FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20, 2023

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media@colorofchange.org 

COLOR OF CHANGE DEMANDS JUSTICE FOR PROTESTOR KILLED IN GEORGIA; CALLS ON CORPORATIONS TO DIVEST FROM WEELAUNEE FOREST 

Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, Vice President of Corporate Power of Color Of Change, issued the following statement in response to the killing of a protestor in DeKalb County, GA; 

“Members of the community who have been protesting the construction of ‘Cop City’ in the South Atlanta Forest have been met with excessive force for months. The painful irony of a protester being killed for protecting indigenous land and the local ecosystem is not lost on our communities. 

“While we mourn another senseless death at the hands of law enforcement, we also continue our opposition to the construction of ‘Cop City.’ Building this facility will further militarize police in the Atlanta area and increase the violence against Black and brown communities. Moreover, the irreversible destruction of the South Atlanta Forest will further worsen air quality, flooding, and overall quality of life in the area’s predominantly Black neighborhoods. Positioning an 85-acre tactical training facility near the South River, already the fourth most endangered river in America, should have been reason enough to halt the approval of this facility in the first place. We do not need a multimillion dollar training school to perpetuate our already-broken public safety system — we need policy investments that advance community safety. 

“We call on Wells Fargo, Target and Truist to stop funding Copy City through the Atlanta Police Foundation and implore Atlanta’s city council members to listen to our communities, break the cycle of police violence, and stop the construction of ‘Cop City.’ Unless swift and decisive action is taken to redefine public safety, more innocent lives will be in danger.”

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Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over 7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and governments to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit www.colorofchange.org