Emory, Georgia Tech students camp out on campus in opposition to so-called ‘Cop City’ | State

Activists at Georgia Tech camped out for over 24 hours before campus police removed them early Wednesday, they said. Those at Emory were removed by police in the early hours Tuesday.

Jonissy Kadima, an Emory freshman who helped to organize the event, spoke of the encounter.

“When I saw the glaring headlights of the battalion of police cars that surrounded our quad, I felt unsafe,” she said. “I felt scared. I felt ignored. And I thought that there had been a grave disservice committed against us and our fellow classmates. But despite the ugliness that unfolded last night, I’m truly inspired by our resolve and our potential. And what occurred last night is not simply an example of the violence, but also of all that we can achieve.”

Emory is a private university, so it was easier for campus police to ask students to leave than at Georgia Tech, a public university.

Santana Afton, a mathematics Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech, said that the activists were recreating a gathering space that used to be in the South River Forest, before officials closed it to visitors. At Georgia Tech, students under canopies were playing music and cooking.

Afton said it is important for Atlanta students to be activists.

“These university institutions are one of the many channels of lifeblood into these institutions of militarism, imprisonment and policing,” Afton said. “If we can really understand that these universities are really giving life to these institutions, then students have to be the population that they can…