Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr dealt a severe blow to the radical left organization Antifa, charging 61 of its members for violating the state's RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) law for vandalism aimed at stopping the construction of a police training center in Atlanta. Carr is charging five of these activists with additional charges of domestic terrorism and first degree arson as well as three for various money laundering crimes.
Today, we announced the indictment of 61 people in Fulton County for their alleged involvement in the violence that has occurred at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center & other locations.https://t.co/up9KiZriPw
— GA AG Chris Carr (@Georgia_AG) September 5, 2023
225 "overt acts" warrant the charges
To justify such a harsh accusation, the attorney general says there were at least 225 "overt acts" that violated the provisions of the RICO law. Sixty-one activists were accused of various acts between 2020 and two weeks ago. The first of the acts reported is the throwing of objects and a Molotov cocktail by Andrew Carlisle and Sonali Gupta towards police vehicles. The prosecution is especially focused on the Defend The Atlanta Forest group, described as an "anti-government, anti-police, anti-corporate extremist organization" based in Atlanta.
Carr emphasized the group's anarchist ideology. In fact, six of the document's 109 pages are devoted to defining "anarchist" as a descriptor for the group. Speaking during a press conference, the attorney general stressed: "As the indictment asserts, members of Defend the Atlanta Forest subscribe to a philosophy of anarchy. They hold a core belief that society should abolish police, government and private business and as further alleged, they’re willing to bring about such changes 'by any means necessary.'"
With this indictment, they are attempting to criminalize all protest, mutual aid, and solidarity itself.
This increases the danger of NOT taking action, because, if successful, this precedent will be repeated all over. We must mobilize.
Join these protests or make your own:— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) September 7, 2023
The suspects at the forefront of the accusations are Marlon Kautz, Adele Maclean and Savannah Patterson, who were allegedly involved in most of the aforementioned acts. They are the three accused of money laundering for transferring money from the Network for Strong Communities to allegedly reimburse and finance the vandalism of the future police complex. The three are also accused of threatening and promoting violence and property damage against companies involved in the construction of the police training center.
The talking point from #Antifa supporters & far-left extremists is that the "Defend the Atlanta Forest" members were RICO indicted by @Georgia_AG for "handing out flyers." They don't tell you that the "flyer" was a revenge kill list of officers and their family home addresses.… pic.twitter.com/c1PfCZ6yXO
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) September 7, 2023
Five charged with domestic terrorism for January 'Night of Rage'
On the other hand, Nadja Geier, Madeleine Feola, Emily Murphy, Francis Carroll and Ivan Ferguson were charged with domestic terrorism for attempting "destroy and disable critical infrastructure" causing arson and setting fire to Atlanta Police vehicles, a bank and the building at 191 Peachtree Tower, where the Atlanta Police Foundation is located during the so-called "Night of Rage." The event was organized by Antifa to protest the death of activist Manuel "Turtle" Terán, who, after shooting at police and wounding an officer, was killed by a retaliatory shot.
🚨#BREAKING: Violent protests have been reported in Atlanta
Violent protests have erupted tonight in Atlanta after police killed a man on the 18th. There are reports of police cruisers on fire and rocks being thrown as activists call for a “Night of Rage”. pic.twitter.com/qKTc20g79n
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) January 22, 2023
'This is about violent acts, plain and simple'
In the face of criticism from the left for the harshness of the accusations, Attorney General Carr was blunt: "Our job is to enforce the laws of this state. As you can tell in this indictment, this is about violent acts, plain and simple."
Breaking: Watch the full announcement from Georgia Attorney General @ChrisCarr_Ga about the 61 #Antifa-linked militant suspects being indicted on RICO charges in Fulton County, Ga. The extremists, including an SPLC staffer/NLG member, allegedly carried out a conspiracy of… pic.twitter.com/Z6l3LyA4fD
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) September 5, 2023
