshop!
The Potential to Storm Heaven – Madison Infoshop screening and discussion of a documentary about the 2008 Greek Insurrection – 8 pm Sat. July 23rd at the SJC (1202 Williamson St.)
Two policemen shoot against a group of youngsters in the heart of the Exarcheia district of central Athens, an area with a long history of insurrection against authority and riots for socio-economic and political grounds, inhabited mainly by anarchists, anti-authoritarians, and liberals. A police bullet kills 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Outside of Greece, solidarity demonstrations, riots, and clashes with local police also take place in more than 70 cities around the world, including London, Paris, Brussels, Rome, Dublin, Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo, Nicosia, and Paphos, proving that people could spread the news and react through protests for the same struggle around the globe. We will also watch a short 12 minute documentary about the city of Exarcheia in Greece for context beforehand.
Sun. June 18th 8:00 pm Screening of Riotsville USA, preceded by community recovered food grillout starting 4:00 pm – SJC (1202 Willy St.)
Riotsville USA documents community resistance to construction of a simulated police training ground known as “Cop City” in Atlanta, GA – a costly project that threatens to wipe out nearly 400 acres of trees and wildlife in one of the oldest natural forests in North America. After the film there will be a discussion about the militarization of police and alternatives.
Cooperation Can Save the World – Spring 2020 Free Skool Series!
Wed. March 11th 6:00 pm Mutual Aid Workspace (MAW), Social Justice Center (1202 Williamson St.) Join us for our second session exploring the theory, history, and praxis of cooperation. What is the Commons? Who is Elinor Ostrom? (hint – she was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics!) Why did the United Nations declare 2012 to be the Year of the Co-op? How could cooperation be more efficient, productive, and equitable than competition? Feel free to bring food to share for an informal potluck beforehand!
New “Protect the Great Lakes” Sturgeon t-shirts available!
Thanks to artist, Susan Simensky Bietila, and in solidarity with our many native allies fighting corporate resource extraction across the Great Lakes including the proposed Back Forty Mine on the Menominee River between Northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Madison Infoshop is proud to make available this t-shirt featuring our beloved sturgeon – an ancient indigenous fish whose future is now in doubt. These Made in USA light blue T-shirts are $20 each (+5 for postage) and come in S, M, L, XL, XXL sizes. Portion of the proceeds will go towards the No Back Forty Mine struggle. If you wish to order more than five t-shirts, please check with us about a wholesale discount. You can pay by check – send to Madison Infoshop, 1202 Williamson St., Madison WI 53703 by making the appropriate donation amount via credit card at: http://familyfarmers.org/ Thanks for protecting the Great Lakes!
Mon. Nov. 11th 6:30 pm Mutual Aid Workspace, Social Justice Center (1202 Willliamson St.) Radical Utopias – Imagined, Real & Potential – Kickoff Session of the Fall 2019 Madison Free Skool Discussion Series!
This week we will discuss the Paris Commune, Christiana in Denmark, Rojava in Syria, Oceti Sakowin at Standing Rock, and other Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZs). Informal potluck starts at 6:00 pm.
Climate chaos and mass extinction got you down? Tired of social oppression and state terrorism? Well, to quote the famous Indian writer/activist Arundhati Roy, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” For millennia, people have created societies of their own choosing – from pirate communes, quilombos, and the Civil War era Free State of Jones to today’s eco-municipalities, temporary autonomous zones (think Oaxaca, Standing Rock, or Rojava) and longtime anarchist communities like Christiania in Denmark. If the proverbial crap hits the fan, could Madison transform itself into a self-sufficient intentional cooperative safespace or would we become just another Mad Max episode in humanity’s social devolution.
Future sessions held alternate Mondays: 11/25 & 12/5.
For more info, visit the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/478177126352569/
Madison Infoshop Collective Meeting – Mon. Sept. 9th 5:30 pm – Mutual Aid Workspace (MAW) in the Social Justice Center (1202 Williamson St.)
Help us create our new home in the Mutual Aid Workspace (MAW) at the Social Justice Center and plan future Infoshop events, including discussion of our proposed Fall 2019 Free Skool discussion series on UTOPIAS!
If you have any ideas of what the Infoshop should be doing, please come and share your ideas. We are excited about being in our new space and are eager for some creative synergy.
New folks are most welcome!
Check Out Sharefest! Sat. May 4th Noon – 3 pm Social Justice Center (1202 Willy St.)!
The theme of this spring’s Sharefest is Growing Abundance! Let’s put our energy into what we want to grow – whether that’s literal (plants) or metaphorical (human connection & resilience & skills). 
There will be a potluck brunch, workshops with hands-on opportunities to build & create; plant/seed swap & stuff swap; connections with other members of the Social Justice Center, as well as chance to learn more about TimeBanking and sign up, if you haven’t already! The Madison Infoshop’s button maker will be in full swing!
Sharefest workshops include: Oatmilk Making, Coop Development, Posh Life Design, Know Your Rights, Zero Waste, Everywhere Gardens, Bird/Bee Houses and more. And this day will launch our ongoing Library of Things/ Swap we’re creating in our (becoming-) lovely lower level.
At 3:00 pm we’ll toast the major contributors to the Social Justice Center. Join us to celebrate – and consider making a contribution yourself! We want to welcome you to the transformed SJC to see our newly-improved hub of social justice in action.
Info? Visit the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2090873474545033/
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