TotalConservative.com) – Over 60 activists are being indicted on charges of racketeering by a grand jury in Georgia. The massive indictment includes accusations of intimidation, violence, and property damage related to an organized attack on a police facility construction site.
The activists are being charged by the Georgia attorney general with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which is typically used to target organized public corruption and street gangs. Former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants were also indicted last month in Georgia for charges of violating the same act. In this case, the organized attack on the Atlanta Public Safety Center, nicknamed by activists as “Copy City,” is being portrayed as an organized criminal enterprise in violation of RICO.
During a Tuesday news conference, Republican attorney general Christopher M. Carr said it’s “not an option in Georgia” to look “the other way when violence occurs.” He warned the public that anyone who comes to Georgia to shoot police officers, throw Molotov cocktails at them, set their vehicles on fire, destroy construction equipment, and vandalize businesses and homes in order to “terrorize” the occupants will face accountability.
The indictment described the defendants as “anti-government anarchists” who “recognized an opportunity” to organize against the police.
The indictment, which is 109 pages, was handed up to the court last week. The document accuses the large group of defendants of domestic terrorism, arson, and even money laundering. Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), believe the indictment demonstrates an overly aggressive effort by lawmakers to crack down on protests against the new police facility. Aamra Ahmad, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, said that they “are extremely concerned” by the “broad and unprecedented use” of such laws “against protesters.”
Forty-two of the 61 activists indicted have already been charged in Georgia under the state’s domestic terrorism statute.
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