Read our editorial on Cop City here, and the increasing reactionization of the US here.
After more than two years of aggressive prosecution, a Georgia judge has dismissed racketeering (RICO) charges against all 61 defendants swept up in the state’s sprawling case against alleged “Stop Cop City” activists. The ruling, finalized on December 30, marks a major legal blow to the State and what had become the largest RICO case ever brought against protesters in US history.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer ruled that Attorney General Chris Carr lacked the constitutional authority to bring the charges, resulting in the charges’ dismissal. In his order, Judge Farmer stated plainly that “no prior authority was granted by the Governor,” and emphasized that while state law allows the attorney general to bypass local prosecutors and independently prosecute domestic terrorism and gang cases, it provides no such exception for racketeering charges under RICO law.
Attorney General Chris Carr originally brought the RICO charges against the defendants in August of 2023 as part of a broader repression campaign against the Stop Cop City movement involving increased surveillance, mass arrests of activists, and the murder of one protester by Georgia State Troopers in 2023. The Stop Cop City movement, which grew out of the 2020 uprisings opposing police violence against Black people, aimed at preventing the construction of the $118 million Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, popularly known “Cop City,” on 85 acres of the South River Forest in Atlanta.
Five defendants remain entangled in the case. While their RICO charges were dismissed, Judge Farmer upheld domestic terrorism charges against them and declined to rule on related arson charges, leaving both counts active. The attorney general’s office has said it plans to appeal the RICO dismissal and to “vigorously pursue” the remaining prosecutions.
Despite the remaining charges against the five defendants, the RICO charges were the centerpiece of the State’s repression campaign and their dismissal seriously undermines the prosecution’s case against the activists. Furthermore, this dismissal follows a series of setbacks for the Old State’s prosecution of Stop Cop City activists, including the dismissal of money laundering allegations in a case against the Atlanta Solidarity Fund.
Photo: Stop Cop City protest. Retrieved from AFSC.
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