- cross-posted to:
- atlantanews
- cross-posted to:
- atlantanews
More than five dozen activists were indicted on RICO charges last week over the ongoing efforts to halt construction of the city of Atlanta’s planned public safety training center in DeKalb County.
RICO prosecution requires multiple acts wherein members set up an “illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a “racket”) to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit” through coercion, fraud or extortion.
How in the hell is this going to apply to loosely organized voluntary protesters who are unarmed in the face of heavily armed police?
This is stupid. This case is going to fall apart.
Did you even read the indictment?
They were organized enough to form a 503c charity and then funnel money in and out of it, track expenses and receipts, and perform reimbursements for supplies for conducting what amounts to traditional terrorism. They also established both on-grid and off-grid communication networks to organize and strategize. They also created and internally published their own educational materials to indoctrinate new recruits to the inner core of the cause.
You and I have very different definitions for “loosely”.