‘Flailing’ Georgia attorney general condemned over charges for Cop City protesters

Georgia’s top law enforcement official has drawn accusations of using the weight of his office to lift his own political fortunes by bringing a new indictment against protesters of the Atlanta police training center known as Cop City. Amid bluster about “holding the line against antifa”, Georgia attorney general Chris Carr announced charges against three activists late last week even as his bid to become Georgia’s Republican nominee for governor limps along, with less than double-digit support in polling ahead of a 19 May primary. The move has caused some to question Carr’s timing and motives in his bid for political power. “Carr’s gubernatorial campaign is flailing,” said Paul Glaze, a veteran of Democratic political campaigns in Georgia. “It’s the last gasp of a dying man.” The three protesters have been charged in suburban Cobb county with criminal damage to property and arson, just weeks before the statute of limitations on the charges expired, since the alleged actions occurred four years ago. In addition, defendants Katie Marie Kloth, Tyler John Norman and Hannah Kass are already named among the 61 people indicted in Carr’s 2023 racketeering, or Rico case filed in neighboring Fulton county – the largest use of a law associated with the mafia against a protest movement in US history. A Fulton judge dismissed that indictment in December on the technical grounds of governor Brian Kemp not having authorized the prosecution. …