Atlanta, Georgia - A Georgia judge threw out racketeering charges against dozens of activists who protested the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, aka Cop City.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer ruled that Georgia's Republican Attorney General Chris Carr did not have the authority to pursue the indictments under the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law without first seeking permission from Governor Brian Kemp, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"The Attorney General acknowledged that no prior authority was granted by the Governor to bring RICO charges," Farmer wrote in his order.

Carr's office in 2023 announced the indictment of 61 people in Fulton County, claiming they had engaged in a "criminal enterprise" and launched a "propaganda campaign against police."

The Stop Cop City activists had been protesting plans to construct a $90-million police training facility in the Weelaunee Forest just outside the Atlanta city limits – a move they say will lead to an increase in police violence as well as environmental damage in the area.

The protests picked up after police killed 26-year-old Indigiqueer environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known by friends and comrades as Tortuguita, the previous January. Officers claimed Tortuguita was wielding a gun and had fired at an officer during their raid, but an autopsy revealed they had no traces of gunpowder on their hands, which were raised when they were shot 14 times.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced it would not bring charges against the officers responsible, prompting a lawsuit from Tortuguita's family.

Carr, who is running for governor in Georgia, has said his office plans to appeal the decision to dismiss the racketeering charges. Five defendants still face domestic terrorism charges.