The tow truck in flames after the final counterattack finished it off
Updated 8-3-2022 with new information from https://scenes.noblogs.org/post/2022/08/02/report-back-on-the-fight-between-milsap-dozer-cops-and-forest-defenders/
On the 29th of July, the governmental and corporate bodies associated with the “Cop City” police training range project and Black Hall’s sound stage project tried again. This time they got ugly, sending a tow truck both to bring in a mini-excavator and to commit grand theft auto against forest defenders whose cars were believed to be the cars parked in Welaunee People’s Park.
Forest defenders found a man named Anthony Wayne James sitting (and FUMING) in the excavator. He attemtpted to destroy “the gazebo, porta potties,paved trails, and to re-close the barriers at the front of the park.” He had two Dekalb County cops backing him up. The defenders at the scene blocked the excavator with their bodies until reinforcements could arrive. When they did, the defenders opened up with a hail of rocks and “other projectiles” and Anthony Wayne James was forced to retreat with his machine.
The attack did not go well for the Ryan Milsap and his tow truck either: a heavy counterattack badly damaged the tow truck, to the point it now has to be recovered by tow truck itself. Multiple groups attacked the tow truck at intervals and finally it was set on fire. Due to tire damage common in vehicle fires, recovery will now require a flatbed or dollies. The truck is probably a total loss, a few tons of scrap steel and aluminum. The excavator attack failed as well, the machine being driven off under a hail of rocks by the defenders of the forest.
Tow truck after first counterattack
Tow truck after second counterattack
As for the proposed use of heavy machinery to demolish a structure or anything else while people are still in it, this has happened before (notably in DC) and the defenders of the forest were not having it. The Washington DC incident was an Oct 4, 2021 police and trash truck assault on unhoused camps at the L and M st underpasses. During that attack, one of “Bowser’s Panzers” (her mini-dozers) picked up an occupied tend and injured its defender. The resulting public fury delayed further attacks on unhoused camps in DC for over a month. From this incident it can be concluded that here like in Israel, cops or their agents who bring demolition equipment up to an occupied tent or structure intend to demolish it with people inside, without regard for their safety.
The communiques received and source of the photos:
https://scenes.noblogs.org/post/2022/08/02/report-back-on-the-fight-between-milsap-dozer-cops-and-forest-defender
On the final day of the fourth week of action, forest defenders awoke to shouts about police activity in the recently reopened Intrenchment Creek/ Weelaunee People’s Park parking lot.
We arrived to find an angry man named Anthony Wayne James sitting in an excavator and threatening to destroy the gazebo, porta potties,paved trails, and to re-close the barriers at the front of the park, effectively re-closing the public infrastructure. A small number of forest defenders blocked the excavator with only their bodies, including a few who remained under the gazebo while it was struck by the excavator bucket.
More forest defenders soon arrived and began to drive back the excavator with rocks and other projectiles. The irate operator had two Dekalb County police officers to back him up, as well as two other men waiting on the street. It was soon revealed that one of those was Ryan Millsap himself. Millsap believes he is the owner of the land in question, after a controversial land-swap agreement between the Dekalb County government and Blackhall Studios sought to give the land over to the film company so that they could develop it into the largest soudnstage complex on Earth. Millsap has since sold much of his holdings in the company in a fashion that nullifies the agreements with the County government and gives, he believes, Millsap personal ownership of the land with few or no obligations to the public.
After a brief interlude, in which forest defenders oriented themselves, the crowd of a few dozen advanced on the attackers. Masked defenders threw rocks at the County police and broke windows out of the truck that was used to carry the excavator in on a flatbed trailer. With the excavator outside the park, a barricade was erected to keep it from re-entering, and volleys of rocks and canned sparkling water kept the police and workers back. Ryan Millsap fled in another vehicle after he was called out by name. When the windows of the excavator were broken, Anthony Wayne James reappeared and repeatedly threatened to shoot all the forest defenders and motioned as if he had a gun several times. Millsap appeared to oversea all of this from a distance. Undeterred by his threats, defenders held the barricades and drove the attackers all the way to the end of the block.
With the immediate threat gone, a search through the truck left in the parking lot revealed a number of contracts for Blackhall Studios, Blackhall Rental Company, Anthony Wayne James drivers license and numerous credit cards. The registration for the vehicle revealed that it was owned personally by Ryan Millsap himself. A great cheer of delight went up after this news was spread, and the mechanic crew stripped the car completely, damaging each and every component of the Ram 5500 that was purchased for $62,500 by Millsap in 2020. The crowd dispersed, having assured the safety of park attendees, and the sanctity of the land. A few hours later, some anonymous individuals burned the truck.
After being held through the morning to ensure no reentry for the police or Millsap and his goons, the barricade was dismantled and the park was open again to the public. By evening, hundreds of people arrived to the forest for the final night of an autonomously organized music festival, passing through the barriers and past the burned-out vehicle, which became something of a public installation and photographic back-drop.
https://scenes.noblogs.org/post/2022/07/31/tow-truck-set-on-fire-in-south-atlanta-forest-mini-excavator-scared-off/
Early Friday July.29th, a tow truck was sent to tow various community members & forest defenders vehicles from the Welaunee People’s Park… Several different autonomous groups took action to stop tow truck, one by slashing tires, smashing windows, graffiti, & generally fucking it up, & a mini excavator was also subsequently ushered out of parking lot near woods & cops kept at bay.
Later, another group came through & set that evil thing (tow truck) on fire.
The tow truck is no more, & we hope this serves as a warning to other tow trucks & various machines thinking about entering the forest to evict or destroy the woods, that you will inevitably suffer the same fate.
DEFEND THE FOREST! No cop city! No Black Hall sound stage everrrrrrr!
https://scenes.noblogs.org/post/2022/07/30/ryan-milsaps-tow-truck-destroyed-in-weelaunee-peoples-park/
Tow truck smashed in ICP lot. Contents redistributed for better use.