On August 29 2023, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, along with Deputy AG John Fowler, filed an indictment with the Fulton County Superior Court against 61 people under the Georgia Rackeeter-Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act O.C.G.A. § 16-14-4.
Who is being charged?
Among the accused are 41 people previously charged with “domestic terrorism” for allegedly participating in the movement to Stop Cop City on the basis of attending a protest or entering a forest; three more people charged with felonies for allegedly distributing flyers; and another three people charged in May 2023 with “money laundering” and “charity fraud” for organizing legal support for activists. Others were previously charged with trespassing misdemeanors, and some were never charged with anything before being indicted under RICO. None of these previous charges has resulted in a single conviction. In fact, none of them have even been indicted.
What is the alleged basis for the charges?
At its core, the indictment is less about prosecuting specific acts and more about undermining the solidarity that forms the backbone of social movements. The indictment provides lengthy descriptions of “anarchism,” “social solidarity,” and “mutual aid,” including commentary and historical details from the 19th century. It reads more like a political manifesto than a legal document. Some of those charged are accused of doing nothing more than buying supplies for sign-making, others for passing out flyers.
The indictment claims that the “racket” in question began on May 25, 2020 — the day that Minneapolis Police officers murdered George Floyd, precipitating a historic nationwide uprising. It describes the 2020 protests in Atlanta at length, specifically referencing the encampment outside of the Wendy’s restaurant where Atlanta police killed Rayshard Brooks.
The state’s framing of those events, in which thousands of people participated locally, tries to characterize them as part of a conspiracy a narrative which does not match real historic events, but one which prosecutors will attempt to invent nonetheless.
Who is pursuing these charges?
Georgia prosecutors have a long history of using its uniquely broad RICO statute to advance their own political aims and raise their national profiles. The prosecutor in Dekalb County, where many defendants were initially arrested, publicly resigned from the case. The Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is pursuing Donald Trump in another high profile RICO case in Fulton County, also refused to participate in these cases. Moreover, Fulton county is already pursuing a far-reaching RICO case against hip hop label Young Slime Life. Three separate RICO cases, each with their own national headlines, are taking place in the same city, and are being used by different political factions to opportunistically advance the private interests and aspirations of those pursuing them. Republican state attorney general Chris Carr is cracking down on those defending the forest in order to bolster his conservative bona fides.
Why should I care?
These serious charges, steeped in a narrative that seeks to criminalize solidarity, should alarm not just those directly involved, but all who value the principles of free expression and collective action. The targets of the indictment are not only the 61 defendants, but also the 25 million people who took part in the protests demanding justice for George Floyd, the hundreds of thousands who are fighting to stop Cop City and to defend and heal the Weelaunee Forest, and the countless millions engaging in mutual aid within their communities.
It’s crucial to recognize that, at the heart of these charges, there is an attempt to quell a rising tide of community resistance. Resistance which contestings the very levers of power that prioritize state control over this earth and our lives. The indictment, with its extreme anti-movement bias and outrageous charges, inadvertently highlights the potency of solidarity and direct action. When power feels threatened, it lashes out in the only way it knows how.
The battle against Cop City, therefore, is not just about protecting a piece of land; it’s about safeguarding our collective ability to imagine and fight for a world that values people and the planet over police and profit.