Stop Cop City Defendants to Argue for Dismissal of Charges in Hearing Wednesday Ahead of June 22 Trial

PRESS ADVISORY: June 16, 2026

Stop Cop City Defendants to Argue for Dismissal of Charges in Hearing Wednesday Ahead of June 22 Trial, Four Years After Arrest

Motions Hearing Comes as Two “Cobb County 3” Are Indicted on Federal Charges Last Week for Same 2022 Protest at Cop City Contractor Brasfield & Gorrie

COBB COUNTY, GA — Two Stop Cop City activists will argue for the dismissal of their charges at a pretrial hearing Wednesday, June 17—charges that were filed by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr just three weeks before the four-year statute of limitations was due to expire. Hannah Kass, Katie Kloth, and Tyler Norman were indicted on April 24 on State charges of felony property damage and arson of lands, stemming from arrests that occurred in May 2022. Responding to Kass and Norman’s demands for a speedy trial, the Cobb County Superior Court scheduled trial for June 22. Kloth’s trial date is currently uncertain, but supporters are referring to the three defendants as the “Cobb County 3.”

The pretrial hearing comes a week after the US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia filed a federal indictment against Kloth and Norman, but not Kass. Federal charges of arson and intimidation were levied by the US Attorney’s Office last Tuesday, stemming from the same May 2022 demonstration at the headquarters of Brasfield and Gorrie, general contractor for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, widely known as “Cop City.” The federal charges are similar to the State charges for which the Cobb County 3 are already being prosecuted. Cobb County Superior Court Judge Sonja N. Brown will hear arguments Wednesday around defense motions to dismiss for selective prosecution and a violation of due process rights.

What: Pretrial hearing on motions to dismiss State case against Cobb County 3
When: Wednesday, June 17 at 10:30am
Where: Cobb County Superior Court, 70 Haynes Street, Marietta, GA 30090

“We’re confident we can convince the court that these charges should be thrown out before they even reach a jury,” said Dr. Hannah Kass, one of the Cobb County 3 defendants who is moving to dismiss her case on Wednesday. “When it looked like the State of Georgia would have trouble obtaining convictions in our four-year-old case, the Department of Justice has now stepped in to file fresh indictments in a stale case, and to make the Cobb County 3 case about Trump’s war on left political movements.”

On May 12, 2022, scores of people were protesting at the headquarters of Brasfield and Gorrie. Five people were arrested that day, two of whom saw their charges withdrawn by the Cobb County District Attorney in April 2025. Even though the State cases against Kass, Kloth, and Norman have the same set of facts as their two co-defendants whose charges were withdrawn last year, Attorney General Carr—and notably not the Cobb County District Attorney—indicted the three for felony property damage and arson of lands. Judge Sonja Brown is the same judge who presided over last year’s withdrawal of charges.

The Cobb County 3 are part of a group of 61 Stop Cop City activists charged under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in August 2023. The sweeping RICO charges were dismissed in December, and that decision was appealed by Attorney General Carr in January. Supporters and the 61 RICO defendants, who were arrested on different dates from 2020 to 2023 at various locations across Georgia, are calling the RICO charges, the pending appeal, and these latest indictments, all politically motivated. The defendants have had their lives upended as a result of the charges. Many defendants have experienced job losses, housing issues, career disruptions, and travel restrictions, in addition to the stress and anxiety that comes from the threat of years in prison hanging over their heads.

The Stop Cop City movement has drawn national attention amid ongoing prosecutions of protesters, organizers, and supporters who opposed the project. Supporters of the defendants have criticized the prosecutions as part of a broader effort to criminalize protest and chill dissent against a deeply unpopular City of Atlanta project, which was pushed forward by a constellation of multinational corporations embedded into the prison industrial complex of the United States. In 2023, the people of Atlanta expressed their widespread rejection of this project through the COP CITY VOTE public referendum.

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For more information on the ATL 61, the sweeping criminal cases, and ways to support the defendants and the movement to Stop Cop City, go to: instagram.com/sccimaginarycrimestour or weelauneethefree.org.