Group protests the arrests of 3 activists charged with charity fraud
A crowd of people gathered outside the DeKalb County Jail to protest the arrests of three people who fought against the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
By Karli Barnett
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ATLANTA, Georgia (WANF) — A crowd of people gathered outside the DeKalb County Jail Wednesday evening to protest the arrests of three people who fought against the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
Marlon Scott Kautz, Savannah Patterson, and Adele Maclean were charged with money laundering and charity fraud.
Protesters argued the arrests were retaliation for opposing the training center.
“This is an arrest which is meant to, again, criminalize the movement, chill dissent, stop organizing, and stop activism from happening to stop ‘cop city,’ and we are here to say we will not let that happen,” said Kamau Franklin of the organization Community Movement Builders. He was one of the organizers of the protest, which brought together about 100 people from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
People came with signs, horns, and drums, chanting “Stop Cop City” and “free them all.”
Kautz, Patterson, and Maclean were all part of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which raised money to pay the bail of people arrested on domestic terrorism charges while protesting the Training Center site.
“This country has a strong history of raising money for bonds for groups they feel have been wrongly incarcerated,” said Alex Joseph. She is a former federal prosecutor in Atlanta and was out with the group. “To cut off that source of money is basically to say to a political movement: one, we are going to arrest you; and two, after we arrest you, there will be no one on the outside that will be able to support you, fund you, and help you get out.”
Governor Brian Kemp released a statement applauding the arrests, saying in part:
These criminals facilitated and encouraged domestic terrorism with no regard for others, watching as communities faced the destructive consequences of their actions. Here in Georgia, we do not allow that to happen.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp
The arrest affidavits have not been released yet, so it is still unclear where the GBI said the charity money was going.
The Atlanta City Council is scheduled to discuss funding for the Training Center on June 5.
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