{"id":28513,"date":"2023-09-15T13:20:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T20:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=28513"},"modified":"2023-09-15T13:20:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T20:20:51","slug":"cop-city-indictments-threaten-press-freedom-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/15\/cop-city-indictments-threaten-press-freedom-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Cop City Indictments Threaten Press Freedom Too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a><\/a>BECOME
A MEMBER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message is clear: Try to spread opinions cops don\u2019t like through the media, and you might be charged next.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seth Stern<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 11 2023, 2:15 p.m. (TheIntercept.com)<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Georgia<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr speaks during a news conference to discuss the recent indictment of 61 defendants in Fulton County on Sept. 5, 2023. Photo: Natrice Miller\/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE DISTURBING INDICTMENT<\/strong> of 61 people<\/a> who protested the Georgia police training facility commonly referred to as \u201cCop City\u201d lays bare everything that is wrong with RICO laws<\/a> and the prosecutors<\/a> who abuse them. Even the author<\/a> of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, on which the Georgia law is based, agrees that it\u2019s meant to fight organized crime, not stifle dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implications of the indictment for press freedom may seem like an afterthought considering everything else that is terrible about it. Its working theory is essentially that whenever some members of a protest movement commit crimes, everyone involved in the movement is responsible for the \u201cconspiracy,\u201d no matter how tenuous their connection to the alleged offense. It seeks to criminalize a centuries-old political theory \u2014 anarchism \u2014 and to frame the activism following George Floyd\u2019s murder<\/a> as a plot by domestic terrorists (the indictment says the quiet part out loud by listing the date Floyd was killed as the start of the \u201cconspiracy\u201d). Perhaps most importantly, it has upended the lives of all those baselessly indicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, the threat to press freedom is real and shouldn\u2019t be ignored. Any source considering talking to a journalist about a protest or controversial cause couldn\u2019t be blamed for thinking twice after reading the indictment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDefend the Atlanta Forest uses websites, social media, and statements to traditional media to sow disinformation and propaganda to promote its extremist political agenda, legitimize its behavior, and recruit new members,\u201d prosecutors allege. \u201c[I]n an effort to de-legitimize the facts as relayed by law enforcement \u2026 members of Defend the Atlanta Forest often contact news media and flood social media with claims that their unlawful actions are protected by the First Amendment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indictment also alleges that Defend the Atlanta Forest has \u201cworked with external entities to produce videos and podcast interviews\u201d where they discuss \u201canti-authority movements\u201d; that the group holds \u201cmedia-attended press conferences to control the story and promote their own narrative\u201d; and that it posts \u201cpress releases, misleading information, propaganda, and disinformation\u201d on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message is clear: Try to spread opinions cops don\u2019t like through the media, and you might find your name listed after \u201cState v.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally, it was cops, not protesters, who broke the law in trying to control the media narrative about Cop City. Here\u2019s video<\/a> of an officer threatening to arrest a journalist and seize his footage unless he agrees to give police favorable coverage. And when a journalist tried to cover the protests firsthand, they stole his notes<\/a>. At another protest two days after the indictment, police shot down and seized a documentary crew\u2019s drone as it filmed the events. But, according to the indictment, seeking to influence media coverage is a \u201ctraditional activity of anarchist organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indictment\u2019s framing of \u201czines<\/a>\u201d containing \u201canarchist ideas\u201d as evidence of some sinister plot is just as dangerous as its effort to criminalize talking to journalists. The indictment might leave the impression that the zines contain nothing but catnip for wannabe radicals. In reality, many of them are academic \u2014 or even journalistic \u2014 in tone. They discuss everything from public records revealing Cop City contractors\u2019 political contributions<\/a> to research by environmental organizations on the projects\u2019 impact on carbon sequestration rates<\/a>. <\/strong>One, called<\/a> \u201cA Brief History of the Atlanta City Prison Farm,\u201d contains 164 footnotes. <\/strong>Sure, the zines include ideas some may find disagreeable. But citing them as proof of a conspiracy is an affront to the First Amendment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the indictment\u2019s assaults on publishers don\u2019t stop there: It also finds criminality in, for example, taking photos and videos of officers to \u201cspread the message of Defend the Atlanta Forest,\u201d posting photos of the Atlanta Police Foundation project manager, and posting links to news stories about the protests.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Defying RICO Indictment, Faith Leaders Chain Themselves to Bulldozer to Stop Cop City<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Federal appellate courts with jurisdiction over Georgia<\/a> have joined courts everywhere else<\/a> in declaring filming and photographing police in public to be protected First Amendment activity. But the indictment nonetheless lumps actions like these into the \u201cconspiracy,\u201d often through the laughably convoluted allegation that they were intended to \u201ccause and induce the construction officials to withhold records, documents, and testimony in official proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indictment also threatens the press by attacking basic digital security practices<\/a> journalists and activists both routinely use to avoid illegal surveillance<\/a>. Ironically, the same prosecutors trying to criminalize taking pictures and talking to journalists can\u2019t think of any reason why protesters might have wanted to avoid prying government eyes, or prepare for potential run-ins with cops, unless they were committing actual crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors also allege that protesters\u2019 intent to break the law is evidenced by their \u201cmemorizing or writing the Atlanta Solidarity Fund\u2019s phone number on their body in case of arrest.\u201d As we wrote in April<\/a>, journalists, like protesters<\/a>, write legal aid numbers on their persons \u201cnot because journalists intend to commit crimes [but] because police have an unfortunate habit<\/a> of arresting journalists for doing their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also cite protesters\u2019 use of \u201conline security measures which disguise a user\u2019s true identity, such as the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN)\u201d and their use of \u201cend-to-end encrypted messaging app[s] Signal or Telegram\u201d to \u201cprevent[] law enforcement from viewing their communication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technologies like VPN and encryption aren\u2019t criminal; press freedom organizations recommend<\/a> them to journalists worldwide. Last month\u2019s unlawful police raid of a newsroom in Marion, Kansas, provides a clear illustration of why journalists should use encryption<\/a>. Same goes for other noncriminals whose communications might interest law enforcement. Earlier this year, we learned that police in North Carolina cited a journalist\u2019s anarchist beliefs as a pretext <\/a>to illegally search their phone (which, fortunately, was encrypted).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If certain Cop City protesters committed real crimes, then prosecutors can bring charges against those protesters, individually, that are proportionate to their alleged infractions. Instead they\u2019re trying to elevate relatively small-time offenses, like property damage and allegedly improper petty reimbursements, into racketeering \u2014 and throwing the First and Fourth Amendments to the wind in the process. Prosecutors are sworn to uphold the Constitution; drawing criminal inferences from things like talking to journalists to avoiding illegal surveillance is offensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scholars and activists have\u00a0criticized<\/a>\u00a0RICO laws, and particularly their use against First Amendment activity, for decades. This unconstitutional indictment should finally force lawmakers to do something about the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONTACT THE AUTHOR:<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seth Stern<\/a>seth@\u200bfreedom.press<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BECOMEA MEMBER The message is clear: Try to spread opinions cops don\u2019t like through the media, and you might be charged next. Seth Stern September 11 2023, 2:15 p.m. (TheIntercept.com) Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr speaks during a news conference to discuss the recent indictment of 61 defendants in Fulton… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[91],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28513"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28514,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28513\/revisions\/28514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}