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Listen Now: We Came to the Forest

2025/1/28
logo of podcast Black History, For Real

Black History, For Real

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Matthew Shayer
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Vienna Forrest
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Matthew Shayer: 我制作了一个调查播客,揭露了亚特兰大森林中发生的致命冲突背后的真相。这场冲突导致一名活动家死亡,并对无数人的生活造成了永久性的改变。通过独家录音和从未公开的目击者证词,我揭示了隐藏的真相,包括相互矛盾的证词、丢失的证据以及对掩盖事件的指控,这些指控甚至牵涉到执法部门的最高层。这个故事探讨了正义、行动主义以及人们为了保护自己所信仰的事物而愿意付出的代价。 我深入研究了这场冲突的各个方面,从年轻环保主义者的理想主义梦想,到当地官员的复杂动机。这场冲突挑战了我们对正义、行动主义以及人们为了保护自己所信仰的事物而愿意付出的代价的理解。 最终,我的目标是揭示这场冲突中隐藏的真相,并为那些受到影响的人们提供一个声音。 Vienna Forrest: 我是一名活动家,在亚特兰大森林中发生的冲突中,我经历了一段改变我人生轨迹的事件。在冲突发生前,我和我的伴侣度过了美好的时光,我们一起吃了饭,看了电影。我们彼此相爱,互相支持。他戒了烟,状态很好,我们对未来充满希望。 然而,在短短36小时后,一切都改变了。执法部门对森林进行了突袭,导致了冲突和悲剧。这场冲突不仅夺走了我伴侣的生命,也夺走了我曾经拥有的一切。 这场经历让我对正义、行动主义以及人们为了保护自己所信仰的事物而愿意付出的代价有了更深刻的理解。我将继续为真相而战,为那些在冲突中失去生命的人们发声。

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In the depths of an Atlanta forest, a clash between activists and authorities ended in tragedy. But the official narrative doesn't add up. We Came to the Forest, a new investigative podcast from Wondery, Campsite Media, and

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 Shayer exposes the hidden truths behind a nighttime shootout that left one activist dead and countless lives forever changed. As we dig deeper, we uncover a web of conflicting testimonies, missing evidence, and allegations of a cover-up reaching the highest levels of law enforcement. For

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 protect what they believe in. What actually happened in the forest? We're about to play 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 backseat, 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 do 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.

Surprised, unnerved, the officers tense up, drop their hands to their side arms. 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.

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.

Binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.