Georgia AG appealing dismissal of racketeering charges against dozens of "Cop City" protesters
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr says his office is appealing a judge's ruling that dropped most of the state's case against dozens of protesters of the Atlanta public safety training facility.
In 2023, Carr indicted 61 people in what experts call the largest criminal racketeering case filed against protesters in U.S. history. The group faced allegations that ranged from throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers to providing protesters with food. Each defendant could have faced up to 20 years if convicted.
In December, however, Fulton County Judge Kevin Farmer ruled that Carr didn't have the authority to secure the indictment, writing that he needed permission from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Five of those protesters were also indicted on charges of domestic terrorism and first-degree arson 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 said Carr also didn't have the authority to pursue the arson charge, but that the domestic terrorism charge can likely stand.
On Monday, Carr, who is running to succeed Kemp as governor, filed an appeal, arguing that his office had the jurisdiction to file the charges and that Farmer's order was "simply wrong."
"We took action to ensure that groups like Antifa and other anarchists who engaged in Domestic Terrorism were held accountable," said Carr. "Let me be clear – if you come to our state and shoot a trooper, attack law enforcement, damage construction equipment, and target private homes and businesses, you can and will be held accountable. We promised to use all available resources to ensure agents of violence and chaos were fully punished, and that's exactly what we're doing."
The appeal asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to immediately review the case before the state can bring the five remaining defendants to trial.
Clash over "Cop City"
The 85-acre, $115 million Atlanta public safety training facility, nicknamed "Cop City" by opponents, officially opened last April. It features multiple mock buildings for officers and first responders to train for specific scenarios, a burn building, a shooting range, horse stables, dog kennels, and more.
Opponents say the facility will worsen police militarization and harm the environment in a flood-prone, majority-Black neighborhood. The debate over the training center embroiled the city and captured national attention, especially after state troopers fatally shot an activist protesting near the project in 2023.
Following the shooting, protests erupted, with masked vandals sometimes attacking police vehicles and construction equipment to stall the project and intimidate contractors into backing out. Opponents also pursued such civic paths to halt the facility, including packing City Council meetings and leading a large-scale referendum effort that remains tied up in the courts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
