THREAD 🧵

WHO IS WALTER ISAACSON?

The author & former head of @CNN & @TIME violently assaulted a student who was protesting against the genocide of Palestinians at a New Orleans panel on March 13th.

Despite the assault being captured on video, media remains largely silent.

https://twitter.com/antiracistsouth/status/1768309309639643206

A quick overview:

Isaacson has spent his long career cozying up to some of the most powerful people in the U.S. government & multinational corporations. From the State Department & DoD, to @CNN & @TIME, to @TeachForAmerica & the @AspenInstitute, to @Dell & @United, & more.

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This article is a great example of counterinsurgency “from the left”— an attempt to deflate, minimize & pathologize the #StopCopCity movement under the guise of a “progressive” analysis.

Here’s a short 🧵 showing how/why this article functions as COIN propaganda.

https://twitter.com/ryan_zickgraf/status/1755644358345326835

First— counterinsurgency is not just a (military/police) strategy but rather a “political logic” (s/o @dylanrodriguez) that shapes & is shaped by media, gov, NGO’s— pretty much all facets of “civil society” controlled by the ruling class. All these facets play a role.
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https://twitter.com/p_pod_/status/1751695374547664996

Who is Billy Linville?

A hired propagandist working for Atlanta Police Department & @andreforatlanta to push Cop City talking points out to the public.

@CityofAtlanta has been losing the narrative battle around #StopCopCity for a while, they are DESPERATE.

A THREAD 🧵🪡 Linville & his PR firm, Lexicon Strategies, have major ties to Cop City funders including @ATT, @Delta, @ATLHawks, @AtlantaFalcons, @CoxEnterprises, @GeorgiaPower, @Colliers & @InvestAtlanta. They are part of APD + APF’s “inner circle” for propaganda & messaging.

Since I can’t be there in person, I’m gonna take some time to do a thread 🧵 about the Atlanta Police officer who murdered #JohnnyHollman —

Kiran Kimbrough
Badge #: 54168
Age: 23
Joined: 3/18/2021
Born: May 31st, 2000
Salary: $54,979.60
2023 Overtime: $5,009.23

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https://twitter.com/shedefendsit/status/1705217958233186803

Kiran Kimbrough is originally from Bolingbrook, IL and came to Alabama A&M to play football. This fits a larger APD recruitment pattern of targeting former collegiate athletes. This recruitment tactic is reflected in the Atlanta Police Foundation’s intentions for #CopCity

https://twitter.com/InoperableSink/status/1696972598939169259

THREAD 🧵

The connections btwn corporate funders of Cop City, police agencies & the U.S. military are so dense & multifaceted that it’s hard to keep track.

Here’s a quick snapshot of one fascinating “node” of power in APF’s Board: @ChickfilA, Trilith Studios & @CookerlyPR Conservative billionaire owner Dan Cathy is so rich he has a “proxy” sit on the Atlanta Police Foundation Board on his behalf: his name is Evan Karanovich, and he is Dan Cathy’s “Lead Advisor” at @ChickfilA… he is also a Public Affairs Officer (PAO) in the Naval Reserves…

Excerpts from Robert L. Allen’s book, “Black Awakening in Capitalist America” in relation to the current #StopCopCity movement:

GENOCIDE and the infrastructure for mass imprisonment as a countermeasure against Black rebellion.

🧵🪡 The fear of open violence against Black communities dates back generations— since the end of enslavement, the white supremacist State struggled to contend with what they saw as “surplus populations” who needed to be contained, commodified and/or eliminated altogether.

Why we should read Robert L. Allen’s “Black Awakening in Capitalist America” to understand the context of the #StopCopCity movement coming on the heels of the 2020 #GeorgeFloyd uprisings…

A THREAD of excerpts that speak to the current situation re: policing in the U.S. 🧵🪡 The “City” is the past/present/future battlegrounds (materially, strategically, ideologically) for Black Liberation— and therefore all our collective liberation.

“To [white liberals] the cities present not a battleground but a crisis to be managed.”

https://twitter.com/trapteas/status/1643023391711014913

If y’all are curious about why the @CityofAtlanta & APF are so intent on building Cop City in the specific South River Forest location well I’ve got news for you…

And it cuts to the heart of what Cop City is truly designed for (hint: it’s exactly what organizers have said)

🧵 This is a map of the South River Forest (Weelaunee) where Cop City is being planned. Look whats just down the street: Georgia State Patrol HQ in Atlanta. But that’s not all…

I keep seeing people ask #StopCopCity activists the same question:

“bUt IsN’t MoRe TrAiNiNg A gOoD tHiNg?”

The short answer is, of course, NO! #AbolishThePolice

Let’s do a quick THREAD 🧵🪡 about the person who heads up training for Atlanta Police Department:

Fred Watson. Major Fred Watson is the APD “Training Academy Director” in charge of all training for Atlanta Police. He is also on the GA POST advisory board.

Watson oversees the “Police Curriculum” sub-group for the South River Forest Cop City Task Force— he’s very involved in Cop City.

THREAD 🧵🪡

Exposing corporate & political conflicts of interest in the “South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force”

— PART 4: “History & Civil Rights NGO’s”

How corporate money shapes the ways we connect our history to the present.

#StopCopCity #1 Jill Savitt, the National Center for Civil & Human Rights (@Ctr4CHR)

Jill Savitt seems to be a good person who genuinely cares abt working towards justice, but is caught up in a web of media, liberalism & big money that is actively attempting to neutralize her better angels.

We can learn a lot by comparing the tactics being deployed now against Cop City to those the ruling class & the city of Atlanta used to neutralize the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition. Namely:

Fracturing coalitions & potential coalitions with piecemeal concessions.

https://twitter.com/antiracistsouth/status/1660026259731103744

More liberal, middle-class, power-aligned groups will be the first to fold if offered individual concessions (as long as THEIR agenda is taken care of) which almost always align with interest convergence with the ruling elites. These groups tend to trust those in power more.

THREAD of THREADS🧵🪡

Exposing Corporate & Political Conflicts of Interest of the “South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force”

From community members + clergy to environmental NGOs + government agencies— who do they really represent?

#StopCopCity Part 1 — “Community Members”

#StopCopCity

https://twitter.com/antiracistsouth/status/1656413301641990145

THREAD 🧵🪡

Exposing corporate & political conflicts of interest in the “South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force”

— PART 3: “Parks & Environmental NGO’s”

In this edition, we examine the NPIC’s role in manufacturing consent.

#StopCopCity #1 Greta G. deMayo, @PATHFoundation

As Executive Director of the Path Foundation & regular collaborator w/ metro Atlanta city planning bodies, deMayo’s role on this taskforce is two-fold: provide professional capacity for “park/trail” planning for Cop City & lend legitimacy.

Some people really believe we are being hyperbolic when we talk about reformism as a police counterinsurgency strategy, when we frame policing as a manifestation of domestic war and occupation… if you read the literature across any political spectrum they are clear about it: 🧵 “Repression does not always come dressed up in riot gear, or breaking into offices in the middle of the night. It also comes in the form of the friendly “neighborhood liaison” officer, advisory boards to local police departments, & the social scientist hired on as a consultant…”