The criminalization of dissent continues
Washington Examiner
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When special counsel Jack Smith first indicted former President Donald Trump and six other defendants for conspiring to defraud the United States, we were concerned. We’re no fans of Trump, but we warned that using conspiracy law in the political arena would lead to the criminalization of political dissent.
A little over a month later, we are unhappy to report that this warning was prescient.
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It was revealed last week that not only did a Georgia grand jury recommend racketeering charges against Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and former Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) for their First Amendment activities related to Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Georgia, but it also approved racketeering indictments for 61 protesters who oppose the construction of a police training facility in the Atlanta suburbs.
This is, then, a bipartisan effort to criminalize politics, with targeted people also on both sides of the political and ideological divide. It is not too late for both sides to stop now and reconsider their dangerous prosecutions.
The grand jury report did not specify why it recommended Graham, Loeffler, and Perdue for prosecution, but it does accuse Perdue of “persistent, repeated communications directed to multiple Georgia officials and employees.” In other words, he spoke to people. This is the first and most important activity protected in the Bill of Rights.
Responding to the grand jury, Graham said in a statement: “It should never be a crime for a federal elected official, particularly the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who will have to vote to certify a presidential election, to question and ensure the integrity of that election.”
Graham is right. The prosecution of a senator for trying to do his job shouldn’t even be a risk left up to the political whims of an Atlanta prosecutor.
As for those protesting the construction of a police training facility, the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” movement has been trying to stop the construction of a $90 million project in DeKalb County just outside of Atlanta. Critics have dubbed the facility “Cop City” and argued that it would lead to a more militarized police force and more incidents like the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.
We strongly disagree with the goals of the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” movement and more strongly disagree with the group’s tactics, which include vandalizing homes and businesses, setting fire to police vehicles, throwing Molotov cocktails, and shooting at officers.
Those are despicable and criminal acts that should be prosecuted. But Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, has rolled them up into a racketeering indictment, which additionally alleges that some protester activities that are not otherwise criminal, such as buying people lunch, make them part of a criminal enterprise that exposes them to as much as five years in prison.
“This [indictment] is meant to send a message,” Stop Cop City organizer Kamau Franklin said. “Be scared.”
We do not counsel fear. But Franklin is right that Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is being used to scare people into silence. It’s wrong, and it needs to stop.
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None of this excuses the real criminal acts committed by some Trump supporters and some Cop City protesters. Hacking into voting databases is illegal. Entering a restricted building is illegal. Throwing explosives at police is illegal. But we have laws that make these specific acts illegal, and the people who did these acts should be prosecuted and punished for their crimes.
But as soon as we start prosecuting people for otherwise noncriminal acts, especially in a political context, that is a real danger to our democracy.