Understanding the RICO Charges in Atlanta
A Sweeping Indictment Seeks to Criminalize Protest Itself
https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaRICO
In indiscriminately lumping together scores of arrestees, many of whom have ostensibly never met, into a fabricated conspiracy case, the prosecution is attempting to criminalize protest itself. This case should be of interest to anyone who is concerned about civil liberties such as the freedom to protest, the freedom to advocate against police brutality and authoritarianism, and the freedom to advocate for preserving the environment.
The indictment does not seem to indicate that prosecutors have any previously unreleased information at their disposal indicating the existence of a conspiracy, in the sense that the word is ordinarily employed. Rather, they have brought new charges against those whose names they already had as the result of previous arrests, and are now clumsily endeavoring to frame them as participants in a cohesive criminal enterprise.
