More than 60 Antifa militants have been indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for their involvement in the Atlanta “Cop City” riots and attacks on police officers.
This marks a significant step in the fight against domestic terrorism and lawlessness.
The group, known as Atlanta Forest, is primarily composed of out-of-state members. They identify themselves as a coalition of militant anarchists, eco-activists, and community organizers.
Their main objective was to halt the construction of the Atlanta Police Public Safety Training Center and Shadowbox Studios, previously known as Blackhall Studios. The indictment from Fulton County, Georgia reveals they aimed to propagate anarchist ideologies through their actions.
I’m old enough to emember when our President said that Antifa was an idea, not an organization. RICO charges dispel another Biden lie. pic.twitter.com/v1I5GXlOe5
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 6, 2023
The charges against this organization are severe and wide-ranging.
They include vandalism on private property, arson, destruction of government property, attacks on utility workers, law enforcement, and private citizens, and even gun violence. All these actions were carried out under the banner of promoting virulent anarchist ideals.
The Department of Homeland Security has labeled the individuals named in the RICO indictment as “domestic violent extremists.” This label underscores the severity of their actions and the threat they pose to public safety and order.
A particularly chilling incident occurred in January when police attempted to clear the encampment.
A Georgia State Patrol trooper, despite wearing a bulletproof vest, was shot in the abdomen. His fellow officers returned fire, fatally shooting the extremist. The injured officer was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery and thankfully survived.
#Antifa across the US are panicking after 61 comrades were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on RICO & terrorism charges for their alleged violent conspiracy connected to the terror #StopCopCity campaign. An SPLC staffer is among the indicted. https://t.co/gKzDdjkUtO
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) September 5, 2023
The site of these protests and attacks is a $90 million training facility, colloquially referred to as “Cop City” by activists. This facility is set to occupy 381 acres in the South River Forest, also known as the Weelaunee Forest.
For over a year, anti-police militants and extremist environmentalists have been protesting on the grounds where the construction is meant to occur, claiming to be defending the forest.
In March, the Atlanta Police arrested 23 people for domestic terrorism for what the department described as a “coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers” at the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
Among those arrested was Tom Jurgens, a staff attorney for a far-left extremist organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center — a group historically used as a source for the FBI on domestic extremism.
This 109-page indictment alleges that from May 25, 2020 to at least August 25, 2023 over 60 militant anarchists violated RICO.
This indictment serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing battle against domestic terrorism and the importance of upholding law and order in our society.
