At least 61 protesters have been indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges for their actions against the construction of a police and firefighter training facility in Atlanta, derisively called “Cop City” by critics.
The 109-page indictment (pdf) announced by Republican Attorney General Chris Carr on Sept. 5, was handed up by a grand jury on Aug. 29. It charges all 61 defendants—most of whom are not from Georgia—with having violated Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The law, enacted in 1970, is intended as an enhanced tool to curb organized crime activity.
According to the indictment, 61 members of group called Defend the Atlanta Forest (DAF) had jointly plotted to halt the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center via coordinated acts of violence, intimidation, and vandalism in Fulton County, elsewhere in the state of Georgia, and other states.
The $90 million Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is being built in a forested 85-acre area of DeKalb County in the outskirts of Atlanta called the South River Forest site. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor at the time, announced the construction plans in 2021.
The DAF group and other critics backing the “Stop Cop City” effort have expressed environmental concerns over the training site, and claimed it could lead to greater militarization of police.
On its website, the group said its mission is to protect the South River Forest site, which it describes as “the lungs of Atlanta.”
“The movement to prevent the development of Cop City is a fight against hundreds of years of racialized violence and ecological destruction,” the website says.
In total, the 61 defendants are alleged to have engaged in 225 incidents to prevent the training site from being built. The alleged crimes include criminal trespass, vandalism, throwing objects including Molotov cocktails at police, and posting threats on the internet.
Many of those indicted had prior charges, with the current RICO charges adding the potential for more severe sentences that can be added on top.
Among the 61, there are more than three dozen people already facing domestic terrorism charges. There are three leaders of a bail fund accused of money laundering, as well as three activists charged with felony intimidation after they distributed flyers about a state trooper calling him a “murderer” for having been involved in the fatal shooting of a protester.
Others among the group have also been charged with attempted arson in the first degree, Mr. Carr told a press conference.
By Ryan Morgan
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