Georgia’s two nationally spotlighted RICO prosecutions – respectively targeting Trump’s election scheme and “Cop City” protesters – are being cheered or jeered by political partisans, depending on whose agenda is served. But a prominent civil liberties attorney defending one of Trump’s advisors said both cases show how racketeering laws are a “dire” threat to the […]
Author Archives: John Ruch
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‘Cop City’ protesters chain themselves to bulldozer, are arrested
Five protesters chained themselves to a bulldozer at the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center construction site on Sept. 7 and were arrested. The protesters delivered what they called a “People’s Stop Work Order” — a satirical government code-enforcement document — for the controversial project on Constitution and Key roads in DeKalb County, which opponents call […]
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61 hit with RICO charges in ‘Cop City’ cases, setting up a First Amendment battle
The Defend the Atlanta Forest (DATF) movement opposing the public safety training center is accused of being a criminal organization in a sprawling indictment charging 61 people with racketeering and other major felonies, setting up a First Amendment legal battle. The indictment, dated Aug. 29 but released Sept. 5, was presented in Fulton County Superior […]
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Settlements in New York’s major police misconduct cases include at least two protesters with Georgia ties
At least two protesters with Georgia ties are among hundreds eligible for more than $20 million in settlements from two New York City police misconduct class action lawsuits – a legal strategy that has yet to be used here despite some similarities with “Cop City” and Black Lives Matter cases. One of the class-action protesters […]
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Preservationists to call for saving Central State Hospital historic buildings at Aug. 31 meeting
Preservationists plan to press officials at an Aug. 31 meeting to back off a demolition plan for historic buildings at Milledgeville’s Central State Hospital. Friends of Central State Hospital (FCSH) and the Atlanta Preservation Center (APC) are among those who plan to attend the meeting of the Board of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health […]
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Governor’s Office pre-written terrorism claim shows how ‘Cop City’ arrests get political spin
The May 31 arrests of bail-fund operators was a watershed moment in the “Cop City” protests, generating unprecedented backlash as chilling free speech – especially Gov. Brian Kemp’s statement equating them with a “criminal organization” helping “domestic terrorism.” What the public didn’t know, documents obtained by SaportaReport reveal is that Kemp’s commentary about the arrests […]
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Candler Park digs deep into possibility of an official historic district
Candler Park is digging deep into the possibility of joining the ranks of Atlanta neighborhoods protected by some type of official historic district. A Historic Designation Committee of the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization (CPNO) was scheduled to hold the first of four “deep-dive” community meetings about the concept on Sept. 7. Committee chair Emily Taff […]
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Environmentalists ask judge to halt all training center construction as pollution claims play out
Environmentalists suing Atlanta’s public safety training center planners over alleged pollution are asking a judge to halt all construction and order the site to be completely replanted while the case is pending. The Aug. 23 request was part of a flurry of activity this week in three separate lawsuits attempting to halt the project, dubbed […]
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Georgia Trust to kick off preservation of Warm Springs’ historic African American school
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is planning a Sept. 7 ceremonial kickoff for the preservation of a Warm Springs school built for African American children with the backing of President Franklin Roosevelt. The Eleanor Roosevelt School at 350 Parham St. was built in 1936 as the last school backed by the Rosenwald Fund, a […]
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‘Cop City’ referendum leaders claim voter suppression as training center speeds toward construction start
The “Vote to Stop Cop City” referendum’s possible ballot appearance is likely delayed until March amid a signature-verification process complaint while the public safety training center it targets is steaming ahead to a full construction start this month. Timing is everything in this unprecedented struggle and part of the clashing strategies. Referendum organizers originally intended to get their training-center-killing […]
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From Trump to ‘Stop Cop City,’ a historic week in answering who runs Atlanta
What a week for fans of history and democracy in Atlanta. First, former President Trump was indicted on Aug. 14 for, among other things, attempting to “find” roughly 12,000 votes in his scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Then “Vote to Stop Cop City” announced it gathered more than 104,000 signatures to allow a […]
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Original training center review committee complaints about lack of input in newer version
The City’s original review committee for the public safety training center is complaining about its lack of input in a newer version, perhaps the ultimate example of the transparency and inclusion controversies swirling around both groups and the entire project. The Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee (CSAC) voiced the concerns at an Aug. 15 virtual meeting, […]
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Buckhead history advocate named new leader of Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
A prominent Buckhead history advocate has been named the next president and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. W. Wright Mitchell, an attorney who founded the Buckhead Heritage Society, will take over leadership of the Atlanta-based Georgia Trust on Sept. 5. He replaces Mark C. McDonald, who is retiring after 15 years at the statewide organization. “As […]
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Atlanta’s historic Grant Mansion gets a new doorway from the past to the present
The grand front doorway of Atlanta’s historic L.P. Grant Mansion has been freshly reconstructed in the embodiment of preservation metaphors about portals to the past. The project “creates that natural gateway from the past to look at the future,” says David Yoakley Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center (APC), which calls the 1856 […]
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Atlanta’s inspector general seeks tips to head off more corruption scandals
The City of Atlanta’s main corruption investigation agency is seeking to raise its public profile and attract more tips to head off more problems. After six years investigating corruption in New York City government, Shannon K. Manigault came to Atlanta in 2020 as the City’s first-ever inspector general – heading an office created in the […]
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Statewide preservation groups call for delay, review in Central State Hospital historic buildings’ demolition
A dozen statewide preservation organizations are calling for a 180-day delay in the recently authorized demolition of historic buildings at Milledgeville’s Central State Hospital to seek alternatives. An Aug. 1 letter to the state agency that operates the hospital campus was circulated by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and signed by 11 other groups […]
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Environmental group sues to halt public safety training center construction for alleged runoff pollution
An environmental group is asking a federal court to change or halt the construction of Atlanta’s public safety training center due to alleged sediment runoff pollution. The South River Watershed Alliance (SRWA) filed a lawsuit on Aug. 1 against the City and the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF), the facility’s private planner, in U.S. District Court […]
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Midtown’s mysterious new roundabout followed a road of private, secret plans
The mysterious appearance of a new roundabout and exit on a state highway ramp in Atlanta’s bustling Midtown sparked concern early last year from neighbors who wondered why Georgia transportation officials would build such a thing without public input. The truth turned out to be much stranger. Despite remaking public roadways, the roundabout on the […]
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‘Vote to Stop Cop City’ gets another 60 days, more signature-gatherers in major court victory
In a major court victory, the “Vote to Stop Cop City” referendum effort will get at least 60 more days to gather signatures, which can now be done by nonresidents of Atlanta as a federal judge says the ban on their participation is likely unconstitutional. The July 27 preliminary injunction in the lawsuit Baker v. […]
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Governor OK’s demolition of historic Central State Hospital buildings in surprise to preservationists
Demolition of three major historic buildings at Milledgeville’s Central State Hospital campus was approved this week by Gov. Brian Kemp, the latest surprise to preservationists concerned about their future. In two July 25 executive orders, Kemp authorized the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) to demolish three large and significant structures: the […]
