On Tuesday, Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr announced the indictment of 61 alleged “militant anarchists” under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. That indictment was handed down last week by the same Fulton County Grand Jury that indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 other co-defendants on RICO charges.
The charges stem from alleged radical actions taken by anti-police actors connected with the “Stop Cop City” movement that occurred between 2020 and 2022, according to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. As The Daily Wire previously reported, far-Left environmental protesters coalesced in response to the 2021 announcement of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center — a first responder and police training facility that received millions in taxpayer funding and is being built on nearly 400 acres of the Weelaunee Forest. Since then, individuals connected to the “Stop Cop City” movement have been accused of participating in riots, vandalizing cop cars, and committing unruly actions as part of their opposition to the training facility.
According to Carr, these individuals have been conspiring to commit violence in the pursuit of anarchy since the summer of 2020, following the death of George Floyd. Yet, he said these alleged “anti-government anarchists in Atlanta recognized an opportunity to rally against law enforcement” and changed course following the 2021 announcement of the police training facility. Most of those charged in the indictment are from out of state.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) announces that a grand jury has returned indictments for 61 people on racketeering charges following a state investigation into protests against a controversial police and training facility near Atlanta that critics call “Cop City.” pic.twitter.com/q4EBoR5cxO
— The Recount (@therecount) September 5, 2023
In March 2023, 35 individuals were arrested for attacking construction equipment set to be used to build the facility.
More footage of the group of violent agitators used the cover of a peaceful protest of the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. pic.twitter.com/ewtDRf130G
— Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) March 6, 2023
Yesterday in Atlanta, during the stop cop city riot.
Anarchists throw rocks at a burning tractor.pic.twitter.com/UUUwQvQu4Z— Viral News NYC (@ViralNewsNYC) March 7, 2023
A similar chaotic event broke out in December 2022. Officials at the time pleaded with opponents of the plan to use legal recourse.
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“The discourse of opposition is in city halls, it is in the public square, it is on the sidewalks. That is where you note your displeasure or your disagreement,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at the time. “It is not in Molotov cocktails. It is not in shooting fireworks at firefighters. … It is not throwing rocks at our squad cars. That is criminal activity. The reason that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI are investigating this is because this isn’t a protest. This is terrorism.”
In January 2022, black-clad protesters also torched vehicles and vandalized buildings after an anti-police activist was killed by authorities.
In response to last week’s indictment, the Cop City Vote Coalition released a statement accusing Carr of assaulting “the broader movement for racial justice and equity.”
“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,” the group said.
“The Cop City Vote coalition strongly condemns these anti-democratic charges,” the Cop City Vote Coalition added. “We will not be intimidated by power-hungry strongmen, whether in City Hall or the Attorney General’s office. Chris Carr may try to use his prosecutors and power to build his gubernatorial campaign and silence free speech, but his threats will not silence our commitment to standing up for our future, our community, and our city.”
After Carr’s announcement, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that “the same Fulton County grand jury that handed up indictments against Trump and his codefendants also handed up these indictments involving the efforts by activists to block the Atlanta public safety center.”
The @ajc has confirmed that the same Fulton County grand jury that handed up indictments against Trump and his codefendants also handed up these indictments involving the efforts by activists to block the Atlanta public safety center: https://t.co/dWvr6WQR4g
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) September 5, 2023