#rico — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #rico, aggregated by home.social.
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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 -
15 #MoneyLaundering Charges Dropped Against 3 #ATL #CopCity #Solidarity #Activists ...But #Georgia #LEOs Still Allege Vast #Racketeering #Conspiracy Cass Against Nearly 100 #DefendTheForest #AntiPolice #Protestors Since Late Last Year
https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-cop-city-charges-dropped-solidarity-fund-360fad48beddfb970b145fc6577cc113 #RICO #DTAF #ACLU
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Don’t Stop: Continuing the Fight against #CopCity
Six More Months in the Movement to Defend the Forest
2023-12-12 via #CrimeThinc"Escalating Repression: #RICO and the Furtherance of the Conspiracy
"With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the 'tactics of organized criminals' language Governor Kemp used on July 2 was not just boilerplate copy drafted by an intern, nor was the August 2 press conference simply propaganda to assure backers that the state could still protect their investments. These phrases and statements were shaping operations, carefully crafted interventions designed to position the government for their next operation: the blanket criminalization of the entire movement.
"On August 29, the Attorney General of #Georgia, Christopher M. Carr, filed an indictment with the Fulton County Superior Court, bringing charges against 61 people under Georgia’s version of the Rackeeter-Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act O.C.G.A. § 16-14-4. The indictment became public on September 5. The document, which is over 100 pages long and very poorly written, claims that the 'conspiracy' (which it names 'Defend the Atlanta Forest') was 'founded' on May 25, 2020—the day that #MinneapolisPolice officers murdered #GeorgeFloyd, precipitating a nationwide #uprising.
"This was a serious escalation. It did not catch everyone by surprise: the #AtlantaSolidarityFund has been braced for such charges since February. The authorities and their extreme-right proxies had been demanding a full-scale crackdown on the movement for over a year, spreading a conspiracy theory that the movement was a mafia controlled by a shadowy and well-connected group (a narrative some activists also reproduced, apparently with no sense of irony). According to one version of this conspiracy theory, circulated by far-right trolls, the Network for Stronger Communities (a Georgia-based nonprofit organization) operates a number of financial enterprises, including the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, that coordinate acts of terrorism in order to accumulate wealth and influence. Of the 61 accused, three were members of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. The 42 people already facing #DomesticTerrorism charges were also indicted, as well as a number of other people whose connection to the movement was unclear. The indictment alleged that some people had committed acts in 'overt furtherance of the conspiracy' such as buying #GlueSticks for #SignMaking. [UK is using similar tactics, arresting people for just having #Superglue or #BikeLocks in their possession.]
"The RICO indictment was not a legal procedure but a political act. It was not a judicial intervention to suppress criminal activity but a government measure to crush what the text describes as '#anarchism,' '#collectivism,' '#SocialSolidarity,' '#MutualAid.”
"It is not simply 61 people who are on trial. By dating the case to the murder of George Floyd, the prosecution showed that their real target was the entire population of millions that participated in the consequent revolt. This is not an unusual court case, but a new chapter in the fight between those who seek to preserve the hierarchies of a structurally white supremacist society and those fighting to destroy it root and branch. The indictment does not present a list of crimes. It describes the contours and values of a rival society emerging within the movement to stop Cop City, aspiring to reinvent the world according to a different logic.
"The Fulton County Judge assigned to the RICO case immediately recused himself. Until then, judges had not recused themselves from cases related to the movement even when they possessed obvious ties to the Atlanta Police Foundation."
#JusticeForTort #StopCopCity #ACAB #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SLAPPs
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#Lawsuits Have Become the Weapon of Choice Against #Activists
Legal intimidation suits known as “#SLAPPs” are becoming the norm for private #corporations and #governments trying to silence those who speak out on matters of public interest.
by Katie Redford
July 17, 2023“On May 31, #Atlanta #SWAT teams with riot gear and battering rams broke down #MarlonKautz’s door. Police dragged Kautz and two colleagues to jail in their pajamas, charging them with #MoneyLaundering and charity fraud.
“Kautz, Adele MacLean, and Savannah Patterson, are volunteer board members of the #NetworkForStrongCommunities Inc., which was incorporated in 2020. Through it, they are able to raise funds for the #AtlantaSolidarityFund (#ASF). Since 2016, the fund has bailed out people arrested in #Georgia while exercising their First Amendment right to protest and helped them find legal help.
“Recently, the ASF has supported Atlanta activists who have been protesting a new $90 million police training center known as '#CopCity,' arguing that it will rob Atlanta of a #VitalGreenLung and increase inequality in surrounding neighborhoods. The state of Georgia, on the other hand, has charged dozens with 'domestic terrorism' for participating in largely peaceful protests.
“Georgia authorities claim that the money laundering charge is based on evidence of a fund transfer to another organization, but they haven’t shared any other details about their allegations. Magistrate Judge Altman, who presided over the bail hearing, described the state’s evidence as 'unimpressive,' reinforcing the defendants’ claims that the arrests are politically, not legally, motivated.
“Shortly after the arrest, Governor Brian Kemp announced that the state would go after everyone involved, and Attorney General Chris Carr tweeted that the funders of the bail and legal defense fund were next. As an executive director at a climate philanthropy who made charitable donations to the ASF for legal defense, I had to wonder: Was my door going to be battered down next?
“Some of the accused may have trespassed or destroyed property, but to charge protesters with 'domestic terrorism' and a legal defense fund with money laundering is a cynical political act that bears no relation to the misdemeanors alleged. Any American committed to democracy should be interested in making sure these charges lose in both the court of law and the court of public opinion.
“These charges seek to silence and stop opposition to an unpopular development project. They also telegraph a message to others in the state and nationwide: We will not tolerate lawful protest in Georgia. This strategy is known as strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP), which is an intimidation lawsuit, typically used by private corporations against those who speak out on matters of public interest. Various state governments are increasingly deploying this tactic, too.
“SLAPPs don’t usually win in court, but that’s not what they’re intended to do. Instead, they set out to threaten activists and drain the financial resources of social movements. They often unfold as years-long wars of attrition, where corporations and governments with disproportionately large resources grind down the financial, emotional, and legal capacities of activists. The threat of such a suit—typically brought against individuals or groups that confront powerful people or institutions—discourages free speech and association, chilling democracy itself.
“As a lawyer on the front lines of climate justice activism, I witnessed firsthand how a SLAPP was used to weaponize the law against free speech and association. During the mass protests by Indigenous water protectors and environmentalists campaigning against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, SLAPPs were used widely.
“As #StandingRock became a global cause célèbre, the pipeline’s owners brought a $900 million #racketeering case against individuals and #NGOs like #BankTrack and #Greenpeace, alleging a vast global conspiracy to damage the company’s reputation and bottom line through fraud and #defamation.
“A federal court ultimately dismissed the lawsuit. But despite its eventual failure in court, the SLAPP tactic served its intended purpose: intimidation. #KrystalTwoBulls, one of the Standing Rock organizers that my organization represented, said that being sued tangled her up, practically and emotionally, in a legal battle that diverted her attention, taking her away from her work on the climate crisis and #Indigenous #LandRights.
“She began to #censor herself; she withdrew from her community and the movement, fearing that conspiracy allegations might extend to anyone she touched. And that, of course, is the point of these suits: to send out the message to either shut up or suffer the consequences.
“The case against #Kautz in #Atlanta similarly seeks to spark fear in activists and donors against supporting #FirstAmendment rights and legal defense. There is reason to believe that prosecutors may also be preparing #RICO charges against anti–Cop City activists, another dangerous use of the legal system to quell #grassroots movements.
“Since Standing Rock, over 20 states have passed '#CriticalInfrastructure' laws, which dramatically increase civil and criminal penalties related to protests at or near #FossilFuel projects. #DomesticTerrorism laws like that in Georgia have a similar intention: to weaponize the legal system against critics and stifle #DissentingVoices.
“I have no doubt that the majority of the domestic terrorism charges around Cop City will fail. But in the process, a political point will have been made, at the expense of the constitutional right to free speech. People protesting to protect the #environment and #climate will have been publicly accused of being harmful to America’s security, and they will have been forced to defend themselves—likely at exorbitant cost—against a 30-year jail sentence. Other potential activists will surely remember these charges when they consider whether it’s worth it to attend a concert, sit-in, or protest.
"The best strategy for stopping SLAPP suits in their tracks, whether they emanate from the private sector or are used by the state, is to keep speaking out, to support defamed activists, and to make the litigants pay a price. About 30 states have introduced legislation that protects against SLAPPs. And last year, #Jami Raskin introduced the #SLAPPProtectionAct of 2022 to #Congress. It must be reintroduced.
“My organization, #EquationCampaign, created a fund to provide lawyers and legal support for people who face this kind of legal retaliation for their environmental and climate work. I’m astonished at the wide range of people who need our help: from #farmers and ranchers to #journalists and #IndigenousActivists. All of them are on the receiving end of David vs. Goliath legal tactics that have long served powerful interests with near-endless resources.
“Absent federal protections, we all must be vigilant in the face of the egregious proliferation of #antiprotest laws and lawsuits.
“#Democracy and the future of this #planet require people to speak up. The law should serve—not silence—those of us who do."
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/slapp-legal-intimidation-activists/
#ForestDefenders #DefendTheForest #StopCopCity #DirectAction #Fascism #RICO #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #NoDAPL #DakotaAccess #StandingWithStandingRock
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@skykiss Reminder, that in April and December 1869, Congress passed Reconstruction bills mandating that Virginia, Mississippi, Texas and Georgia ratify the Fifteenth Amendment as a precondition to regaining congressional representation; all four states did so.
If they decide to continue to act against the stipulations of the Fifteenth Amendment, there should be impressive consequences concerning the congressional representation of those still-rebellious states.
The Fifteenth Amendment demands:
"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
#RuleOfLaw #DefendDemocracy #DefendTheConstitution #ReconstructionAmendments #15thAmendment #VotingRights #CivilRights #HumanRights #GOP #ConspiracyAgainstRights #OrganizedCrime #RICO #TakeGOPOffTheBallots #ElectoralFraud #VoterSuppression #BallotSuppression #Mississippi
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@squig Trump's attempt to defend his Big Lie about the "stolen election" is the peak of brazenness, typical for a career fraudster's psychological projection:
Accuse your opponents of what you damn sure know your own organization has been & is still doing;
Committing electoral fraud by massively suppressing, disenfranchising & intimidating/ threatening voters, manipulating/ gerrymandering electoral maps & more nauseating anti-democratic "GOP"- methods to cheat their way to a fake, artificial, unjustified & unrealistic "majority" insurrectionary "Republicans" neither ever deserved nor ever honestly earned after Reconstruction & successful subversion of Lincoln's party.#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityNow #JusticeMatters #Trump #GOP #CareerCriminals #CareerFraudsters #OrganizedCrime #CriminalNetwork #RICO #ConspiracyAgainstRights #ConspiracyAgainstTheUS #BanTheGOP #TakeGOPOffTheBallots #Treason #Espionage #NationalSecurityThreat #ServingPutin
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@panamared27401 MAGA overthrow of U.S.government, being announced & promised.
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityNow #JusticeMatters #DefendTheConstitution #DefendDemocracy #ArrestTrump #Insurrection #RepeatOffender #PublicDanger #NationalSecurityThreat #EnemiesOfTheLaw #EnemiesOfTheConstitution #ConspiracyAgainstTheUS #ConspiracyAgainstRights #CriminalNetwork #OrganizedCrime #RICO #ProsecuteALLRebels #DisqualifyALLRebels
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@marcelias Every single one of those 126 House "Republicans", who signed the amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania before SCOTUS in 2020 should already be disqualified to hold any office under the United States, for *election subversion* (<= Nancy Pelosi).
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #DefendDemocracy #DefendTheConstitution #TakeGOPOffTheBallots #Insurrection #Rebellion #ElectionSubversion #ConspiracyAgainstRights #ConspiracyAgainstTheUS #OrganizedCrime #CriminalNetwork #RICO
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@futurebird Powell, Chesebro & others flipping is just a matter of self-preservation, in no way an indicator of ideological recovery from assholism.
Which prosecutors likely didn't even expect, just being focused on building the case based on available evidence laying bare the facts of the infamous matter.#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #Trump #ElectoralFraud #ElectoralApartheid #ConspiracyAgainstRights #ConspiracyAgainstTheUS #OrganizedCrime #CriminalNetwork #RICO
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😎🐙 The kraken has landed — on Donald Trump's feet.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/19/sidney-powell-guilty-plea-trump-georgia-elections
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #Trump #SidneyPowell #PleaDeal #Georgia #ElectoralFraud #ConspiracyAgainstRights #OrganizedCrime #CriminalNetwork #RICO -
@crooksandliars 🤔 Wasn't it Ingraham, who begged for Trump to order his insurrectionary hordes to stop assaulting & taintingthe United States Capitol on Jan 6, 2021?
Did Laura come to the conclusion she made a mistake then?
Do Fox & she approve insurrection & conspiracy against the U.S.?
[All rhetorical questions.]
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityNow #JusticeMatters #Jan6 #Insurrection #ConspiracyAgainstTheUS #ConspiracyAgainstRights #CriminalNetwork #OrganizedCrime #RICO #FoxNews #IncitementToInsurrection #Misinformation #Disinformation #Defamation #ShutFoxDown #CoConspirators
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Jack Smith is not "hating" Trump.
It's Jack Smith's job to bring career criminals to justice — and he's certainly excellent at it.It's completely irrelevant, whether Trump is an asshole or not, the job of the prosecutor is to serve justice & the people's Rule of Law, which no one is supposed to be above — not even more or less wealthy sociopathic real-estate developers, who wrongly assume justice should serve & protect them from accountability & the laws of the United States.
https://www.salon.com/2023/09/25/i-call-for-help-from-the-highest-courts-cries-out-in-fear-of-trump-hating-prosecutor/
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityNow #JusticeMatters #Jan6 #Insurrection #Theft #NARA #Espionage #ObstructionOfJustice #WitnessTampering #ConspiracyAgainstRights #ConspiracyAgainstTheUS #DefraudingAmerica #CareerCriminals CareerFraudsters #OrganizedCrime #CriminalNetwork #RICO #NoOneIsAboveTheLaw #TrumpIsNotAboveTheLaw -
…#Sadow has said he will file a motion to #dismiss the charges & move to #sever #Trump’s case from other co-defendants, including… Kenneth #Chesebro, who are seeking a #SpeedyTrial in the matter.
Last wk, McAfee approved an Oct 23 #TrialDate for Chesebro, though #Willis has argued she wants to try all 19 defendants, incl’g Trump, on that date.
Trump is also expected to follow… #MarkMeadows in seeking to move his case from state to #FederalCourt. -
New! #JudgeScottMcAfee in response to #FaniWillis proposed #TrialDate of October 23, 2023 for Ken #Chesebro, sets November 3, 2023 date.
Hell yeah.
#Trump #FultonCounty #Georgia #criminal #RICO #ElectionInterference #law #legal
"Due to the Defendant's timely Demand for #SpeedyTrial filed Aug. 23, 2023, scheduling will occur on an expedited timeline to meet the November 3, 2023, deadline to begin trial," the decision reads.
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#FultonCounty #Georgia DA #FaniWillis requested #TrialDate of October 23 according to #CourtFiling
#criminal #RICO #Trump #ElectionInterference
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23926016-request-for-oct-23-trial-date
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#Georgia Secretary of State Brad #Raffensperger & state election investigator #FrancesWatson have been #subpoenaed to #testify during a Monday hearing in #FederalCourt in Georgia to determine if the #RICO #indictment filed against fmr #Trump White House Chief of Staff #MarkMeadows should be transferred to federal court.