RICO Case Filed Against Atlanta ‘Cop City’ Protestors: Georgia Attorney General Blames ‘Anarchists’ for Violence

Georgia's attorney general blamed out-of-state anarchists for fueling violent protests against Atlanta's planned $90 million police training center — dubbed "Cop City" by opponents — after he announced RICO charges against 61 activists on Tuesday.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said the Defend the Atlanta Forest coalition was willing to use "any means necessary…including violence, in order to advance their agenda."

That includes allegedly cutting "the safety rope of an arborist working in one of the trees on the site," Carr said during a news conference.

The group also allegedly "used incendiary devices such as Molotov cocktails, large mortar-style fireworks and were in the process of constructing a rudimentary explosive device," the Georgia Republican said.

"In one incident, we contend that members of Defend the Atlanta Forest trapped an unsuspecting civilian who approached the area and held him at gunpoint," he added.

A request for comment from a spokesperson for Defend the Atlanta Forest wasn't immediately returned.

But the Cop City Vote coalition, which is seeking a referendum on the police training facility, released a statement that called the indictment "blatantly authoritarian" and "anti-democratic."

"These charges, like the previous repressive prosecutions by the State of Georgia, seek to intimidate protestors, legal observers and bail funds alike, and send the chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished with the full power and violence of the government," the statement said.

"We will not be intimidated by power-hungry strongmen, whether in City Hall or the Attorney General’s office."

Carr said Defend the Atlanta Forest coalition "has actively recruited and trained others from Georgia, around the country and across the globe to participate in this criminal enterprise."

"Members of Defend the Atlanta Forest subscribe to a philosophy of anarchy," he said.

"They hold a core belief that society should abolish police, government and private business."

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum also accused Defend the Atlanta Forest of "suppressing the voice of those that wanted to engage in proper dialogue with their government and their elected officials."

The news conference came after court officials released a 109-page indictment charging 61 defendants with violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act during a multiyear effort to block construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

The facility, which would be built on 85 acres in DeKalb County's South River Forest.

A spokesperson for Cop City Vote told The Messenger that the groups were aligned in "trying to stop the construction of Cop City" but that no "formal members" of Cop City Vote were among those indicted and that "no money has passed between groups."

In addition to the RICO charges, five defendants were charged with domestic terrorism and arson in incidents that took place in Atlanta on January 21.

Three others were charged with 15 counts of money laundering for allegedly spending money donated to the Network for Strong Communities nonprofit to support Defend the Atlanta Forest.