Three people connected with protests at the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, aka ‘Cop City,’ have been arrested for money laundering and charity fraud.
Marlon Scott Kautz, age 39, of Atlanta, GA, Savannah D Patterson, age 30, of Savannah, GA, and Adele Maclean, age 42, of Atlanta, GA, were all arrested by The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) on Tuesday and booked into jail.
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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the charges stem from the ongoing investigation of “individuals responsible for numerous criminal acts” at the Cop City site in the South River Forest and other metro Atlanta locations.
Agents and officers with Atlanta police executed a search warrant and found evidence linking the three suspects to financial crimes.
According to a release by Stop Cop City, Kautz, Maclean, and Patterson work for the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. This nonprofit and bail fund offers support for protesters who are arrested.
Warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News accuse Kautz, Maclean, and Patterson of “misleading contributed by using funds collected through a State Registered 501c(3) Network for Strong Communities (NFSC) to fund the actions in part of Defend the Atlanta Forest (DTAF), a group classified by the United States Department of Homeland Security as Domestic Violence Extremists.”
Breaking: Law enforcement in Atlanta have conducted a raid & arrested three suspects accused of illegally financing the #Antifa-linked #StopCopCity domestic terrorist movement. Three members of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund @atlsolfund have been charged with money laundering &… https://t.co/FTfaexqbbv
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 31, 2023
According to warrants, the Atlanta Solidarity Fund provided material support through payments and reimbursements to members of DTAF through NFSC.
The group is accused of using funds from the NFSC to purchase building and camping supplies, gasoline, signs, COVID tests, and forest clean-up supplies.
"Bail fund" leaders in Atlanta "cop city" protests jailed for fraud and money laundering.
'GBI agents & Atlanta police arrested three leaders of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which has bailed out protesters and helped them find lawyers'https://t.co/TEiB2Ra4ZU
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) June 1, 2023
3 arrested for fraud and money laundering related to bail fund for violent protestors against Atlanta 'Cop City' https://t.co/s1D4DaqgtW
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) June 1, 2023
At one point, nearly $50,000 was moved from NFSC to Siskiyou Mutual Aid a day after NFSC was announced as a funding source during a court hearing.
“SMA then returned the funds to NFSC, appearing to launder the funds,” Warrants said.
“Today’s arrests are the latest escalation in the state’s attacks on the right to protest,” organizers said. The group said they plan to demonstrate in front of the Dekalb County jail Thursday night.
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The case is being prosecuted by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office and the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.
“Today’s arrests are about the violence that occurred at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center and elsewhere,” Attorney General Chris Carr said. “As we have said before, we will not rest until we have held accountable every person who has funded, organized, or participated in this violence and intimidation.”
Construction on the new training facility is already in progress.
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