Agency: **Press Release: Fulton County Judge Officially Dismisses RICO Charges Against All 61 #StopCopCity Defendants**

https://anarchistagency.com/press-release-fulton-county-judge-officially-dismisses-rico-charges-against-all-61-stopcopcity-defendants/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 31, 2025 Fulton County Judge Officially Dismisses RICO Charges Against All 61 #StopCopCity Defendants Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr Failed to Obtain Constitutional Authority from Governor Brian Kemp

Racketeering (RICO) charges against 61 people indicted as co-conspirators in the #StopCopCity movement were dismissed last week, marking a significant victory for those facing prosecution in the years after the movement’s peak.

https://unicornriot.ninja/2025/cop-city-rico-cases-dismissed-years-after-61-activists-charged-as-criminal-conspiracy/

Proud owner of a number of #Anarchist books -- starting with #AbbieHoffman's #StealThisBook and #PrairieFire - The politics of revolutionary anti-imperialism ( #WeatherUnderground, 1974). Also a proud subscriber to #InTheseTimes 'zine, and frequent #Antifa stickerer! I've never hid what I believe in -- I'm not about to start now! #Resist!

The Feds Want to Make It Illegal to Even Possess an #Anarchist #Zine

#DanielSanchez is facing federal charges for what #FreeSpeech advocates say is a clear attack on the #FirstAmendment.

by Seth Stern, November 23 2025

Excerpt: "Federal prosecutors have filed a new indictment in response to a July 4 noise demonstration outside the #PrairielandICE #DetentionFacility in #AlvaradoTX, during which a police officer was shot.

"There are numerous problems with the indictment, but perhaps the most glaring is its inclusion of charges against a Dallas #artist who wasn’t even at the protest. Daniel 'Des' Sanchez is accused of transporting a box that contained ' #Antifa materials' after the incident, supposedly to conceal evidence against his wife, Maricela Rueda, who was there.

"But the boxed materials aren’t Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, or whatever #MAGA officials claim 'Antifa' uses to wage its imaginary war on America. As prosecutors laid out in the July criminal complaint that led to the indictment, they were zines and pamphlets. Some contain controversial ideas — one was titled ' #InsurrectionaryAnarchy' — but they’re fully constitutionally protected free speech. The case demonstrates the administration’s intensifying efforts to criminalize left-wing #activists after Donald Trump announced in September that he was designating 'Antifa' as a 'major terrorist organization' — a legal designation that doesn’t exist for domestic groups — following the killing of Charlie Kirk.

"Sanchez was first indicted in October on charges of 'corruptly concealing a document or record' as a standalone case, but the new indictment merges his charges with those against the other defendants, likely in hopes of burying the First Amendment problems with the case against him under prosecutors’ claims about the alleged shooting.

"It’s an escalation of a familiar tactic. In 2023, Georgia prosecutors listed #ZineDistribution as part of the #conspiracy charges against 61 #StopCopCity protesters in a sprawling #RICO indictment that didn’t bother to explain how each individual defendant was involved in any actual crime. I wrote back then about my concern that this wasn’t just sloppy overreach, but also a blueprint for censorship. Those fears have now been validated by Sanchez’s prosecution solely for possessing similar literature."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/11/23/prairieland-ice-antifa-zines-criminalize-protest-journalism/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/KEoxE

#AntiFascism #Resistance #Antifa #Movements #USPol
#WorldPol #Authoritarianism #Dictatorship #Disobey
#Resistance #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Proud owner of a number of #Anarchist books -- starting with #AbbieHoffman's #StealThisBook and #PrairieFire - The politics of revolutionary anti-imperialism ( #WeatherUnderground, 1974). Also a proud subscriber to #InTheseTimes 'zine, and frequent #Antifa stickerer! I've never hid what I believe in -- I'm not about to start now! #Resist!

The Feds Want to Make It Illegal to Even Possess an #Anarchist #Zine

#DanielSanchez is facing federal charges for what #FreeSpeech advocates say is a clear attack on the #FirstAmendment.

by Seth Stern, November 23 2025

Excerpt: "Federal prosecutors have filed a new indictment in response to a July 4 noise demonstration outside the #PrairielandICE #DetentionFacility in #AlvaradoTX, during which a police officer was shot.

"There are numerous problems with the indictment, but perhaps the most glaring is its inclusion of charges against a Dallas #artist who wasn’t even at the protest. Daniel 'Des' Sanchez is accused of transporting a box that contained ' #Antifa materials' after the incident, supposedly to conceal evidence against his wife, Maricela Rueda, who was there.

"But the boxed materials aren’t Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, or whatever #MAGA officials claim 'Antifa' uses to wage its imaginary war on America. As prosecutors laid out in the July criminal complaint that led to the indictment, they were zines and pamphlets. Some contain controversial ideas — one was titled ' #InsurrectionaryAnarchy' — but they’re fully constitutionally protected free speech. The case demonstrates the administration’s intensifying efforts to criminalize left-wing #activists after Donald Trump announced in September that he was designating 'Antifa' as a 'major terrorist organization' — a legal designation that doesn’t exist for domestic groups — following the killing of Charlie Kirk.

"Sanchez was first indicted in October on charges of 'corruptly concealing a document or record' as a standalone case, but the new indictment merges his charges with those against the other defendants, likely in hopes of burying the First Amendment problems with the case against him under prosecutors’ claims about the alleged shooting.

"It’s an escalation of a familiar tactic. In 2023, Georgia prosecutors listed #ZineDistribution as part of the #conspiracy charges against 61 #StopCopCity protesters in a sprawling #RICO indictment that didn’t bother to explain how each individual defendant was involved in any actual crime. I wrote back then about my concern that this wasn’t just sloppy overreach, but also a blueprint for censorship. Those fears have now been validated by Sanchez’s prosecution solely for possessing similar literature."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/11/23/prairieland-ice-antifa-zines-criminalize-protest-journalism/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/KEoxE

#AntiFascism #Resistance #Antifa #Movements #USPol
#WorldPol #Authoritarianism #Dictatorship #Disobey
#Resistance #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Rather than permitting the Trump administration to frighten us into passivity, we must understand this broad, vague, and performative executive order designating "antifa" a fabricated "terrorist organization" as an effort to intimidate. It is chiefly intended to convince us to let them consolidate power without a fight.

If we look at the stymied #StopCopCity RICO prosecution as a test case, the chief danger is that people will withdraw from movements, enabling the Trump administration to maintain the initiative long enough to escalate to other forms of repression, such as extrajudicial force.

This should catalyze us into urgent organizing, not paralyze us. Only collective action can keep us safe and free.

https://crimethinc.com/Safeguarding

Rather than permitting the Trump administration to frighten us into passivity, we must understand this broad, vague, and performative executive order designating "antifa" a fabricated "terrorist organization" as an effort to intimidate. It is chiefly intended to convince us to let them consolidate power without a fight.

If we look at the stymied #StopCopCity RICO prosecution as a test case, the chief danger is that people will withdraw from movements, enabling the Trump administration to maintain the initiative long enough to escalate to other forms of repression, such as extrajudicial force.

This should catalyze us into urgent organizing, not paralyze us. Only collective action can keep us safe and free.

https://crimethinc.com/Safeguarding

An interview with Nolan Huber of @span atlanta_press on exciting news in the 61 RICO indictments in the Atlanta #StopCopCity case & a discussion of the impacts of the movement

https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2025/09/14/the-end-of-the-atlanta-stop-cop-city-rico-61-case-with-nolan-huber/

An interview with Nolan Huber of @span atlanta_press on exciting news in the 61 RICO indictments in the Atlanta #StopCopCity case & a discussion of the impacts of the movement

https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2025/09/14/the-end-of-the-atlanta-stop-cop-city-rico-61-case-with-nolan-huber/

In this video from Atlanta Community Press Collective, #StopCopCity RICO defendant Jamie Marsicano discusses how the explicit goal of this judicial persecution is to terrorize people out of engaging in mutual aid, solidarity, and other practices that are core to anarchism.

Thanks to mutual aid and solidarity, the RICO case has not succeeded in accomplishing that goal.

Big news out of Atlanta yesterday - Judge Farmer is back in court this morning and may or may not also end up dismissing the remaining counts in Georgia AG #StopCopCity indictment:

https://unicornriot.ninja/2025/judge-finds-attorney-general-cant-bring-rico-charges-in-cop-city-case/

Get finer grain details from the proceedings by reading our court reporting 'livetweet' threads on @unicornriotlive on bsky:

#StopCopCity RICO Prosecution Motions Hearings Day 1 - Sept. 8, 2025: https://bsky.app/profile/unicornriotlive.bsky.social/post/3lyddyzjeoc22

Judge Farmer just wrapped up the motions hearings in the troubled #StopCopCity prosecution brought by the Georgia AG office. Counts 1 (RICO) and 3 (Arson) are basically guaranteed to be dismissed based on his findings re: jurisdiction, and he may also dismiss Count 2 (Domestic Terrorism).

Big news out of Atlanta yesterday - Judge Farmer is back in court this morning and may or may not also end up dismissing the remaining counts in Georgia AG #StopCopCity indictment:

https://unicornriot.ninja/2025/judge-finds-attorney-general-cant-bring-rico-charges-in-cop-city-case/

In this video from Atlanta Community Press Collective, #StopCopCity RICO defendant Jamie Marsicano discusses how the explicit goal of this judicial persecution is to terrorize people out of engaging in mutual aid, solidarity, and other practices that are core to anarchism.

Thanks to mutual aid and solidarity, the RICO case has not succeeded in accomplishing that goal.

Breaking news from Atlanta - Judge Kevin Farmer just indicated he would imminently dismiss the RICO case against the 61 #StopCopCity defendants after finding the Georgia Attorney General wasn’t authorized to bring the case due to a lack of formal authorization for ‘concurrent jurisdiction’ from the Governor.

The ruling will likely be appealed and for now other counts in the case remain but will continue to be aggressively contested by the defense.

Counts 1 and 3 in the #StopCopCity indictment (RICO and Arson) are highly likely to get dismissed based on Judge Farmer’s comments today. A ruling isn’t expected today but he made his position quite clear.

Tomorrow’s hearing will focus on defense motions to dismiss Count 2 (Domestic Terrorism) despite the Georgia Attorney General having a stronger argument for concurrent jurisdiction regarding those charges. There are also many other motions to be heard challenging any remaining counts.

The judge in the #StopCopCity case says that he is likely to toss out the RICO charges on the grounds that they were improperly filed. That will not be the end of the ordeal, but it is an important step.

Background on the charges:

https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaRICO

Background on the movement itself:

https://crimethinc.com/CopCity2025

The judge in the #StopCopCity case says that he is likely to toss out the RICO charges on the grounds that they were improperly filed. That will not be the end of the ordeal, but it is an important step.

Background on the charges:

https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaRICO

Background on the movement itself:

https://crimethinc.com/CopCity2025