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Supporters of Jack Mazurek gathered on Monday morning at the Fulton County Courthouse—where a hearing was scheduled to take place in Mazurek’s criminal case—to demand that prosecutors drop their political prosecution against Mazurek and all individuals facing charges for their opposition to Cop City.

Mazurek was arrested in February 2024 during an early morning raid conducted by Atlanta Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the FBI. He was then detained without bail in the notoriously deadly Fulton County jail for a month, before spending another month in Cobb County jail. Since then, he has been released pending trial on highly-restrictive 24-hour house arrest.

“People are gathering to support Jack because no one should face these charges alone“ said Charlie, a member of Jack’s support team. “The police have been surveilling and intimidating Stop Cop City activists for years, but no one can scare us away from showing up for each other.”

The prosecution of Mazurek on arson charges, without any meaningful evidence, is part of the state’s broader attempt to repress the movement against the militarized police compound known as Cop City, which has faced broad opposition from Atlanta residents for years.

Over the past two decades, the housing market has emerged as a powerful means by which capitalism can exploit the working class. At our workplaces, capitalists profit from their ability to control our labor; and then we go home, where we are exploited by the landlords who profit from their control over housing. And if the answer to our oppression in the workplace is labor unions, the answer to our oppression in our homes is tenant unions.

From early 2022 to early 2024, I was involved with a tenant union campaign at a large apartment complex in north-west San Antonio, via the now-dormant Tenant Union San Antonio (TUSA). While the campaign failed in its overall goal – to organize the tenants of the complex into a self-sustaining, democratic, and militant union – the efforts nonetheless secured some improvements for tenants, and provided organizers with an important and fulfilling learning experience.

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