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- [00:00]
Matthew Scher
Wondery subscribers can binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest ad free. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Just a Note this episode contains detailed descriptions of self harm and references suicide if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health. We have included resources at the end of the episode and in our show Notes.
- [00:34]
Campsite Media
Campsite Media.
- [00:39]
Matthew Scher
In the late months of 2022, a woman named Belquis begins trading encrypted messages with her child, who has in recent months moved to Georgia to protest the construction of a new police training facility.
- [00:56]
Belquis
He said that they want to build a huge compound or something in the forest and destroy the trees and destroy everything around, and people didn't want that.
- [01:12]
Matthew Scher
It's been a season of change for Balquis's child. They've adopted a forest name, Tortuguita. They've begun going by they them pronouns, which Balquis admittedly is still adjusting to. More worryingly, they found themselves on the front lines of a conflict that looks from the outside like it has the potential to get very bad.
- [01:33]
Belquis
I said, yeah, you can be hurt because of the history. I was looking how they treat the people here. A lot of blood here. To me it was, you are not American, so what are you going to do? Fighting or standing up for a country that is not your country?
- [01:56]
Matthew Scher
That's where you're wrong, torte explains in their messages. They may not be from Atlanta, but you don't have to be from Atlanta to oppose the militarization of the police, the clear cutting of a beautiful forest.
- [02:10]
Belquis
He wanted help because they needed he said to me, mommy, they needed me. He knew about working with wood, and in the camp he was doing what nobody likes to do, like cooking, for example, or washing the dishes.
- [02:29]
Matthew Scher
Balquis has other reasons to be concerned. Torit is a charming, kind kid, but.
- [02:36]
Belquis
Manuel, when he was angry, he was angry. He had no patience. So we were a lot on therapy for management of frustration. But he learned it, so what can I do?
- [02:52]
Matthew Scher
Then in December comes the news she's been dreading. There's been a major raid on the forest defender encampment. A handful of activists, including Torte's partner, Vienna, have been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism. Belquis fires off a message. Her thumb's a wild blur. And you, Manuel?
- [03:13]
Belquis
No, not me. I'm not. I'm safe. Basically, that's what he told me. I'm safe, I'm okay.
- [03:21]
Matthew Scher
Valquis believes them, partly because for her own psychological well being, she has to and partly because after the raid, the messages keep coming. Warm, relentless and full of life.
- [04:01]
Campsite Media
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- [05:24]
Matthew Scher
From Wondery, Campside Media and Tenderfoot TV, I'm Matthew Scher and this is We Came to the Forest. This is episode three A History of Blood as Tort and Belquis are sending encrypted messages to each other from opposite sides of the Americas. Belquis in Panama Torte hiding deep in the south river forest, Vienna is settling into a new life as an alleged domestic terrorist. In the abstract, she understands why the government wants to depict her that way. It's a time honored tradition that's been applied to generations of protesters and activists.
- [06:15]
Vienna
They're always going to try to villainize people who are going against them. That's the language that this country speaks.
- [06:22]
Matthew Scher
But knowing this doesn't necessarily make it easier for Vienna to deal with the consequences, the most immediate of which is incarceration in a very crowded jail. Two other forest offenders are incarcerated alongside her and in the day room, a common area illuminated by harsh overhead lights, they all trade stories of the raid. Later, once they're granted phone privileges, Vienna learns that her fellow activists, including Matthew and Tort, had escaped arrest Tort by temporarily taking shelter in a large tree set known as the Pirate Ship before slipping deeper into the forest. Torte can't risk talking directly to Vienna. They suspect they're being tracked by police, but they do manage to write a quick note which is read to Vienna over the phone by a mutual friend. In its full defiance and optimism, the letter lifts her spirits immediately.
- [07:20]
Vienna
Just talking about how they were still committed to the movement, that they loved me and that cop city would never be built and that came out at a time when all the news I was getting was what friends got arrested with me, what parts of the forest got torn down, as far as the warming shack that we built a cafe for community potlucks. The gazebo, the parking lot, the bike trail was dug up at that time. Then all my friends that were fleeing the state because they were worried about the charges and if they would come back on them. So I was very distraught in that moment. So to have that message from Tortaguitza that hit me right in the heart and that helps me to keep going.
- [08:05]
Matthew Scher
We now know that Torte was doing their best to stay positive for their partner. Privately, in their diary, their thoughts were considerably more turbulent. Of the raid, Torte writes that the FASC Kidnapped five to six comrades and a very good dog. Those bastards. The state which calls us terrorists is fascist. They call us terrorists for trying to defend the forest, for sitting in the trees to prevent them from being felled. Our beautiful camp was smashed by a bobcat. My friends were jailed, the garden razed, the cafe was obliterated. I know the struggle is not over. Fuck the naysayers. Fuck all those who believe that the state will triumph. Our resistance cannot be stopped. Mama didn't raise a coward. Fear will not stop me. Fear cannot be allowed to stop us. Initially, Vienna had held off on contacting her parents, reasoning she'd be out before they were the wiser for it.
- [09:11]
Vienna
I was, like, coming up on the holidays, they would have noticed if I was just not responsive. Eventually, it made it into national news and was played in my hometown as well.
- [09:24]
Matthew Scher
She summons her courage and gets on the phone with her mom and dad.
- [09:28]
Vienna
It was a little bit of a shock to them, but they knew I was down in Atlanta, near protest stuff. But I always told them that I was like, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just doing infrastructure work, really. So I told them I shouldn't get arrested. And then I got arrested. And they're like, now they're all worried.
- [09:49]
Matthew Scher
The conversation is short, stilted. Vienna hangs up, goes back to her cell.
- [09:56]
Vienna
Christmas Eve night, I think it was about nine, I get a call on the intercom saying, I need to get ready. I'm getting pulled out. They didn't explain to me what I was getting pulled out for. So I'm just waiting. And then a sheriff comes by to collect me.
- [10:12]
Matthew Scher
She's led down a long cement hall towards a part of the jail she has never visited.
- [10:17]
Vienna
They bring me to the clinic and they ask me questions about my transition.
- [10:23]
Matthew Scher
This is one of Vienna's biggest fears, one of the reasons she was so scared of being arrested, why she had tried to stay away from the front lines of the occupation. She's a trans woman imprisoned in the men's section of a jail that has minimal procedures in place for dealing with trans inmates. And the interview with the jail doctor hardly makes her feel any more at.
- [10:44]
Vienna
Ease, Asking if I had surgeries, if I'm taking hormones, all that stuff. They have me reveal myself to prove I did not have surgeries. And at that point, the sheriff comes back in, and the doctor tells the sheriff that room number 27 is open.
- [11:04]
Matthew Scher
Vienna is informed that for her own protection, she's being moved to an isolation unit.
- [11:09]
Vienna
Room number 27 is this corner cell of the. In heavy quotations hospital. Hospital. It's basically just isolation cells where they have doctors on the same floor as you. The cell is like a square with the windows are just two opaque slats, so I could see if it was light or dark out, but not much more than that. There's a little offshoot shower area where the panel was completely off. It did not work. Did not get a shower at all while I was in there. There was the sink, which only the hot button worked on. And then outside my cell, it was a little antechamber sort of area. It was like a little nurse's station with the sink and everything, and then another door. So because of that, I could not hear out and they could not hear me.
- [11:57]
Matthew Scher
The door shuts. Vienna is now completely alone, forced to start monitoring the passage of time through the two slot windows in the wall.
- [12:07]
Vienna
It is frigid cold in there, and I have a thin wool blanket and practically paper sheet. I was in the fetal position, trying to stay warm.
- [12:19]
Matthew Scher
These are the kind of conditions that can make a person go mad.
- [12:23]
Vienna
I'm crying because I realize what's happening, and I ask the guards and the nurses what's going on, and no one will give me a clear answer. Nobody seems to know why I'm in there. The doctor already went home and they told me that since tomorrow's Christmas that the doctor wouldn't be in.
- [12:42]
Matthew Scher
Christmas comes, goes the next day, she gets an update. She has a new hearing scheduled for tomorrow. She can fight through until then. She figures dawn comes. She dresses, sits back down on the cot.
- [12:58]
Vienna
I'm like, all right, my bond hearing is at 9:30am I just need to make it a little bit longer. Even if I get denied bond, at least I'm out of myself for a.
- [13:06]
Matthew Scher
Little bit through the slats. Vienna watches the sun slowly get brighter.
- [13:11]
Vienna
I am sitting there waiting, waiting, waiting. It's been light for a while now, and I start freaking out. I'm like, I missed my bond hearing. I'm freaking out. And I want to make sure I get at least my time out of the cell. I and screaming to try and get the attention of the guards. They don't hear me because of that antechamber. There's this metal flap that's on the solitary door. That's where they put the food in. I grabbed the flap and just slammed it up and down real loud. The guard finally comes over and I'm just fully weeping. And I ask him, what time is it? My volunteering was at 9:30. He just casually looks down at his watch. It's 11:30. I damn near broke right then and there. I'm like, I need the phone. I need to talk to my lawyer. I need to talk to somebody. Figure out what happened with my hearing today. And that's when guard's like, all right. And then tries to wheel up the phone, but it does not reach all the way to my cell door. So I explained that usually they let me sit out in the antechamber. They're like, I actually can't do that because I'm the only one on the floor, so I can't let you out of your cell.
- [14:29]
Matthew Scher
It feels like everything that's been building up to this point, all the weight, stress and pain, it all drops onto Vienna at once. She can hardly breathe.
- [14:41]
Vienna
I was looking at the shower where the panel was missing and hoping that the metal edge would be sharp enough. It was not. It was old. Without just slamming my head into a concrete wall, there was no easy way to harm myself. I ended up writing a letter, wrote a note to the doctor saying, you signed an oath to do no harm. You are causing psychological harm to me. Let me the fuck.
- [15:24]
Matthew Scher
The day after Vienna's arrest, a crowd of activists gathers at the edge of the South River Forest and huddles around a clutch of microphones.
- [15:33]
Marlon Kautz
The Atlanta Police Department is using chemical weapons against unarmed non violent political protesters. This is not normal. This is not normal in Atlanta. It should not be normal anywhere.
- [15:46]
Matthew Scher
Among them is Marlon Kautz, a founder of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, a nonprofit mutual aid group that advocates for and provides legal assistance to protesters. The chemical weapons he's referring to, by the way, are tear gas and pepper balls, non lethal projectiles filled with eye and lung stinging chili powder we've seen.
- [16:07]
Marlon Kautz
Over the past year or so during the course of the protest movement against cop city, that the police have been engaging in a deliberate campaign to demonize this particular protest movement.
- [16:19]
Matthew Scher
Marlon is directly responsible for helping arrange bail for the arrested forest offenders, Many of whom had scrawled the fund's phone number on their arms in permanent marker. The saul fund was the first place vienna had called from jail. Later, marlon and his colleagues had hooked her up with an attorney. At the press conference, Marlin does not mince words. Even if all the arrested forest defenders are released, he argues, the stain of what the state has done will endure.
- [16:50]
Marlon Kautz
Even the governor got in on it at one point, Calling the stop cop city protest movement terrorists. But I want to be clear. The people that the police are attacking with plastic bullets, with chemical weapons, as recently as yesterday, these people were not involved in threatening anybody. They were not involved in endangering anybody. They were sitting passively in trees trying to express a political position.
- [17:18]
Matthew Scher
Standing alongside marlon, not far from the microphones, is matthew, who is there partly to speak out on behalf of the arrested activists and partly to see the destruction for himself.
- [17:30]
Tortuguita
There were a couple groups of us that had come through to try to, like, salvage, Recover people's things and stuff, Kind of like throughout the trojan war, where people were able to collect their debt. In some ways, that was kind of what it felt like.
- [17:45]
Matthew Scher
He could hardly believe what he was seeing. What had just days earlier been a bustling space charged with the optimism of the people who lived there is now hollowed, hushed place, got utterly trashed.
- [17:57]
Tortuguita
There is so much love put into a space like that, and the police almost take joy in absolutely destroying these things. Yeah. After those december raids, the luck had ran out.
- [18:15]
Matthew Scher
From his position, a couple hundred yards from the ruins of the forest defender camp, Matthew finds himself dealing with a. A very complicated array of emotions. He's sad about what the police have done. He's scared for his jailed friends. And honestly, he's more than a little conflicted because before he got the news about the raid and the arrests, he had been this close to stepping away from the forest defender movement, Giving it up entirely, Finding other avenues of protest.
- [18:46]
Tortuguita
There have been a couple of, like, stupid things that had happened at this point, Like a couple of people that were driving by and had their windows smashed out. One person, I think, even shot back. Even, like, internally, we had had, like, a favorable reporter come who had gotten their, like, shit vandalized because people didn't approve of, you know, state media in the forest.
- [19:12]
Matthew Scher
Eventually, a family member of a forest defender had found themselves on the Receiving end of this hostility, this disorganization.
- [19:20]
Tortuguita
At a certain point, somebody's dad's car got destroyed because they had, like, a canine unit stick. Like a dad joke. They had a dad joke on their car. Like canine units. They had a dog in the car that travel with. It was a minivan. It was obviously not a police car. Then, like, the tires get slashed, they bust the shit out. It's like, this is starting to feel more like identity seeking, as anarchist than people, like, taking steps that are conducive to creating a real movement. And we cannot win this way.
- [19:54]
Matthew Scher
He knows this for certain. He'd seen it himself in the disintegration of the Rayshard Brooks Peace center in the parking lot of that former Wendy's. Now he was seeing it again, as was Tord.
- [20:06]
Tortuguita
I remember when there was, like, somebody that was just a hetero guy that was coming to, like, support and check it out. People were purposely trying to make him as uncomfortable as possible. And Torrent was like, well, what the fuck? Like, how are we ever supposed to make friends? In a lot of ways, people that are so used to being downtrodden are creating this discursive space for themselves in the forest or in the movement in such a way that they're placing themselves in a position of power that they've never been in. Right to define the rules of engagement.
- [20:46]
Matthew Scher
Which was a problem for one very big reason. The movement to stop Cop City was big, diverse. It encompassed organizations devoted to forcing a referendum on the training center, organizations focused on ecological preservation, organizations dedicated to giving a voice to the residents of the historically black neighborhoods that abutted the construction site. The Forest Defenders needed all those fellow activists to appreciate what they were doing, to defend them when the state and the media depicted them maliciously. And that wouldn't happen if people were getting pissed off. It wouldn't happen if all anyone saw in the forest was a bunch of punks looking for a fight. It certainly wouldn't happen if the very noble things some of the Forest Defenders were accomplishing. Food distribution for homeless people say. Was overshadowed by tactics that were counterproductive at best. Matthew had tried valiantly to get the Forest Defenders to invest more in outreach to area residents. Let's knock on some doors. Let's talk to people. Let's try to explain why we're here and why we want to help you, how we can help you. But it had come to naught.
- [21:59]
Tortuguita
I think that there is complete misunderstanding in cultures. And so I think that it became very hard for, like, young white people to communicate with older black people in a way that didn't just reflect their viewpoint. It was very hard for people to bridge those gaps.
- [22:19]
Matthew Scher
So, yeah, all of these concerns had kind of snowballed in December 2022 for Matthew. He'd been ready to walk away. He basically had walked away. The arrests, though, Vienna and the others, they changed all of that.
- [22:33]
Tortuguita
There is a part of me that looks at these people like kind of like siblings, like younger siblings that I'm looking out for. They've been putting their asses on the line all the time just because I'm frustrated with a lot of other facets of the movement and different people. We're talking about the purest of heart of the people in this movement. Right. I was about to walk away. Pull me back in.
- [23:01]
Matthew Scher
See, I know that reference.
- [23:02]
Vienna
Right.
- [23:03]
Matthew Scher
Fair. Particularly egregious to Matthew is the level of the charges levied against Vienna and others. This isn't misdemeanor stuff. These are felony charges that could see them in prison for the rest of their adult lives. What did it mean to you, the domestic terrorism charges? Aside from the obvious that there was an escalation?
- [23:25]
Tortuguita
I think the police had been looking at this like a ground war for quite some time. They had tried to shut down the park so many times. They had, you know, walled it off with concrete barriers, like, a couple of times by this point. And it was just like, enough of this. We're doing this however we can, you know, and they had just gotten sick of it because they didn't really know how to deal with it. You know what I mean?
- [23:54]
Matthew Scher
There's an opportunity here, Matthew thinks, an opportunity to gain community sympathy for a cause that has effectively been demonized by the state. The case, as he sees it, is simple. This is how far your government will go to eradicate dissent. Aren't you scared? You should be.
- [24:11]
Tortuguita
I mean, this is a real pivot for me at the domestic terrorism boom is when I start to do public speaking stuff, and that actually started to gain traction on local media. Joining me now, Matthew Johnson. We're actually seeing this. A black political class and a black upper class that has continually sold out the interests of the black working class for their own benefit. We have to move in this way where what we're really waging is a PR war because we're outmanned and outgunned, and that's forgotten.
- [24:43]
Matthew Scher
Matthew throws himself into a PR role, talking to whomever will listen, giving interviews on TV and radio, penning essays, including one he titles, a Letter of Concern to Black Clergy Regarding Cop City. In the essay, he urges his fellow pastors to stand up to speak out about the obvious injustice being carried out in the name of the training facility. He writes, People fighting for a better tomorrow with no sanctioned power to defend themselves are consistently faced with moral purity tests in the media, while people who have a state sanctioned monopoly on violence are never asked to commit to nonviolent strategies. The people who have no protection under the law are expected to act with unflinching pacifism, while militarized police forces, each receiving millions of dollars to learn to not use excessive force, are constantly given the benefit of the doubt when they do. End quote. Matthew is not blind to the danger he's putting himself into by publicly defending the tactics of the forest defenders. By merely the fact of being a young black man speaking out against the state, he is almost certainly drawing the attention of law enforcement.
- [26:00]
Tortuguita
My ministry thesis project when I was in divinity school was Narcissism and Envy and liberation organizations. And what I was looking at was J. Malcolm X and King and some of the organizational issues that they were having. But also one of the major components of the paper was like, the surveillance that they were under and like the impossibility for them to be able to fully discern what was reasonable suspicion and paranoia and how is that you live in that type of ambiguity.
- [26:38]
Matthew Scher
He becomes intensely observant in a way that alters his entire existence, his entire mindset, and what he sees worries him.
- [26:47]
Tortuguita
There were just like, just strange things that would happen, you know, police tail here, police tail there. Hear a cop car outside my house. Hear a cop car outside my, you know, just like little snuff. I've been moving around like a fucking drug dealer in order to do like a protest movement. I'm having to watch my back everywhere I go.
- [27:13]
Matthew Scher
Torte, for their part, seems less worried. The arrests, potential surveillance has made them somehow more determined than ever to take a stand, more determined to return to the forest, defying the orders of law enforcement.
- [27:27]
Tortuguita
Torrid, really. Just like, put pressure, like, no, we need to do more ourselves and really put that pressure on people, you know, Torte could get under your skin, right? During this time, Tord has like really changed. And I've become, over this time, really impressed with Tortuita as a person. So by this point, it wasn't surprising that they were one of the people going back into the forest, right? Like they're doing the damn thing at this point.
- [28:02]
Matthew Scher
But now the difference is that you know the risks, right? And they know the risks too, which are now heightened. Yeah, it doesn't matter, torte says to Matthew and other friends. They are going to see this through to the bitter end, no matter what that end might look like. The morning after her near suicide attempt, Vienna wakes in her cell and watches the light spill across the room when a jail staffer knocks, she prepares herself for more bad news. But the news, for once, is good. She's going back to general population. Then there's even better news. Marlon Klotz's Solidarity Fund has an update.
- [29:01]
Vienna
They tell me your bond hearing happened. You got bond. They just never pulled me out. They didn't pull any of my defendants out.
- [29:09]
Matthew Scher
Vienna has nowhere near the thousands of dollars required to pay bond on her own, but she doesn't need it. The Saul Fund will cover her. And so, before she knows it, after two weeks and two days in the DeKalb County Jail, Vienna finds herself standing outside, back in the fresh air, squinting up at the sun. What now? She thinks. She can hardly go back to the forest even if the camp is still intact. The terms of her release prohibited no.
- [29:41]
Vienna
Contact with my co defendants. Some people interpreted that as anyone who's involved with the movement. So getting picked up from the jail consisted of finding the people who are the least connected to the movement as possible.
- [29:55]
Matthew Scher
She reluctantly accepts the ride from the jail from a driver provided by the Saul Fund, and just as reluctantly asks this relative stranger behind the wheel to take her to the house of a friend who's rescued her dog, Ellie, from the pound. Next, she hitches a second ride to a different address, one used by supporters of the movement.
- [30:17]
Vienna
We went to this other house that had my phone, and I was in the house that I was expecting a lot of friends to be at, and there was no friends there, so that was sad.
- [30:27]
Matthew Scher
She's broke and completely without the documents that would allow her to work. During the raid, the police had seized the safe she kept in her van.
- [30:36]
Vienna
All my identifying documents. Birth certificate, Social Security number, driver's license, an expired passport. They took everything that had my legal name on it.
- [30:45]
Matthew Scher
Out of options, Vienna arranges to crash on an acquaintance's floor as she plots out her next steps. Luckily, there is one person who can help her lift her spirits, one person who is determined to visit her. No contact orders or not.
- [31:00]
Vienna
I remember doing errands and coming back and I'd come in the door and Tortuguita would be sitting there at the kitchen counter and be like, oh, hi. Just their usual joyous, happy voice.
- [31:11]
Matthew Scher
On New year's Eve of 2022, Torte shows up filthy from the forest and says, basically, we're getting out of town. You need a Vienna, you need a break. Let's go to Chattanooga, let's visit some friends, get you out of the city. And as they drive, Torte tells Vienna about the aftermath of the raid.
- [31:30]
Vienna
Everyone was really scared. Obviously that was the first time DT charges came down. So it's a bit nerve wracking and a bit of that ghostly feeling, like the calm after the storm and just seeing the destruction and everything, just kind of having to pick up the pieces and try to rebuild what was out there. Torchquita told me that during my rage they like cut up tents and everything like that. And they cut down all the tents leading up until I shot of Torchquita's tent. But they didn't go to Torchita's tent.
- [32:07]
Matthew Scher
But this close call was not enough to deter them.
- [32:10]
Vienna
Torte tells Vienna, everyone kind of left the forest for a few days afterwards and eventually Tortequito returned. Was like one of the first people that went back because they're stubborn as all hell.
- [32:23]
Matthew Scher
Vienna loves that Torte is still burning for the fight. She loves being around them again, full stop once they arrive in Chattanooga. She does her best to put her worries behind her, if only temporarily.
- [32:35]
Vienna
I tried to get into a bar with my jail tag because it's a state issued id, that's my date of birth and a photo of myself. They wouldn't take it. But we still had a good time and I was able to share a bed with Tortuguita and everything again. So that was a beautiful moment.
- [32:58]
Matthew Scher
Vienna and Torte spend as much time as they can together. Together in the new Year, back in Atlanta, they have their takeout feast. They see Megan the horror movie at the Starlight Drive in.
- [33:09]
Vienna
They seem like they didn'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.
- [33:27]
Matthew Scher
Once the credits start to roll, Torte kisses Vienna goodbye and heads back to the forest, back to the tent that has been their home for more than eight months. In terms of like a longer term plan, would Torte have just stayed there forever?
- [33:43]
Vienna
I could see them doing that. I know that they cared a lot about that forest. I think they were hoping to always have some sort of connection to it. They always kind of assumed that they would die there.
- [33:58]
Matthew Scher
The night of January 16, the night of the movie, Tor doesn't go straight to sleep as usual. There's more to attend to, more work to be done in this case. Helping one of Vienna's co defendants in the domestic terrorism case find a place to crash.
- [34:15]
Tortuguita
I get a call at about 11 or 11:30. Hello. Hey, how you doing, Nino?
- [34:22]
Matthew Scher
Matthew doesn't say that he's exhausted. He's been working all day at a homeless shelter. Tort doesn't let him. They just start talking a mile a minute. In true tort fashion, there's this activist. He needs a place to stay. Can Matthew help? Well, Matthew asks, do I know this person? Do you know this person?
- [34:41]
Tortuguita
Tort Keto is like, I don't know. I may have met him but before. And I'm just like, look, I'm not terribly keen on having people over right now that I don't know, you know, given that I've become much more visible and things like that. They were like, yeah, but, you know, they really just need some place to stay. And I was just like, well, when is that? They were like, you know, kind of like right now. And I'm like, no, I'm. I'm going back to sleep. I got to be up for work.
- [35:09]
Matthew Scher
Less than 36 hours later, Matthew's phone starts to buzz.
- [35:14]
Tortuguita
And then I see that someone has been shot and killed. And they shot a Georgia state patrol person first. And I sunk because I knew it was somebody I knew.
- [35:38]
Matthew Scher
That's next time on episode four, We Came to the Forest. A quick note. If you are in a crisis, there is help. You can call, text or chat with the suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988- or-you can contact the crisis text line by texting. Talk to 741-741 if you like. We Came to the Forest. You can binge all episodes ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondery.com survey. If you have a tip about a story you think we should investigate, please write to us@wondery.com tips. We came to the Forest is a production of Wondery, Campside Media and Tenderfoot tv. The series is hosted by me, Matthew Scher and is written and reported by me and Tommy Andres for Campside Media. Our producers are Abacara Don and Henry Lavoy. Additional production assistance from Timothy Pratt, John Aaliyah Papes, Johnny Kaufman and Jamie Albright. Sound design and mix by Garrett Tiedemann. Our theme is by Mondo Boys. Original music by makeup and vanity set and Garrett Tiedemann. Our studio engineers are Jimmy Guthrie at Arcade 160 and Seth Cohen at Seth Coe. Sound fact checking by Aaliyah Papes Tommy Andres is the Executive producer. Producer Special thanks to David Peisner for Wondery. Our Senior producer is Lata Pandya. Coordinating Producer is Sierra Franco. Development Producer is Olivia Weber. Consulting by Cassius Adair of Sylveon Consulting. Special thanks to the Majority Report for the use of part of their interview with Matthew Johnson. Executive producers are Vanessa Gregoriadis, Josh Dean, Adam Hoff and me, Matthew Scher for Campside Media. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsey for Tenderfoot tv. Executive producers are N'idri Eaton, George Lavender Marshall, Louie and Jen Sargent. For Wondery, Daphne Galicia was a household name for her fearless reporting on government corruption in the Panama Papers. Nothing got in the way of her search for the truth until she was suddenly murdered by a car bomb explosion right outside of her home. Disturbed by police inaction, her son Matthew turns to the international journalism community to find answers and what they find is a shocking trail of government corruption, covered up crimes and deception that rises all the way to the top. From Wondery. Who Killed Daphne? Is a six part podcast series hosted by investigative reporter Stephen Gray about the mysterious assassination of a blogger and investigative journalist who exposed some of the most scandalous secrets of the rich and powerful. You can binge all episodes of who Killed Daphne exclusively and ad free on Wondery. Start your free trial in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or on Spotify.