Activist charged with RICO sues Atlanta Police Department for adopting policy of “systemic arrests and pretextual charges” of Stop Cop City protesters

A new federal lawsuit alleges that the Atlanta Police Department, at the direction of Chief Darin Schierbaum, instituted a policy to have law enforcement officers systemically use pretextual charges and arrests against Stop Cop City protesters, targeting people for their political views, not their actions.

“It really has nothing to do with the activity and everything to do with the topic,” said Xavier T. de Janon, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit. “It’s that it’s a ‘Stop Cop City’ thing that gets police to respond, not what people are doing on the ground.”

Attorneys de Janon and Drago Cepar, Jr. filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jamie Marsicano in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. It asserts six different civil rights claims, including for violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, against the City of Atlanta and individual defendants with the Atlanta Police Department (APD), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Natural Resources, among other agencies. The complaint alleges that “defendants were recklessly and callously indifferent to [Marsicano’s] federally protected rights.”

Marsicano, who alternatively uses she/her and they/them pronouns, was arrested on March 5, 2023, during a multi-agency police raid of a music festival in Atlanta’s South River Forest, or the Weelaunee Forest by its Mvskoke name. Marsicano and 22 others arrested that night were charged with domestic terrorism and later with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in a sweeping indictment that resulted in racketeering charges against 61 people alleged to be part of the Stop Cop City protest movement.

The complaint alleges that APD Chief Schierbaum created a policy of pursuing “pretextual criminal charges against ‘Stop Cop City’ protesters.” The policy has resulted in “an express instruction” that officers with APD and other agencies arrest and charge Cop City protesters, “particularly if they are close or present at the Weelaunee Forest,” according to the complaint.

The Atlanta Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Marsicano’s arrest and charges were “not based on sufficient facts,” de Janon said. 

The complaint uses the term “the Stop Cop City policy” to refer to the “inter-agency policy [of] swiftly arrest[ing] and pursu[ing] pretextual criminal charges against ‘Stop Cop City’ protesters, that is, a person who is perceived to oppose Cop City and publicly express this political opinion in a protest.”

A report by the Brennan Center for Justice analyzed 2,365 pages of APD emails and intelligence reports. The Brennan Center found that APD monitored 155 community events between 2021 and 2024, 111 of which were allegedly related to the Stop Cop City movement and ranged “from community gatherings and pizza parties to public rallies and calls for action.” 

“From a legal side,” de Janon said, “law enforcement looks at these events with the preparation of responding. Otherwise, why surveil it? That’s part of this Stop Cop City policy.” 

The complaint alleges the Stop Cop City policy resulted in so many arrests between 2021 and 2024—including those of journalists—and was so pervasive that it amounted “to a custom and practice.” Those allegedly pretextual arrests have led to over a dozen civil lawsuits against the department. De Janon noted that the policy also resulted in the death of Manuel “Tortuguita” Paez Terán. 

“Every case that involves Atlanta police’s behavior is traceable to Tortuguita,” de Janon said. “It’s not like that was an outlier or Jamie’s case is an outlier. These are all part of the same story.” 

Harm and remedy

Since their arrest, Marsicano has had difficulty finding work and housing.

“Anytime Jamie applies for an apartment, they run a background check and it shows pending domestic terrorism and RICO charges,” de Janon said. “Many jobs won’t hire you if you have a pending DWI; they definitely won’t hire you if you have a pending domestic terrorism charge out of Georgia.” 

At the time of her arrest, Marsicano was a law student at the University of North Carolina. The university banned her from campus, forcing Marsicano to complete her law degree through a combination of remote classes at UNC and courses at other nearby universities. She recently took the North Carolina bar exam. If she passes it, she will still face difficulty obtaining a license to practice law, due to their pending criminal charges. 

Beyond that, de Janon said, Marsicano has faced significant doxing. 

“Many of [Marsicano’s co-defendants] face doxing,” de Janon said, “but especially because of Jamie’s gender identity, she’s suffered a lot of it. That’s really just destroyed her mental health.”

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for the harm Marsicano faced as well as punitive damages against the individual officers. De Janon does not anticipate the lawsuit moving forward until after the criminal charges against Marsicano are resolved.