We Stand in Solidarity with YSL RICO Defendants in Fulton County, Georgia
The YSL RICO trial — the longest trial in Georgia’s history — finally came to a close on December 3, after more than a year of tedious and tortuous litigation. The defendants spent years in the notoriously deadly Fulton County jail in pre-trial detention, only to be found not guilty of RICO at trial. Unsurprisingly, Fulton County’s application of the over-broad, unconstitutional Georgia state RICO statute was proven ludicrous by the jury’s not guilty verdict.
We, the supporters of the ATL 61, see many similarities between the YSL RICO case and the Stop Cop City RICO case. These two Georgia RICO cases being prosecuted in Fulton County are comprised of a shoddy lack of evidence desperately scraped together, suppressing free speech, and fabricating a narrative of racketeering for a so-called criminal enterprise, all concocted in a targeted effort to criminalize and cage the defendants.
We stand in solidarity with the YSL RICO defendants, as the 61 are fellow targets of Georgia’s RICO zealotry and its weaponization of broad statutory language.
We stand in solidarity with the YSL RICO defendants, as the 61 are fellow survivors and former prisoners of the deadly Fulton County jail.
Our solidarity is prescient and instant, as the 61 have endured — and will continue to endure — a similar torture. The 61, too, have been locked up and dragged through a lengthy prosecution with RICO’s threat of decades in prison looming in the balance.
The whole criminal punishment system’s torture by trial — and rampant coercion by plea deal — is disgusting and unacceptable. The liberal use of the Georgia RICO statute is just one example of its fascist overreach.
In the end, solidarity is one of the few tools available to fight political and legal repression. While not everyone is in a position to take their case to trial, solidarity ensures that no one accepts a plea deal that involves cooperation with the state against their co-defendants.
FREE THEM ALL!