Stop Cop City activists hit with RICO indictments that claim "solidarity" and "mutual aid" are anarchism

Atlanta, Georgia - More than 60 activists tied to the Stop Cop City movement have been indicted in Georgia on charges of racketeering.

The Georgia attorney general's office has announced RICO charges targeting 61 protesters involved in the Stop Cop City movement.
The Georgia attorney general's office has announced RICO charges targeting 61 protesters involved in the Stop Cop City movement.  © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Georgia's Republican Attorney General Chris Carr issued an indictment on Tuesday naming 61 activists who oppose efforts to build a massive, militarized law enforcement training complex in Atlanta's South River Forest, a project often referred to as Cop City.

The activists are accused of violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which expands on a federal law that enables prosecutors to go after organized crime activities.

The indictment claims the protesters of engaged in a "criminal enterprise" that allegedly began on May 25, 2020 – the date of George Floyd's murder by ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and before anyone knew about Cop City plans.

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The activists are also accused of launching a "propaganda campaign" against police violence to stop construction of the training complex.

These supposedly illegal activities are fueled by an anarchist ideology that centers concepts like "social solidarity," "collectivism," and "mutual aid," the indictment states.

Stop Cop City movement going strong despite indictments

Stop Cop City protesters gather in Atlanta's Gresham Park and march near the location of a proposed new law enforcement training complex.
Stop Cop City protesters gather in Atlanta's Gresham Park and march near the location of a proposed new law enforcement training complex.  © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, aka Cop City, is an 85-acre facility expected to cost $90 million.

The plan has faced stiff backlash since it was first proposed in 2021, just one year after the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter protests spurred by Floyd's murder.

Several dozen activists have already faced charges of "domestic terrorism" and been accused of throwing Molotov cocktails and setting fires at the planned site for Cop City.

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Demonstrations picked up even more steam after police killed 26-year-old environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known by friends and comrades as Tortuguita, last January. Cops claimed Tortuguita was wielding a gun and had fired at an officer, though body camera footage of the purported attack was nowhere to be seen. An autopsy revealed Tortuguita had no traces of gunpowder on their hands, which were raised when they were shot 14 times.

In a defiant statement, Vote to Stop Cop City, a group pushing for a ballot referendum on the construction project, described the latest charges against activists as "authoritarian" and intended to "intimidate protesters, legal observers, and bail funds alike."

"The Cop City Vote coalition strongly condemns these anti-democratic charges," the statement continued. "We will not be intimidated by power-hungry strongmen, whether in City Hall or the Attorney General's office."

Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

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