First RICO trial over Atlanta Public Safety Training Center protests set to begin
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - The first of many trials in a sweeping Georgia indictment related to protests against Atlanta's planned police and firefighter training facility that protestors have dubbed "Cop City" is set to start on Wednesday.
Ayla King is one of the 61 defendants named in Georgia's 109-page indictment handed down by Attorney General Chris Carr in September that accused activists of multiple acts of violence from 2020 to early 2023.
The indictment charges the defendants with violating Georgia's RICO Act. While other defendants are facing other charges, King is just facing the racketeering charge.
King, a resident of Worchester, Massachusetts, was one of 23 people arrested in connection with a clash between police and protesters at the site of the training center on March 5, 2023.
That night, police say dozens of protesters left the nearby South River Music Festival, changed into black clothing, and entered the site of the controversial police training center.
61 'Cop City' protesters arraigned
Dozens of protesters were arraigned Monday on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges related to vandalism at the site of the new Public Safety Training Center. While the state has referred to the group as "anarchists," activists say they were simply exercising their First Amendment rights.
A video released by Atlanta Police shows what appears to be fireworks aimed at officers. In the same video, you can see items including rocks and Molotov cocktails being thrown by protesters in the direction of police, a tipped-over vehicle that later became engulfed in flames, and protesters attempting to set other pieces of construction equipment on fire.
King was one of 30 people detained at the music festival after the alleged vandalism and is accused of being one of the group who trespassed into the forest. They had requested a speedy trial after the indictment was filed.
Jury selection for the case has already taken place in December. The trial is set to begin in Fulton County on Wednesday morning.
RICO charges carry a sentence of five to 20 years in prison that can be added on top of the penalty for the underlying acts.
Atlanta public safety training center controversy
GA lawmakers vote to support so-call ‘Cop City’
The Georgia House has voted to back the building of the controversial Atlanta police and fire training center opponents have dubbed "cop city." Critics of that resolution say it’s a local issue, not for the state legislature, and accuse Republicans of trying to further divide Democrats.
The Atlanta City Council approved the training center in 2021, saying a state-of-the-art campus would replace substandard offerings and boost police morale, which is beset by hiring and retention struggles in the wake of violent nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the summer of 2020.
Activists nationwide have joined the protest movement, arguing that the 85-acre center would train officers to become more militarized and quell dissent, all while hundreds of trees are cut down, worsening flooding and climate change.
RELATED: Poll: Atlanta voters want planned police training center on ballot, no new Fulton County jail
Protests against the project, which have at times resulted in violence and vandalism, escalated after the fatal shooting in January of 26-year-old protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known as Tortuguita. Last year, a prosecutor said he would not pursue charges against the state troopers who shot Paez Terán, saying he found that their use of deadly force was "objectively reasonable."
After obtaining the indictment, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr characterized the defendants as "militant anarchists."
Demonstrators and civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have condemned the indictment and accused Carr, a Republican, of levying heavy-handed charges to try to silence a movement that has galvanized environmentalists and anti-police protesters across the country.
Most of those indicted in August had already been charged over their alleged involvement in the movement.
Among the defendants: more than three dozen people who were previously facing domestic terrorism charges in connection to the protests; three leaders of a bail fund previously accused of money laundering; and three activists previously charged with felony intimidation after authorities said they distributed flyers calling a state trooper a "murderer" for his involvement in Paez Terán’s death.
Prosecutors have alleged a conspiracy that includes a wide variety of underlying crimes that range from possessing fire accelerant and throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers to being reimbursed for glue and food for activists who spent months camping in the woods near the construction site.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.