Take Action: Stop Cadence Bank From Giving a $20 Million Loan to Cop City!
Rising Tide North America sent out the following appeal on July 28, 2023:
By the end of the month, Cadence Bank has to decide on whether or not to issue a $20 million loan for the construction of the murderous Cop City project. Cadence Bank has previously financed Cop City, but rumor has it that they are hesitating on a new deal because they are not sure if the project is still viable. They know that when Cop City is stopped, the Atlanta Police Foundation will likely go bankrupt and default on all of their loans.
Yesterday [July 27, 2023], in a major victory for the movement, a federal judge gave organizers in Atlanta 60 more days to get the signatures needed to get a Stop Cop City referendum on the ballot. Organizers have already collected over 30,000 signatures, that’s more people then the number of votes that Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens received last election With this extension, the referendum will almost certainly be up for a vote in November – creating another avenue for stopping this project, and creating more uncertainty for Cadence Bank.
It’s time to go all out to demand that Cadence Bank cancel the loan deal – and let them know that Cop City Will Never Be Built.
Contact Cadence Bank executives now:
- CEO James “Dan” Rollins: 662-680-2008
- President Chris Bagley: 662-680-2009, chris.bagley@cadencebank.com
- Chief Communications Officer Danielle Kernell: 713-871-4051, 713-392-7709 danielle.kernell@cadencebank.
com - Executive Vice President Will Fisackerly: 662-680-2475, IR@cadencebank.com
Other ways to take action:
- Organize an emergency protest at a Cadence Bank location in your city or town
- Share these graphics on social media to help spread the word
- Pledge to close your accounts at Cadence Bank and other Cop City financiers.
Thank you for taking action and being a part of the growing movement that will #StopCopCity.
Solidarity, Rising Tide North America
Additional Resources:
- In These Times: Cop City and the Escalating War on Environmental Defenders (Basav Sen and Gebrielle Colchete, July 13, 2023, In These Times article)
- Police Shot Atlanta Cop City Protester 57 Times, Autopsy Finds (Natasha Lennard, April 20 2023, The Intercept)
- Activists face felonies for distributing flyers on “Cop City” protester killing (Natasha Lennard & Akela Lacy, May 2 2023, The Intercept)
- Press Release: Sign on Letter Demands Justice for Forest Defender Killed by Police near Atlanta (May 2 2023, GJEP)
- Sign on letter to demand justice for Manuel Paez Teran, known as Tortuguita, who was killed by police in a hail of gunfire during a protest in a forest near Atlanta on 17 January 2023 (GJEP)
- BEATEN, BOMBED AND BURIED The decades-long persecution of Forest Defenders (Don Kimball, March 17 2023, Special exclusive report for GJEP)
- Muzzling Dissent: How Corporate Influence over Politics Has Fueled Anti-Protest Laws (2020, Institute for Policy Studies)
NOTE: Anyone interested in supporting Tortuguita’s family in their fight for justice can contribute to their gofundme page.