ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge on Tuesday tossed racketeering charges against dozens of defendants accused of a years-long conspiracy to stop construction of a police and fire training facility that critics call “Cop City.”
Fulton County Judge Kevin Farmer said in the order that Republican Attorney General Chris Carr did not have the authority to secure the 2023 charges under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. A farmer said he needed permission from Governor Brian Kemp.
Carr’s office said in a statement that they plan to appeal.
“We strongly disagree with this decision and will continue to vigorously pursue this case of domestic terrorism to ensure justice is served,” his office said.
The 61 defendants in what experts call the largest criminal racketeering case brought against protesters in US history faced allegations such as throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers and providing food to protesters. Each defendant faced up to 20 years in prison on the racketeering charges.
Five of them were also charged with domestic terrorism and first-degree arson charges related to a night in 2023 when masked activists burned a police car in downtown Atlanta and threw rocks at a skyscraper home to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Farmer also said that Carr did not have the authority to pursue the arson charge but that the domestic terrorism charge could probably stand.
Amanda Clark Palmer, a lawyer for one of the protesters, praised the judge’s decision, and said that “the prosecution did not follow the law when it brought these charges,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We are relieved that the dismissal order has been entered but our relief is still incomplete as we wait to see if the Attorney General will appeal,” said Clark Palmer in a statement.
The long-running controversy over the training center came to a head in January 2023 after state troopers who were part of a sweep of the South River Forest killed a 26-year-old activist, known as “Tortuguita,” who authorities said shot at them while inside a tent near the construction site. A prosecutor found the trooper’s actions “objectively reasonable.” Tortuguita’s family sued, saying his hands were in the air and that troops used excessive force when they initially fired pepper balls into the tent.
Protests broke out, with masked vandals sometimes attacking police vehicles and construction equipment to stop the project and intimidate contractors into backing down. Opponents have also pursued such civic avenues to stop the facility as packing City Council meetings and conducting large-scale referendum efforts that have been tied up in the courts.
Carr, who is running for governor, had followed the case. Kemp hailed it as an important step to combat “out-of-state radicals who threaten the safety of our citizens and law enforcement.”
Critics had called the indictment a stiff and politically motivated attempt to quash the movement against the 85-acre (34-hectare) project that ultimately cost more than $115 million.