<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" lang="en" dir="auto">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://fightbacknews.org/articles/atlanta-victory-61-charges-dismissed-in-the-cop-city-rico-case">fightbacknews.org</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Atlanta victory! 61 charges dismissed in the Cop City RICO case</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Fight Back! News</div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">January 3, 2026</div>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p><img src="https://i.snap.as/fAh7SW5E.jpg" alt="Atlanta protest against Cop City." title="Atlanta protest against Cop City. | Fight Back! News" width="521" height="391" style="margin-right: 0px;">
<span class="gmail-caption">Atlanta protest against Cop City. | Fight Back! News</span></p>
<p>Atlanta, GA \u2013 On Tuesday, December 30, after two years of local
pressure and national support, a Georgia judge issued an order
dismissing RICO charges against 61 activists who protested the
construction of Cop City.</p>
<p>The ruling comes just months after the charges of three activists
wrongfully charged with money laundering in connection to the
administration of the Atlanta Solidarity bail funds in 2024 were also
dropped due to a flimsy legal argument and increasing pressure from the
community.</p>
<p>In his order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer said
that the attorney general did not have the authority to bring Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charges and had to seek
permission from the governor to do so but did not in this case. \u201cThe
attorney general acknowledged that no prior authority was granted by the
governor to bring RICO charges,\u201d Farmer wrote in his order.</p>
<p>Legal experts have pointed out that the indictment, which groups the
activists together in what the state tried to deem as an organized
criminal conspiracy, was an overreach in power by the attorney general's
office.</p>
<p>\u201cJudge Farmer correctly dismissed the indictment because the
prosecution did not follow the law when filing these charges,\u201d attorney
Amanda Clark Palmer said in a statement on Tuesday calling the state's
case a \u201cbloated, tortured and overblown prosecution.\u201d</p>
<p>The RICO indictment orchestrated by state Attorney General Chris
Carr, who is planning to run for governor, was the culmination of a
massive wave of repression in the face of the Stop Cop City movement.
The movement, made up of activists, community members and a coalition of
organizations in Atlanta, saw all forms of attack by the state over the
last two years.</p>
<p>In 2023, in the months following the police murder of activist Manuel
Paez Teran, known as Tortuguita, in the Weelaunee Forest at the
construction site of Cop City, 69 protesters were indicted on bogus
charges: 61 activists on state RICO charges, five activists on domestic
terrorism and arson charges, and three on money laundering charges.</p>
<p>While the state has not dropped the domestic terrorism charges, the
RICO and money laundering charges being dismissed reveal a pattern of
failure and weakness in the larger efforts to intimidate people into
silence and criminalize mass resistance to the militarization of the
police.</p>
<p>This victory highlights not just the weakness of the regressive
forces in power but the true strength of the people and the power of
bold and courageous solidarity.</p>
<p><a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:AtlantaGA"><span>#</span><span>AtlantaGA</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:GA"><span>#</span><span>GA</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:InJusticeSystem"><span>#</span><span>InJusticeSystem</span></a> <a href="https://fightbacknews.org/tag:StopCopCity"><span>#</span><span>StopCopCity</span></a></p><p>
Share to: </p>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
<br></div>