Why is Georgia prosecuting leftwing activists with the same law as Trump? | Akin Olla

Using anti-racketeering laws created to fight the mafia, the state is cracking down on people protesting a police training facility

Within weeks of each other, Donald Trump and 61 leftwing activists were indicted under criminal conspiracy laws in Georgia. What may feel like a victory for centrism and justice is actually a dangerous conflation.

The protesters are part of the Stop Cop City movement, fighting to prevent the construction of a new police urban combat training facility over what the Muscogee Creek people call the Weelaunee forest outside of Atlanta. One protester has already been killed by police, with an independent autopsy detailing that they probably had their hands up when they were shot 57 times.

Georgia has expansive anti-racketeering laws, originally created to fight the mafia; the state's Republican attorney general, Chris Carr, has decided to stretch these laws far past what could reasonably be considered their intended purpose. While the former president was indicted for an alleged conspiracy to literally overthrow the government, many Stop Cop City protesters are facing similar charges for such acts as receiving reimbursements for glue and food and raising money to bail others out of jail.

Akin Olla is a contributing opinion writer at the Guardian US