FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 23, 2023
Dekalb County District Attorney to Withdraw from all Domestic Terrorism Cases
State Attorney General to Push Forward Unprecedented Political Prosecutions Despite Insufficient Evidence
DECATUR, GA — Today, Dekalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced on WABE-TV that she will be withdrawing her office from all political prosecutions of those charged with Domestic Terrorism in Dekalb County. Citing differences in “prosecutorial philosophies,” her decision means all charges of Domestic Terrorism within Dekalb County shall be solely prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General of Georgia. Legal support teams for those arrested have argued from the start that there is little to no evidence presented against those charged that directly identifies their involvement in alleged criminal activity. They also believe that the Office of the Attorney General has chosen a strategy of collective punishment in these prosecutions as an effort to thwart future protests. This was made evident by prosecutor John Fowler who has repeatedly used descriptions of various acts that have occurred over the last few years – without connecting allegations to any particular individuals – as rationale for the denial of bond against more than 45 people over the last seven months.
For seven months, activists have called for Sherry Boston to drop all Domestic Terrorism charges against protesters, these have included call-in campaigns and protests at her office. Because of these pressure tactics, activists in the movement perceive Boston’s recusal as an act to shield herself from public accountability, as she is elected by citizens of Dekalb County, a large portion of whom are opposed to the construction of Cop City and the destruction of the Weelaunee Forest.
According to her interview today, Boston’s decision stems primarily from conflict between Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and herself on the appropriateness of Domestic Terrorism charges on a wide range of individuals currently being prosecuted:
“We had some differences — when I say we, I mean myself and the attorney general’s office — about who should be charged and what they should be charged with,” Boston said. Boston also implied that the evidence presented against most charged likely does not pass the threshold of reasonable doubt to merit such convictions.
“Clearly the local political will to prosecute [Domestic Terrorism] cases is waning. Now defense attorneys can point to the fact that the Dekalb DA said publicly she was not confident about proving these cases beyond a reasonable doubt,” said movement participant Sean Wolters.
In one case, it was recently revealed that Boston and Carr were at odds on charging a legal observer from the Southern Poverty Law Center with domestic terrorism for his performance as a legal observer during a confrontational protest on March 5. Carr decided to press forward with these charges despite Boston’s objection.
Alongside Governor Brian Kemp, Carr has been one of the most aggressive antagonists of the Stop Cop City movement, colluding with city officials not only to leverage vague Domestic Terrorism statutes against nearly all those arrested at any protest since late last year, and working through an inter-agency task force to escalate state violence against forest defenders, leading to the murder of protester Tortuguita on January 18, 2023. Carr also appears to have played an instrumental role in organizing the SWAT raid of the Teardown House for the arrest of three Atlanta Solidarity Fund activists, an unparalleled show of state aggression for an alleged act of charity fraud. This followed the decision of officials in Bartow County to apply felony charges against three activists putting up posters identifying GSP personnel who were involved in the January 18 shooting. One protester has been put in solitary confinement in the Bartow County Jail for at least seven weeks.
AG Carr in his own statement today said that, “If you shoot police officers, throw Molotov cocktails at law enforcement, vandalize private homes and businesses, and set fire to police vehicles and offices, you will be held accountable.” However, none of those being prosecuted for domestic terrorism have coinciding charges for any of these alleged offenses.
Many view Boston’s announcement as a passive way of giving consent for the tactics that the state has used so far. “At worst, this enables the state as a whole to keep up the racket in which Republicans represent the ‘tough’ arm of the state and Democrats represent the timid aspect of the state, and each party benefits from this by currying favor with their voting base, while maintaining their campaign of repression,” said an activist who wished to remain anonymous.
Despite these concerns, activists will continue pushing forward their call for justice for their communities. Opposition to Cop City continues to grow, culminating in a sixth Week of Action that will start tomorrow at Brownwood Park at 11:00 a.m. Community pressure on officials and project contractors to #StopCopCity will only intensify. “The movement has forced the Dekalb District Attorney to all but acknowledge that these are baseless political prosecutions, and to remove her office from the prosecution,” said community organizer Micah Herskind. “Attorney General Carr is next –– we won’t rest until all our comrades are free and we end these prosecutions.”
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