Georgia’s Attorney General prosecuting 18 demonstrators charged with domestic terrorism

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - On Thursday, Attorney General Chris Carr outlined his approach to prosecuting eighteen demonstrators charged with domestic terrorism.

“This is not a scare-tactic. We’re serious. Do not come to Georgia and engage in acts of violence,” said Carr.

All eighteen are tied to the movement to stop the development of the public safety training center in Atlanta.

“We believe in peaceful protest, you can disagree with the government, you can stand at the courthouse steps, or say things we disagree with, but do not come to our state, or if you’re a resident of the state, do not engage in acts of violence. You will be held accountable,” said Carr, in an interview with Atlanta News First.

Carr said while he would not divulge their evidence ahead of the court proceedings, he viewed the movement against so-called ‘Cop City’ as “well-organized” and “nationwide.”

“The ability to look at these cases, cases that are kind of RICO in nature, that have a large number of individuals that have been a part of it,” Carr said.

RICO crimes are those in connection to an orchestrated enterprise and come with harsher punishments.

A conviction of domestic terrorism could land a defendant in prison for up to 35 years.

Gerald Griggs, President of the Georgia chapter of the NAACP, penned a letter on Thursday in solidarity with the movement to stop ‘Cop City.’

“We are opposed to the building of the public safety training center because we have not addressed the police accountability,” said Griggs, in an interview with Atlanta News First.

In his letter, Griggs wrote:

“We, ‘the Atlantans’, know how to protest in a manner that focuses the message on the problem without creating chaos,” said Griggs.

Griggs said he’d like to see the roughly $90 million, allocated to the building of the training center, be instead allocated to the root causes of crime including poverty, job creation, and affordable housing.

Griggs also called for an independent investigation into the shooting at the training center on January 18 – where one protestor died and a state trooper was injured.

“We have to be about justice. So if he’s expanding his office, my question for him is have you expanded the department of civil rights to deal with these hate crimes that’s occurring, to deal with police accountability that’s occurring. Because this is not about being anti-law enforcement, this is about being pro-justice,” said Griggs.

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