Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
In the depths of an Atlanta forest, a clash between activists and authorities ended in tragedy, but the official narrative doesn't end up. We Came to the Forest is a new investigative podcast from Wondery, Campsite Media, and Tenderfoot TV. It peels back the layers of secrecy surrounding a deadly confrontation that shook a community to its core. Through exclusive recordings and never-before-released eyewitness accounts, host Matthew Scher exposes the hidden truths behind a nighttime shootout
that left one activist dead and countless lives forever changed by a web of conflicting testimonies, missing evidence, and allegations of a cover-up reaching the highest levels of law enforcement.
From the idealistic dreams of young environmentalists to the complex motivations of local officials, this story challenges our understanding of justice, activism, and the lengths people will go to to protect what they believe in. What actually happened in the forest? You're about to hear a clip from We Came to the Forest. Follow We Came to the Forest on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Campsite Media.
On a chilly evening in January, an activist named Vienna Forrest goes on a date with her partner in Atlanta. It's been a long, rough month for Vienna, the longest in some ways she can remember, and she's spent much of it lying low, crashing on the floor at a friend's house.
Her partner, who goes by Tortuguita, that's a little turtle in Spanish, has decided that it's time for her to get out of the house. And we went to get Vietnamese and Mexican food, just got a whole buffet. It was...
And Tortiquitos, like, at their peak, they were just so happy. They quit cigarettes. They were just really doing good. A couple hours later, Vienna and Tort pack into a sedan, along with two other friends, and drive across town to a movie theater called The Starlight. The Starlight's pretty famous in Atlanta. It's one of the last real drive-ins in the country. Still has that old-school neon sign out front. Me and Tort save on tickets hid under a blanket.
The person manning the gate caught us. They're like, next time, tell your friends to hide their legs better because Torch's legs were sticking out from under the blanket, but they let us go through. The couple stays there together, curled up in the back seat, hands laced together in the dark, even as the movie gets underway. They were always just like someone I felt comfortable with.
They were, "I'm feeling bad. I can lay my head on their chest," and they'd comfort me.
The film that night at the Starlight is Megan, the one about the overprotective, malignant doll. The modern-day Chucky, if you will. It took a while for me to remember what the movie was because I wasn't paying attention to the movie so much. But, yeah. As the movie winds down, Vienna turns to her partner, watching them. They seem like they don't have a care in the world, or at least they...
didn't show it. They had this sort of resolve about things, and they just, it seemed like they were just ready for whatever was to come. About 36 hours after the date at the drive-in, in an event that will permanently, violently alter the trajectory of Vienna's life, a joint task force of law enforcement officers sweeps through a forest a few miles to the southeast. Let's go.
This task force, made up of dozens of officers from several different agencies, has been assigned to clear the woods of activists who are camping there in an attempt to stop the construction of the largest police training facility in the country. These officers are nervous. They've been warned in a briefing about the possibility of booby traps and even improvised explosive devices. But they're doing their best not to let it show.
As they press forward, packing up vacant tents with knives, they joke about what they'll say if they happen to find one occupied. Sir, quick question. Can you get the fuck out? Please? There's some more laughter, and then everything just kind of shatters open. Oh, shit.
"Is this target practice?" Surprised, unnerved, the officers tense up, drop their hands to their side arms. "Real soft fire, big time." The mood now is adrenalized, sharp edged. The squadron of cops begin to move towards the sound of the gunfire. A very faint transmission comes over the radio from just across the forest.
Man down. That sounded like suppressed gunfire. From Wondery, Campside Media, and Tenderfoot TV, I'm Matthew Scher, and this is We Came to the Forest. This is episode one, Paradise Found.
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