This week, Republican Attorney General Chris Carr announced a RICO against 61 people who allegedly protesting the construction of the police and training center known as “Cop City.”
The indictment claimed that the defendants are “militant anarchists” who conspired to support a violent movement against the government.
However, there has been push back over the language used in the indictment and the creating of a narrative that suggests the conspiracy began on the day of George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020.
Andrea Young, Executive Director of ACLU, spoke with ADW to discuss the indictment.
And I just want to switch gears for a minute because we had some breaking news yesterday about Rico indictments of individuals who were protesting at COP city, and I know that the ACLU issued a statement but just want to get your thoughts on that indictment. And what do you guess how will the ACL you move forward on this?
We have been repeatedly speaking out about the state’s repressive response to people who are exercising their First Amendment right to protest. We oppose the domestic terrorism statute that the state of Georgia passed. We are certainly outraged that something like Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests would be referenced in the indictment. George Floyd protests occurred all over the state of Georgia and were overwhelmingly peaceful. In this indictment, it’s referenced as something that was a criminal conspiracy. I think this is another indication of a political party using its power to intimidate people and suppress legitimate dissent.
You mentioned that, you know, because I got an opportunity to read through some of the indictment. It I guess there’s a date of May 25 2020 And it seems like this almost like a year that predates the initial protests that cup city, and you want to I guess you want to not no, not sure if you had an opportunity to actually go through the indictment, but that kind of stuck out…
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