Protestors Target Nationwide Insurance Over Their Connections to Atlanta’s “Cop City” Project

Report on protest in Columbus, Ohio in solidarity with the ongoing struggle against Cop City in Atlanta, Georgia.

On the morning of June 29th a group of activists stormed the lobby of Nationwide headquarters, urging the company to stop insuring the controversial “Cop City” project proposed for Atlanta, Georgia. The group chanted, distributed flyers, and asked to meet with executives of the company before being escorted out by security.

Ohio residents swarm Nationwide Insurance corporate headquarters in Columbus to demand they #cutthecontract and #STOPCOPCITY #justicefortortuguita #nationwidefundshomicide pic.twitter.com/PChbvvzRvZ

— Earth First! Journal (@efjournal) June 30, 2023

Cop City is a $100 million police training facility proposed by the Atlanta Police Foundation. The project would involve clearing hundreds of acres of the Weelaunee Forest – the largest urban forest in the country known and locally as the “lungs of Atlanta.” A wide ranging coalition of activists have been resisting the project for three years, with some camping out in the forest in hopes of delaying construction.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Columbus, Ohio land defenders occupy corporate headquarters of Nationwide Insurance to demand they #cutthecontract and #STOPCOPCITY pic.twitter.com/RHrdipTwQP

— Earth First! Journal (@efjournal) June 29, 2023

On January 18th, one of these activists, Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran, was shot and killed by police while in their tent. An independent autopsy, performed by a retired Georgia State Police medical examiner, found that Tortuguita was shot while sitting cross-legged with their hands up.