Defendants in Georgia 'Cop City' case say they are in limbo as trial
delays continue
[May 12, 2025]
By R.J. RICO
ATLANTA (AP) — Single mother Priscilla Grim lost her job. Aspiring
writer Julia Dupuis frequently stares at the bedroom ceiling, numb.
Geography and environmental studies researcher Hannah Kass is worried
about her career prospects after she graduates from her Ph.D. program.
The three are among 61 defendants accused by Republican Georgia Attorney
General Chris Carr of participating in a yearslong racketeering
conspiracy to halt the construction of a police and firefighter training
facility just outside Atlanta that critics pejoratively call “Cop City.”
Their cases are at a standstill, 20 months after being indicted under
Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, or RICO,
which is likely the largest criminal racketeering case ever filed
against protesters in U.S. history, experts say.
Trial for five of the defendants was supposed to start last year but got
bogged down in procedural issues. The judge overseeing the case then
moved to another court. A new judge has set a status hearing for
Wednesday.
The delays have left people in limbo, facing charges carrying up to 20
years behind bars for what they maintain was legitimate protest, not
domestic terrorism. The case also has suppressed a movement that brought
together hundreds of activists to protect a wooded patch of land that
ultimately was razed for the recently completed $118 million, 85-acre
(34-hectare) project.
Officials say the project is sorely needed to replace outdated
facilities and boost officers' morale. Opponents say it will be a
training ground for a militarized police force and its construction has
worsened environmental damage in a poor, majority-Black area.
Protests escalated after the fatal 2023 shooting of Manuel Esteban Paez
Terán, known as Tortuguita, who was camping near the site when
authorities launched a clearing operation. Officials said they killed
Tortuguita, 26, after the activist shot and wounded a trooper from
inside a tent.
A family-commissioned autopsy concluded Tortuguita was killed with their
hands in the air, but a prosecutor found the officers' use of force was
“ objectively reasonable.”
The challenges of a 61-person indictment
Chris Timmons, a former Georgia prosecutor who has handled numerous RICO
cases, said it’s understandable such a large case would take a long time
to be scheduled. But Timmons said he is surprised prosecutors don’t seem
to be aggressively pushing for a trial date.
“Cases age like milk, not like wine,” Timmons said. “The longer we go,
memories fade, witnesses become unavailable. If I were in the
prosecutors' shoes, I’d want this case tried as soon as possible.”
The attorney general's office did not respond to requests for comment.
Michael Mears, a professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School who
studies RICO cases, said prosecutors “boxed themselves in by charging so
many people at one time instead of going after the leadership.”
Prosecutors’ decision last year to drop money laundering charges against
three of the movement’s alleged leaders was a sign of the case’s
weakness. And with the movement having faded from the public
consciousness, there is less political appetite for cracking down on the
protesters, he said.
“Prosecutors can’t just walk away from it, but I think you’ll probably
see it die a slow death,” Mears said, predicting charges would slowly be
dismissed.
That is cold comfort for those who say their lives are on hold.
Julia Dupuis
“I think most of our lives are just completely frozen in one way or
another,” said Dupuis, 26, who lives in Massachusetts.
Dupuis was charged with felony intimidation of an officer in 2023 for
distributing anti-police flyers near the home of one of the troopers who
killed Tortuguita, Dupuis’ friend. The trooper called authorities after
learning the flyers, which called him a “murderer,” were placed on his
neighbors' mailboxes.
Now banned from Georgia, Dupuis struggles to find the motivation to
complete freelance copywriting projects that pay for their $650 rent.
“There's a lot I want to do, a lot of hopes and dreams that I feel like
are just kind of stuck,” said Dupuis, who dreams of joining New York
City’s creative writing scene.
But most of all, Dupuis misses the activist community that once thrived
in the South River Forest.
“The charges have ripped me away from my community and the people that I
love so much. That’s what I’ve been longing for every single day: to be
back with my people," Dupuis said.
[to top of second column]
|
Protesters march during a demonstration in opposition to a new
police training center on Nov. 13, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike
Stewart, File)
Priscilla Grim
Grim, 51, is tired of waiting and recently filed for a speedy trial.
It's unclear whether her motion will be granted, since the speedy
trial deadline passed long ago.
“Let’s get this over with," Grim said. "If you think you have
something on me, let’s do it — which you don’t.”
Grim, who lives in New York City, is one of many “Stop Cop City”
defendants who post on social media for financial support to help
pay for food and rent. Health insurance is out of the question,
despite chronic pain in her knee from a prior accident.
Besides the couple hundred dollars she gets each month from donors
she doesn't know, Grim cobbles together funds through freelance work
for activist-oriented causes and is focused on helping her daughter
get through college.
“I’ve never had such a hard time finding employment,” said Grim, who
previously held marketing jobs. “I do really well until the final
interview and then everybody goes ghost on me. I think it's because
that's when they look my name up.”
Prosecutors say Grim was among a throng of black-clad activists in
March 2023 who left a music festival, walked through the woods and
overtook the construction site, torching equipment and throwing
rocks at retreating officers before returning to blend in with
festivalgoers.
Grim said she was in her tent, having woken up from a nap, when
officers arrived at the festival and began making arrests. Grim said
she began to run before falling due to her knee injury.
“I heard men screaming at me," Grim said, describing what prompted
her to run. "That's scary as a woman. They didn't say they were
police or anything.”
Authorities, however, said Grim ran upon spotting the officers and
tried to hide.
After her arrest, Grim lost an email marketing contract with Fordham
University, which had been about to give her a full-time position.
“People know me, and when they hear I'm a ‘domestic terrorist’
they’re like, ‘What? No! What?!’ Grim said. “I’m not just talking
about activist friends saying this — these are friends from parent
circles.”
Hannah Kass
On May 12, 2022, a group of protesters gathered in suburban Atlanta
outside the offices of Brasfield & Gorrie, the training center's
primary contractor. Some set off fireworks as others broke windows
and spray-painted “Trees not cops,” causing an estimated $30,000 in
damage, authorities said.
Kass, 32, attended the protest but said she never vandalized
anything and was engaging in a research method called “participant
observation,” which involves immersing oneself in the community
being studied.
“I was there as both a scholar and an activist,” said Kass, a Ph.D.
candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies land
struggles and teaches environmental social sciences to
undergraduates.
Authorities arrested her on charges of felony criminal property
damage and felony terroristic threats, saying surveillance video
shows she helped set off Roman candles.
Kass underwent a university disciplinary hearing but said the school
has supported her. She worries potential employers might not be as
understanding.
Like many of her codefendants, Kass rejected prosecutors' plea deal
at her RICO arraignment that would have included serving three years
in prison.
“I have absolutely nothing to plead guilty for," she said. "I should
have every right to protest and believe what I want to believe and
associate with whatever political tendencies I wish to associate
with.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
