ATLANTA — Atlanta police have for years illegally focused critics of a police and firefighter coaching heart, in accordance with a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a protester who’s certainly one of dozens of “Stop Cop City” activists going through home terrorism and racketeering fees.
Lawsuit accuses Atlanta police of illegally concentrating on ‘Cease Cop Metropolis’ protesters
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Jamie Marsicano, alleges that authorities view any critic of the coaching heart as a would-be legal and have repeatedly made arrests with out trigger, depriving protesters of their First Modification rights and their civil rights protections towards false arrest and malicious prosecution.
The long-brewing controversy over the coaching heart erupted in January 2023 after state troopers who have been a part of a sweep of the South River Forest killed an activist who authorities stated had fired at them. Quite a few protests ensued, with masked vandals generally attacking police autos and development gear to stall the challenge and intimidate contractors into backing out.
Although the coaching heart is sort of full, dozens of defendants, together with Marsicano, are going through a state racketeering cost that critics have decried as heavy-handed makes an attempt to silence the motion, which emerged within the wake of the 2020 racial justice protests. Environmental activists and anti-police demonstrators argued that uprooting acres of bushes for the ability would exacerbate environmental injury in a flood-prone, majority-Black space whereas serving as an costly staging floor for militarized officers to be educated in quelling social actions.
Marsicano, 31, was amongst 23 folks arrested close to a music competition in DeKalb County in March 2023, hours after a bunch of greater than 150 masked festivalgoers trekked about three-quarters of a mile by the South River Forest and stormed the coaching heart’s development web site, with some lighting gear on fireplace as others threw objects at retreating officers. The group then returned to the competition to mix in with the gang.
In line with an arrest warrant, authorities stated Marsicano, who makes use of they/them pronouns, was taken into custody as a result of they’d on “muddy clothing” from crossing by the woods and possessed a protect, assertions that Marsicano’s attorneys say are false.
Marsicano’s attorneys say their consumer was not among the many group that attacked the development web site and by no means left the competition grounds till they have been arrested whereas strolling again to their car after police ordered everybody to disperse.
Marsicano was caught up in an “indiscriminate mass arrest of legitimate festival attendees” that was a part of a sample spearheaded by Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum of authorities concentrating on the “Stop Cop City” motion, in accordance with the lawsuit, which was filed Feb. 24.
Marsicano was subsequently charged with home terrorism and, months later, was certainly one of 61 charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, generally known as RICO.
Marsicano was banned from the College of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus after their arrest and accomplished their legislation diploma remotely however has had issue discovering a job and securing housing due to the costs, in accordance with the lawsuit.
Marsicano was “publicly broadcast to the world as a ‘domestic terrorist’ and ‘RICO co-conspirator,’ forever tarnishing Plaintiff’s personal and professional life,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit lists greater than a dozen situations during which authorities “pretextually charged individuals deemed to be at or around Stop Cop City,” together with after a Might 2022 protest the place three folks “walking home were selectively stopped for carrying Stop Cop City signs,” and brought into custody. These arrests, in addition to others, have led to civil lawsuits which might be pending.
Marsicano’s lawsuit names numerous legislation enforcement officers in addition to town of Atlanta, which it accuses of getting made a “custom and practice” of concentrating on critics of the coaching heart.
Neither the Atlanta Police Division nor a spokesperson for town instantly responded to a request for remark.
Metropolis officers say the $115 million, 85-acre campus will change outdated, far-flung amenities and enhance police morale amid hiring and retention struggles. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has additionally stated that the ability will educate the “most progressive training and curriculum in the country” and that officers have repeatedly revised their plans to deal with environmental considerations.