Whereas on June 12, 2023 the Libertarian Party of Georgia adopted A Resolution to Oppose Cop City condemning the weaponization of the law against peaceful opposition, opposing police militarization, endorsing voting “Yes” on the proposed referendum to repeal Atlanta City Council Ordinance 21-O-0367, and opposing Cop City, also known as the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center; and,
Whereas the platform of the Libertarian Party of Georgia states that we recognize peaceful protest and civil disobedience as being among the proper and moral means to check, alter, or abolish government as well as affirm the individual right to keep and bear arms; and,
Whereas both the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Georgia recognize the right of the people to peacefully assemble as well as the right of the people to keep and bear arms; and,
Whereas a person’s right to peacefully assemble is not invalidated if they decide to exercise their right to keep and bear arms at the same time; and,
Whereas on August 29, 2023 sixty-one people were indicted on racketeering charges related to the Stop Cop City movement by the State of Georgia, with many of the alleged crimes being peaceful behavior such as protesting while armed, operating a bail fund, and being reimbursed for providing food to protesters; and,
Whereas on September 11, 2023 petitions including over 116 thousand signatures supporting the proposed referendum were submitted to the City of Atlanta, which is well above the approximately 58 thousand signatures needed for the referendum to be held; and,
Whereas on September 29, 2023 the City of Atlanta publicly released personally identifiable information of the people who signed the petitions including names, signatures, addresses, and phone numbers; and,
Whereas the City of Atlanta still has not begun signature verification as of December 11, 2023 which is a full three months after having received the petitions and has instead spent over $1.3 million on legal representation related to fighting against the referendum process and an environmental case brought against Cop City; and,
Whereas on November 13, 2023 heavily armed police used tear gas against protesters attempting to march to the Cop City site; and,
Whereas on November 15, 2023 several cement trucks were found burning with the group claiming responsibility for setting them on fire stating that they did so because they believed the trucks were owned by a contractor with ties to Cop City; and,
Whereas all members of the Libertarian Party of Georgia have certified that we oppose the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals; and,
Whereas initiating violence against persons or property to try to stop Cop City is not only unjust but also counterproductive as it feeds into the government narrative being used to support Cop City; and,
Whereas the Georgia General Assembly adopted Senate Resolution 6EX, passing the Senate on December 1, 2023 and the House of Representatives on December 6, 2023, expressing support for Cop City and condemning acts of violence and domestic terrorism after a motion in the Senate to amend the resolution to include language making it clear that it didn’t limit or discourage the valid exercise of rights was defeated; and,
Whereas Senate Resolution 6EX implies that all who oppose Cop City are violent extremists, neglects to acknowledge the fallibility of law enforcement, fails to recognize the constitutionally enshrined right of peaceful protest, and fuels a broad disinformation campaign that falsely equates all Cop City opposition with an out-of-state domestic terrorist movement; and,
Whereas the Libertarian Party is the party of principle which consistently supports the rights of the people, with there being no contradiction whatsoever in opposing Cop City and opposing acts of violence to stop Cop City at the same time;
Therefore, be it resolved, that the Libertarian Party of Georgia:
- calls upon the State of Georgia to drop the charges against those who were peacefully exercising their rights to oppose Cop City; and,
- calls upon the City of Atlanta to stop obstructing the referendum process and begin signature verification immediately; and,
- condemns the acts of violence and actual domestic terrorism being used to try to stop Cop City; and,
- condemns the adoption of Senate Resolution 6EX by the Georgia General Assembly; and,
- rejects false narratives that equate opposition to Cop City with support of violence or condemnation of violence with support of Cop City; and,
- condemns the continued weaponization of the law and other methods utilized by the City of Atlanta and the State of Georgia clearly intended to silence peaceful opposition to Cop City.
