By Ryan Fatica<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atlanta, GA \u2013 On Tuesday, May 17, law enforcement from several jurisdictions, including SWAT teams armed with rifles, conducted a raid on the burgeoning autonomous zone within the Atlanta Forest, arresting eight people and destroying six treehouses<\/a> and other protest infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the raid, officers from Atlanta Police Department\u2019s Zone 3 Field Investigations Team discussed using \u201cdeadly force\u201d<\/strong> against protestors if they used Molotov cocktails to defend themselves from a raid, according to scanner audio from 6:41 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI told you, deadly force encounter,\u201d<\/strong> said one officer. \u201cThat\u2019s why I bought it up, as long as we\u2019re all on the same page, Molotov cocktail\u2019s a deadly force encounter.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A \u201cdeadly force encounter\u201d<\/strong> is a situation in which officers are legally allowed to shoot to kill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey started staging at around 9 a.m. and started coming in at around 10 a.m. and we started mobilizing and calling for support,\u201d<\/strong> said one protester who was in the forest during the raid and asked not to be named due to potential retaliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n