A diverse array of major human rights and press freedom groups are among 90 organizations calling on Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to drop controversial racketeering charges against “Cop City” protesters. Among signatories to a letter announced Sept. 28 are Amnesty International USA, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Freedom […]
Tag: Defend the Atlanta Forest
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‘Vote to Stop Cop City’ hits stalemate over petition deadline while protesters announce direct action
After submitting what it says is over 116,000 signatures, the “Vote to Stop Cop City” effort is locked in a legal stalemate over interpretation of a petition-submission deadline. Meanwhile, some Atlanta City Council members say they will push to get it on the ballot – and protesters say they will march on the public safety […]
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Lawyer in Trump election case warns of RICO cases’ ‘dire’ First Amendment impacts
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 […]
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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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In DeKalb’s protest politics, ‘park reopening’ doesn’t mean what you think it means
Even in the creative political wordplay that abounds in the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” and “Cop City” protest controversies, it’s pretty special when the words “park reopening” don’t mean what you think they means. DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond last month announced a $1.8 million “plan to reopen” Intrenchment Creek Park, which he ordered closed […]
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Legal support group for protesters returns after leaders’ controversial arrests
A legal support organization for protesters against Atlanta’s public safety training center says it returned to operations this week, nearly a month after three of its leaders were controversially charged with money laundering and charity fraud. The Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF) announced its return on June 26 on social media, saying it is using the […]
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‘Cop City’ policing is ripe for a federal civil rights investigation
The time is ripe for a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) civil rights investigation of “Cop City” protest policing, as Atlanta’s long-burning pattern of retaliatory arrests against protesters and journalists is exploding with the fuel of “domestic terrorism” narratives. For nearly 15 years, the City has proven incapable of policing its own police abuses in […]
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Authorities arrest training center protest support leaders, paint movement as criminal organization
Leaders of a legal support organization for protesters against Atlanta’s public safety training center were arrested on fraud and money laundering charges on May 31 as Gov. Brian Kemp and other authorities painted the entire protest movement as a “criminal organization” of terrorists. Protesters called it an attack on free speech and planned a rally […]
Posted inColumns, John Ruch
DeKalb commissioner and petition call for reopening park shuttered in protest crackdown
A DeKalb County commissioner and an online petition are calling for the reopening of a public park shuttered in March to evict “Defend the Atlanta Forest” protesters – a move that could have deep legal and political consequences.
Posted inColumns, John Ruch
With so much unknown about training center plan, everyone’s a protester
With all the heat these days on who’s right and wrong about Atlanta’s public safety training center, it’s remarkable how little we know about what the plan actually is.
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Human rights, press freedom groups oppose training center protesters’ terrorism charges
Major human rights and press freedom groups have signed onto a letter calling for dismissal of domestic terrorism charges against protesters of Atlanta’s public safety training center.
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Training center security costs $41,500 a day, planner claims
Security for Atlanta’s public safety training center site is costing $41,500 a day, according to court documents.
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Land-swap lawsuit defendant seeks documents from media and activists, raising First Amendment objections
Attorneys for the developer sued for a DeKalb County parkland swap have demanded extensive internal documents from media and activists, raising First Amendment objections.
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Training center protester killed by police is named; seven others charged with terrorism
The protester killed by police has been identified and seven others charged with domestic terrorism.
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Training center protester killed by police after shooting state trooper, GBI says
Both law enforcement officials and protesters say the gunfire is an example of the violence of the other side that drives their actions.
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Driver arrested for filming police claims to be journalist, considers lawsuit
The man controversially arrested while filming police from a car at Atlanta’s public safety training center last month claims he was working as a journalist. The police claim he was performing “countersurveillance” for an “extremist group.”
Posted inColumns, John Ruch
A model airplane club defends the Atlanta forest, but is targeted by destructive protests
As controversy over the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” protest movement escalates into terrorism charges and civil liberties infringements, you’d be forgiven for having no idea that a big piece of it revolves around model airplanes.
