Atlanta, Georgia - Dozens of Stop Cop City activists were arraigned at Fulton County Courthouse on Monday after they were indicted on racketeering charges.

Fifty-seven out of the scheduled 61 activists appeared before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams on Monday to waive arraignment as supporters outside rallied in their defense.

In August, Georgia's Republican Attorney General Chris Carr indicted the 61 protesters opposing efforts to build a massive, militarized law enforcement training complex, a project known as Cop City, in Atlanta's South River Forest. They were accused of violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which expands on a federal law that enables prosecutors to go after organized crime activities.

The plan to build the $90-million, 85-acre facility has sparked backlash from environmental and Black Lives Matter activists since it was first introduced in 2021.

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The protests only picked up after police killed 26-year-old Indigiqueer environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known by friends and comrades as Tortuguita, last 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 last month that it would not bring charges against the cops responsible.

The indictment from Attorney General Carr triggered strong backlash and ridicule for alleging that Stop Cop City protesters had engaged in illegal activities fueled by an anarchist ideology that centers concepts of "social solidarity," "collectivism," and "mutual aid."

The indictment claims the protesters took part in a "criminal enterprise" that allegedly began on May 25, 2020 – the date of George Floyd's murder by ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and before anyone knew about Cop City plans.

The activists are also accused of launching a "propaganda campaign" against police violence to stop construction of the training complex.

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"With this added RICO charge, I'm facing up to 20 years in prison," Julia Dupuis, one of the 61 indicted activists, wrote on X. "But the stakes of this fight go so far beyond the fates of me and my co-defendants. They’re making an example of us to silence dissent and send a chilling message."

"The legal fight ahead is going to be long, exhausting, and intimidating. But I refuse to stay silent while powerful people play games with my life and attempt to criminalize the struggle for a better world. Giving in to fear is exactly what the state wants," they added.