The movement to Stop Cop City is what democracy looks like in motion. The version of democracy embodied by the Stop Cop City movement calls into existence a robust, deep, and profound system that centers on agency, participation, and self-determination. If it’s going to work, democracy must be responsive to the people’s needs, rather than elite interests. But, instead of creating channels to hear and implement the people’s concerns, the government and the police narrowed avenues for democracy and punished anyone who dared to test the boundaries.