[ Some of 61 defendants charged also face money laundering and
domestic terrorism charges for environmental protests]
[[link removed]]

COP CITY PROTESTERS CHARGED WITH RACKETEERING AS GEORGIA TAKES HARD
LINE  
[[link removed]]


 

Richard Luscombe
September 5, 2023
The Guardian
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Some of 61 defendants charged also face money laundering and
domestic terrorism charges for environmental protests _

Protestors hold signs and march during demonstrations related to the
death of Manuel Teran who was killed during a police raid inside
Weelaunee People's Park, the planned site of a controversial "Cop
City" project, in Atlanta, Jan. 21, 2023., Cheney Orr/Reuters

 

Dozens of activists who oppose a controversial police and fire
training facility in Georgia known as Cop City have been charged with
racketeering, appearing to confirm fears from civil rights groups
[[link removed]] that
prosecutors are stepping up an aggressive pursuit of environmental
protesters.

A total of 61 people – most not from Georgia – were indicted for
violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
Act last week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
[[link removed]].

Some of the defendants face additional charges of money laundering and
domestic terrorism, the newspaper reported.

In July, a coalition of groups including the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) wrote to the Department of Homeland Security
[[link removed]] decrying
tactics used in authorities’ surveillance of the environmental
protesters, and their use of the label “domestic violence
extremism” for opponents of the $90m facility under construction
[[link removed]] on
85 acres of the South River Forest near Atlanta.

The letter warned of the “dangers of … vague, overbroad, and
stigmatizing terms like ‘domestic violent extremist’ and
‘militant’ to describe individuals who may be engaged in protected
first amendment activity”.

The US constitution’s first amendment protects Americans’ rights
to free political speech and assembly.

The most recent indictment was filed by the Georgia
[[link removed]] attorney
general’s office in Fulton county last Tuesday, the AJC reported,
and follows months of often violent protests at the site and in
downtown Atlanta.

In June, Sherry Boston, district attorney for DeKalb county, in which
Cop City is located, announced she was withdrawing from criminal
cases tied to protests
[[link removed]],
citing differences with Georgia’s Republican attorney general, Chris
Carr, over how they were being handled.

At that stage, more than 40 people had been charged with domestic
terrorism following incidents in which fireworks and rocks were thrown
at police. Police vehicles and construction equipment were also
vandalized.

“It is clear to both myself and to the attorney general that we have
fundamentally different prosecution philosophies,” Boston said. The
move handed Carr’s office sole responsibility for charging and
prosecuting cases.

Protesters have complained of intimidation and heavy-handed action by
police
[[link removed]],
and the shooting death of an environmental activist, Manuel Paez
Terán
[[link removed]],
in a January raid by officers on a camp at the constriction site.
Investigators claimed Paez Terán, who was shot 57 times, fired first,
but an autopsy found no gunpowder residue
[[link removed]] on
the activist’s body.

Paez Terán’s death was believed to be the first of an environmental
campaigner by law enforcement in the US, reflecting what campaigners
say is an escalation in the criminalization and repression of those
who seek to protect natural resources.

No detailed explanation of the charges against the 61 activists has
yet been released, the AJC said. Ché Alexander, the Fulton county
clerk of court, told the newspaper the indictment would be released
later on Tuesday.

In July, three members of a support group that helped earlier Cop City
defendants with legal costs were arrested and charged with financial
crimes
[[link removed]],
including money laundering and “charity fraud”. Georgia’s
Republican governor, Brian Kemp, called the three “criminals who
facilitated and encouraged domestic terrorism”.

In a message posted to X
[[link removed]], formerly known
as Twitter, on Tuesday morning, the ACLU said it was alarmed by the
latest indictments. “This is unprecedented and extremely concerning,
and we’re tracking the situation closely,” it said.

The activist group Vote to Stop Cop City
[[link removed]] said the racketeering charges were
“a clear assault on the broader movement for racial justice and
equity”.

In a statement to the Guardian, the group said: “These charges, like
the previous repressive prosecutions by the state of Georgia, seek to
intimidate protesters, legal observers, and bail funds alike, and send
the chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished
with the full power and violence of the government.

“[District attorney] Carr’s actions are a part of a retaliatory
pattern of prosecutions against organizers nationwide that attack the
right to protest and freedom of speech. His threats will not silence
our commitment to standing up for our future, our community, and our
city.”

_Richard Luscombe is a reporter for Guardian US based in Miami,
Florida. Twitter @richlusc [[link removed]]_

* Cop City
[[link removed]]
* Environmental Protests
[[link removed]]
* RICO charges
[[link removed]]
* political persecution
[[link removed]]
* Georgia
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]