In the wake of Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ arrest and indictment of former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his 2020 allies and legal team members, many on the right have called for red state AGs and DAs to follow in the left’s footsteps and start freely arresting and indicting leftists as a form of deterrence and retaliation.
Now, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has started doing just that, though he started at a less openly political, lower level: AG Carr just announced that he is filing racketeering charges and domestic terrorism charges against more than 60 leftist protesters in Fulton County who have for years attempted to stop the construction of the “Cop City” police training facility in Atlanta.
Announcing the charges in a press release, AG Carr’s office said, “Attorney General Chris Carr today announced the indictment of 61 people in Fulton County following a multi-agency investigation into the violence that has occurred at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center and other locations. All 61 defendants have been charged with Violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Several of the defendants are also facing separate charges of Domestic Terrorism, Attempted Arson in the First Degree, and Money Laundering. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants are members of Defend the Atlanta Forest, an anarchist, anti-police, and anti-business extremist organization. They are alleged to have conspired together to prevent the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center by conducting, coordinating, and organizing acts of violence, intimidation, and property destruction in Fulton County, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and other states. Of the 61 defendants who have been indicted, only 13 are from Georgia.”
AG Carr, quoted in the press release, said, “As this indictment shows, looking the other way when violence occurs is not an option in Georgia. If you come to our state and shoot a police officer, throw Molotov cocktails at law enforcement, set fire to police vehicles, damage construction equipment, vandalize private homes and businesses, and terrorize their occupants, you can and will be held accountable. We will not waver when it comes to keeping people safe, enforcing the rule of law, and ensuring those who engage in criminal activity are vigorously pursued and aggressively prosecuted.”
Carr also commented on the indictments in a Twitter post, saying, “As this indictment shows, looking the other way when violence occurs is not an option in Georgia. We will not waver when it comes to keeping people safe, enforcing the rule of law, & ensuring those who engage in criminal activity are vigorously pursued & aggressively prosecuted.”
As this indictment shows, looking the other way when violence occurs is not an option in Georgia.
We will not waver when it comes to keeping people safe, enforcing the rule of law, & ensuring those who engage in criminal activity are vigorously pursued & aggressively prosecuted. pic.twitter.com/2xUcCYWMrk
— GA AG Chris Carr (@Georgia_AG) September 5, 2023
Further, in more remarks on the situation, AG Carr added, “This is about acts of violence, either committing them yourself or supporting those who work on committing acts of violence. Look, we all have a First Amendment right to peacefully protest. But protesters use words. Violence is not speech. Violence is not protected by the First Amendment. This entire indictment when you look at it is about those that engaged in violence, those that were attempting to occupy the land where this training center is going to be. So, to suggest otherwise is absolutely absurd.”
Then, in a powerful statement about not backing down on this matter, AG Carr said, “The bottom line is this: We’re not going to look the other way when violence occurs in our state. We’re not Portland, and we’re not Seattle. We’re going to hold those accountable that actually do that.”
Similarly to AG Carr, GBI Director Chris Hosey said, “The criminal acts of those named in this indictment have placed public safety personnel and members of the community in danger. This major step is a testament to the GBI’s commitment to protecting the citizens of Georgia. We will continue to work with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office and our local and federal partners to hold any person who seeks to harm the lives of others accountable.”
Featured image credit: By The United States Senate – Office of Senator Kelly Loeffler – https://twitter.com/SenatorLoeffler/status/1223264947326607362, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=87413478
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