On 18 January 2023, police killed an environmental activist and land defender named Tortuguita. Tortuguita had been occupying the Weelaunee forest in DeKalb County, Georgia when Georgia State Patrol officers murdered them in the midst of a multi-agency raid on the forest's protest encampment. In the days and weeks that followed, police and news reports claimed without evidence that Tortuguita shot the police first, that their murder was justified.

Independent autopsies revealed that Tortuguita had been struck by 57 gunshots, including through their palms, which were free of gunpowder residue and positioned upwards in surrender when they were shot dead while sitting cross-legged (11Alive 2023; Anonymous 2023a; Medical Examiner's Office 2023; Sperry 2023).

Contrary to the state's "terrorism" narrative, the Weelaunee forest occupation comprised a collective effort to halt the terror of the state, making this forest a place where a life beyond the state and its violence had germinated. The occupation prevented deforestation by providing an antidote to what is slated to be built in lieu of the trees: a militarised police training facility.

Carceral State Necropower and Abolitionist Life-Worlds

Michel Foucault's 1978-79 lectures on "The Birth of Biopolitics" elaborate on a form of modern state power called "biopower"—the power of the modern liberal democratic state to govern and administer the biological life of populations. Yet Achille Mbembe (2003) has added to this argument by positing that the inherent deadly violence of the state contributes significantly to the governance of life.

Three Abolitionist Approaches

1. Insurrectionary abolition: Direct confrontation with state structures
2. Autonomous abolition: Building alternative community infrastructures
3. Procedural abolition: Legal challenges and policy reforms

Fighting Death with Life in the Forest

Trees Give Life

Various social and ecological infrastructures sustained the encampment:

• Makeshift kitchen with water tanks for dishwashing
• Free store offering medicine and toiletries
• Local food recovery networks
• "Sacred fire" for warmth and light

In March 2023, forest gardeners:

"plant[ed] hundreds of fig, pawpaw, and persimmon saplings, distribute[d] fruit trees to neighbors, learn[ed] the arts of grafting and herbal medicine" (Lary and Tycko 2023:n.p.).

May 2022 Week of Action: "A Cop-Free Zone"

Key events:

• 9 May: Construction crews began felling trees
• Forest defenders repelled bulldozers with stones
• Stop Work order issued after community pressure
• Encampment maintained through mutual aid

"We're all comrades": Life-Worlds against the Death-Worlds of Georgia's Jails

Uncivil Obedience as Abolitionist Praxis

During the November 2023 arraignment:

• Defendants clapped and cheered during mugshots
• Group games maintained morale
• Collective spooning for warmth in freezing cells

Care and Solidarity as Survival

Examples from DeKalb County jail:

• Inmates taught seminars on:
  • Spanish
  • Cryptocurrency
  • First aid
• "Jail moms" provided guidance and resources

Conclusion

The Stop Cop City movement demonstrates:

1. The interdependence of destructive and creative tactics
2. How abolitionist life-worlds can flourish even in carceral spaces
3. The importance of tactical diversity in radical movements

"Trees continue to give us life—even as police continue to try and take it."

Acknowledgements

This article is dedicated to Tortuguita, the Atlanta 61, and life-defenders everywhere.

References

11Alive (2023) Atlanta police bodycam video from shooting at "Cop City" site. 9 February https://youtu.be/rT-Lqv5n-aK

Mbembe A (2003) Necropolitics. Public Culture 15(1):11-40

Lary M and Tycko S (2023) "Atlanta Forest Garden: Four Days of Work." Means TV

© 2025 The Author(s). Antipode published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Antipode Foundation Ltd.