At a hearing on Tuesday, Georgia Deputy Attorney General John Fowler dropped money laundering-related charges against three activists involved in protests against Atlanta’s public safety training center, dubbed “Cop City.”
Marlon Scott Kautz, 40, and Adele Maclean, 43, both from Atlanta, and Savannah D. Patterson, 31, of Savannah were arrested in May 2023 during a raid at a home in Edgewood known as a base for “Stop Cop City” activists. The three were subsequently charged with money laundering and charity fraud as part of a sweeping RICO indictment.
Kautz, Maclean and Patterson are organizers with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides legal support, including bail money, for those arrested during protests. The group has played a role in assisting Defend the Atlanta Forest activists arrested protesting “Cop City.” Many of the 61 protesters arrested face charges of domestic terrorism.
“The state has previously claimed that the Atlanta Solidarity Fund is at the center of the alleged criminal enterprise, using the money laundering charges to do so,” said Keyanna Jones, a Stop Cop City activist and co-pastor at Park Avenue Baptist Church. “Now, it is admitting that it doesn’t have the evidence to prove its allegations, just as it lacks the evidence to prove its case altogether.”
The state continues to pursue racketeering, domestic terrorism, and arson charges against the 61 indicted activists.
Atlanta Police and the GBI have tied Cop City activists to an ongoing series of arsons where construction equipment belonging to companies involved in the construction of the training center has been damaged or destroyed. The most recent incident occurred in August in Kirkwood.
Dozens of activists packed Atlanta City Hall on Monday to renew their demand for a citywide referendum on the training center. Organizers of the Stop Cop City campaign submitted more than 100,000 signed petitions to the city clerk a year ago seeking to put the training center on the ballot.
Meanwhile, construction on the training center has continued and is expected to open in December.
Dyana Bagby contributed to this report.
