A “Stop Cop City walk-out” organized by Emory University students came to an end early this morning after Emory Police Department (EPD) asked protesters to vacate the University’s Atlanta campus Quadrangle. The protest began at 2 p.m. on Monday and continued until they were asked to leave the Quad around 1:20 a.m. this morning, according to an April 25 statement posted on the movement’s Instagram.
Assistant Vice President of University Communications and Marketing Laura Diamond wrote in an email to the Wheel that around 20 students pitched tents on the Quad, which is “not permitted.” Diamond wrote that EPD officers “calmly asked students to vacate the Quad and explained that if they did not do so, the next step would be arrest.”
According to “Stop Cop City”’s statement, the protesters decided to comply with EPD’s request “in order to prevent harm.” However, the statement alleged that as the students gathered their belongings the “police presence and threats of arrest only escalated.”
Under section 8.14.5.5 of the University’s Respect for Open Expression Policy, community members violate University policy if they “violate any federal, state, local or other applicable law,” such as “refusing to leave restricted areas if instructed.” Diamond did not respond by time of publication to specify which part of this policy the protestors’ tents violated.
EPD request to vacate Quad
One of the walk-out’s organizers, Oren Panovka (26C), said an open expression advisor came up to the protestors on behalf of the administration, telling them that they were in violation of campus conduct.
“She told us that we were in violation of campus conduct and that the space was reserved,” Panovka said. “At that point, we had to leave or it was no longer in the hands of open expression. It was in the hands of Emory police.”
Eliza Blocker (21Ox, 23C), another organizer, recalled the advisor gave the protestors five minutes to discuss their plan and came back with Emory police. In addition to the EPD presence on the scene, Blocker said she counted 11 Atlanta Police Department (APD) vehicles on the scene.
“They were lining up along the whole edge of the quad and following us as we left,” Panovka said.
Blocker said she felt the presence of APD was an intimidation tactic.
“It was a tactic to get us off the quad, but they were ready to arrest us,” Blocker said.
Diamond wrote in an email to the Wheel that Emory supports the rights of the students under the Respect for Open Expression Policy and that EPD’s aim was to peacefully resolve the situation.
“While we are steadfast supporters of the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, we also hold members of our community accountable to our code of conduct, local ordinances and the law while taking steps to ensure their safety,” Diamond wrote.
The walk-out
Over a hundred students gathered on the Atlanta campus Quad to participate in the walk-out at 2 p.m. on Monday.
In 2021, the Atlanta City Council passed a proposal to build the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a new police and fire training center colloquially known as “Cop City,” in the South River Forest. Opponents have criticized the Center due to environmental and safety concerns.
University President Gregory Fenves is a member of the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP), a board of local leaders headed by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. ACP members expressed support for building the training center in 2021. The presidents of Morehouse College (Ga.), Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College (Ga.), Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University are also ACP board members.
During a speech from event organizer Jaanaki Radhakrishnan (26C), a line about Fenves’ role on the ACP drew loud booing from the walk-out attendees.
“Now, today, we would like to give the University an opportunity to demonstrate this commitment,” Radhakrishnan said to the crowd. “President Fenves, step down from the ACP and condemn the development of Cop City.”
Walk-out attendee Gabriel Hirschhorn (25C) also called on the president to step down from his Committee role, alleging that the training center could harm the South River Forest’s primarily Black and low-income neighboring communities.
“Atlanta has a long history of not listening to the Black and poor residents that inhabit the city, and if we want to make change that starts now,” Hirschhorn said.
Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Philosophy Megan Ross said the “Stop Cop City” movement combines two “very tangible” situations.
“It’s at this crucial intersection between questions of racial justice and the role of police in prisons and how we want to see our future society, along with issues of environmental justice and saving the forest and saving the planet and what sort of an Indigenous-led decolonial lens would look like for these issues,” Ross said.
Blocker said her concerns included protecting the South River Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the southeast. The proposed construction would turn 300 acres of forest into a mock city for police training.
“Especially in a city, just a small amount of green space is vital for protecting against different environmental ills,” Blocker said.
Hirschhorn said he grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. surrounded by “a lot of over-policing.” He said he believes the construction of the training center “will result in the targeting of lots of low-income and Black and brown people.”
Organizing the protest
The event was a part of the Atlanta Student Day of Action, which included a “building the living room” event at 3 p.m. with free food, performances and crafts. Additionally, students held a vigil at 8 p.m. for Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, a “Cop City” protester who was killed by police in January during a raid of the Atlanta Forest.
Associate Professor of Philosophy Dilek Huseyinzadegan, who said she supported the walk-out on the basis of free speech, said the movement escalated when Terán was killed.
“I heard about this murder of an activist who was just exercising their right to free assembly and free speech,” Huseyinzadegan said. “They were unarmed, they were not violent and they were just shot by the police. That's unacceptable. That is not the country I know.”
Johnna Gadomski (20C) spoke at the vigil, recalling her interactions with Terán and other activists at the forest, saying that Terán constantly looked out for people and provided them with care and aid.
“The fact that there have been so many vigils for them across the world … and people have uplifted their words and uplifted their abolitionist vision and just a way of connecting with other human beings in mutual care and love, is something that they would have said yes to,” Gadomski said.
Wittika Chaplet (21Ox, 23C), who was one of the organizers of the walk-out, said the organization team operated without a hierarchy to pull the event together.
“People come and they do what they can,” Chaplet said. “So like today, I couldn’t have ever done all of this. People say ‘I have art supplies or I can bring food and I can bring tables and I can bring a sign.’ So everyone sort of comes together and then something happens.”
Radhakrishnan, emphasized that she wanted the event to be a collective effort. She said that the “Stop Cop City” movement has collaborated with a “vast” network of students from universities across the Atlanta area, including Georgia State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Agnes Scott College (Ga.).
Huseyinzadegan said Emory is an “influential stakeholder” in Atlanta with an educational mission and duty to oppose injustice.
“Emory employs a lot of people, both the University and the healthcare enterprise, so that they remain neutral on this is unacceptable,” Huseyinzadegan said.
Blocker said when people search “Cop City” on the Atlanta Police Foundation website, the project “sounds good” upon first appearance if people are unaware of the “consequences of the prison industrial complex.” The walk-out created opportunities for students to teach each other about the consequences of building “Cop City,” she said.
Blocker said that by participating in the protest, students could make their voices heard by the administration and by Fenves.
“We say ‘Emory will not function as it is,’” Blocker said. “We will not tolerate what you’re doing, your lack of condemnation, your lack of movement forward and your sitting on boards that directly support this organization.”
Event attendee Faith Mason (26C), who said that she feels news outlets have been censoring the “Stop Cop City” movement, was driven to participate in the event after seeing her peers post about it on Instagram.
“It was a cause that really resonated with me considering we are in the city of Atlanta,” Mason said. “Emory should take a larger role in protecting the surrounding community.”
Klaire Mason (25C), another attendee, said it was “amazing” to see everyone come out to the walk-out, noting that there are not a lot of opportunities for people to voice their opinion on topics like Cop City.
“I came here when there weren't a lot of people and look at all the people here now,” Mason said. “This is the impact that we're making.”
In a speech at the vigil, “Stop Cop City” activist Ishmael Israel said that the movement is an awakening and transformation.
“It has just brought us back to the one unifying principle of humanity because all of us are fighting for our humanity,” Israel said. “All of us are hurting from the inhumanity, and all of us are trying to find what it is to truly be human again.”
Responding to Quad removal
Around 15 “Stop Cop City” walkout members gathered in Asbury Circle at 11 a.m. today for a “Lunch in Asbury” event to discuss their removal from the Quad earlier that morning. A flyer disseminated in the organization’s signal chat, later obtained by the Wheel, invited members to “join us in community, healing, and action following the forcible removal of peaceful student protesters by Emory Police.” The organizers set up a table to hand out flyers and give information on the incident last night.
Panovka, one of the members present at the lunch, said the students were protesting peacefully and he did not know why the administration thought it was acceptable to bring APD to deal with student protestors.
“I don't know why anybody would think that it would be acceptable to have the Atlanta police department come onto campus and try and remove us forcibly,” Panovka said. “Especially with armed weapons like especially with guns, with other weaponry.”
Spencer Friedland (26C) contributed reporting to this piece.
