Radical agitators in Georgia were shocked to learn on Tuesday that 61 of their brethren face charges under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
For several months they allegedly engaged in attacks on a planned police training center. “Stop Cop City” was their rallying cry as they destroyed property and attacked law enforcement.
Leftists involved in violent protests in Atlanta cannot say they weren’t warned. In January, Republican Attorney General Chris Carr plainly told them, “We are not Oregon. We are not California. We are not Washington.”
He declared that these liberal protesters would not be allowed to “come to our state, break our laws, throw rocks at buildings, damage property, and shoot police officers.”
That should have been ample warning, but it was not. Now actions are colliding with consequences in the Peach State.
The Associated Press reported that activists quickly decried the RICO indictment as “anti-democratic.” They act as though they were merely locking arms and singing anthems in a peaceful protest. They were not.
BREAKING: 61 ‘Stop Cop City’ Antifa militants indicted on RICO, other charges by Georgia AG https://t.co/C4PvsMA575
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) September 5, 2023
Police in January accused 26-year-old Manuel Esteban Paez Teran of firing on them at the site of the proposed training center. According to officials, a state trooper fired in self-defense, killing the protester.
A police car was later set on fire. In March, 150 masked protesters chased police away before burning construction equipment. Dozens are now charged with domestic terrorism.
The Southern Poverty Law Center to no one’s surprise called the police response “heavy-handed” against the agitators. DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, a Democrat, withdrew from prosecutions of violent protesters.
Now 61 face racketeering charges. Another five are up against domestic terrorism counts as well as first-degree arson. Three leaders of Stop Cop City who were previously charged now face 15 additional counts of money laundering.
But leftists insist that domestic terrorism is only a threat from conservatives.
Even so, leftists in Georgia are receiving a taste of their own medicine. Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis used RICO to indict former President Donald Trump and 18 of his associates.
They are not alleged to have attacked anyone, destroyed any property, or engaged in money laundering. They merely questioned the results of a controversial election, something Georgia should be familiar with as it is the home of twice-failed candidate Stacey Abrams.
