Tag: georgia

Understanding the RICO Charges in Atlanta

Since the beginning of 2023, prosecutors in Georgia have threatened to charge activists protesting against a planned police militarization facility known as “Cop City” with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Last week, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr indicted 61 people on RICO charges in Fulton County.

In indiscriminately lumping together scores of arrestees, many of whom have ostensibly never met, into a fabricated conspiracy case, the prosecution is attempting to criminalize protest itself. This case represents politically driven repression aimed at suppressing all forms of activism and dissent, in the style of Vladimir Putin. It should be of interest to anyone who is concerned about civil liberties such as the freedom to protest or the freedom to advocate against police brutality and authoritarianism or in favor of preserving the environment.

The indictment does not seem to indicate that prosecutors have any previously unreleased information at their disposal indicating the existence of a conspiracy, in the sense that the word is ordinarily employed. Rather, they have brought new charges against those whose names they already had as the result of previous arrests, and are now clumsily endeavoring to frame them as participants in a cohesive criminal enterprise.

The defendants include 42 people already charged with “terrorism” for allegedly participating in the movement to #StopCopCity, many of them on the basis of actions as simple as entering a forest or posting to social media; three more people already charged with felonies for allegedly distributing handbills; and another three people charged last May with “money laundering” and other crimes for organizing legal support for activists. None of these previous charges has resulted in a single conviction.

The only thing that connects all of these indictees is that they all appear to have been arrested or detained at some point, however randomly, on suspicion of protesting against the government’s plan to destroy the Weelaunee Forest.

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What A Mess In Georgia, Will National GOP Leadership Do The Right Thing? Or Overlook The Stink Of Corruption As 2026 Approaches

Many of us in the grassroots have been shocked at the behavior of GOP officials across the nation. It’s almost as if the GOP leadership doesn’t give a damn about Americans who want to participate in the political process.

In Miami-Dade for instance, we witnessed county GOP officials acting in a tyrannical manner, refusing to allow participation of those with the ‘wrong opinions’ in the selection of leadership. This resulted in many leaving the party in disgust and frustration as we have documented extensively at The Miami Independent.

In fact, it has happened all across Florida as the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) did nothing as Republican Executive Committees (REC) around the state literally had individuals removed from leadership, or saw the entire REC cancelled for being MAGA and pro-Trump.

The behavior of the RPOF stinks to high heaven.

Guess what, the GOP stinks like a pogie plant in Georgia too!

The GA GOP convention in Dalton was the most recent example.

We have documented extensively here at The Georgia Record the tyrannical behavior of the Josh McKoon faction at the convention, where the grassroots are supposed to be given access to the mechanisms of power and the people’s voice is supposed to be heard.

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Nicholls Police Chief arrested on child sex crime charges

The Nicholls Police Department’s (NPD) Chief was arrested June 19 on charges including enticing a child for indecent purposes and criminal attempt to commit child molestation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced on June 20.

NPD Chief Ashley Wilson, a 40-year-old from Broxton, is in custody at the Coffee County Jail, the GBI said.

Through their investigation, the GBI said they found that Wilson sent messages to a 15-year-old girl telling her he wanted to have a sexual relationship with her. Many of the messages were sent while Wilson was on duty as Chief of Police, the GBI said.

Now, Wilson is charged with the following, officials said:

  • Three counts of enticing a child
  • One count of violation of oath of office
  • One count of conspiracy to commit child molestation

Investigators said that the girl’s mother discovered text messages between her daughter and Wilson, so she reported the incident to NPD.

Wilson’s arrest comes after the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) got a report late June 18 alleging that an NPD officer was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a minor, according to the sheriff’s office. CCSO said they immediately dispatched a deputy to evaluate the situation, and they found that the allegations warranted a comprehensive investigation. CCSO then requested that the GBI investigate this case.

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Democracy in Georgia Is Under Threat by the US Congress and the Helsinki Commission

 It was Lincoln who once said “I would like to see someone proud of the place in which they live.” The 16th president never made it to the South Caucasus, but here reside a people quite justly proud of the place in which they live. Among the most striking differences between the vision offered to Georgian citizens by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and by the Western-backed opposition parties is that the former is unabashedly so.

From the perspective of an American of rather longstanding, it seems the politics of the GD are not dissimilar to those of MAGA Republicans; Hungary’s Fidesz; France’s National Rally; Poland’s Law and Justice; or the UK’s Reform Party. The pro-NATO, pro-EU Georgian opposition coalition, having lost a democratic election by a convincing margin last October, continues to call for foreign powers (the US, the EU) to sanction members and funders of the GD. The bedraggled youth who sit in protest on the steps of the Georgian Parliament under the flags of a foreign powers are calling for those powers to sanction the legitimate winners of their country’s last national election: Do they not know what “democracy” means?

For some reason, the Georgian opposition thinks Washington and Brussels (a EU and NATO “Information Center” resides in a handsome building just off Tbilisi’s Freedom Square) have something to teach Georgia about democracy. Still worse, the illusion that Washington has both the right and duty to teach Georgia how to govern itself persists in the American media and in the halls of Congress.

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Democrat Georgia Mayor Arrested for Child Molestation, Wife Charged with Cruelty to Children

A Democrat mayor in Georgia has been arrested for child molestation, and his wife was also arrested and charged with cruelty to children.

Joseph Kelly, 38, the mayor of the City of Climax and a Decatur County School District employee, was charged with two counts of child molestation. Natalie Kelly, 44, was charged with two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree.

According to the school district’s website, he is a math teacher at Bainbridge High School. It is unclear if he remains employed there.

The acts are alleged to involve multiple children.

Both were arrested on Saturday.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement:

“On Saturday, May 31, 2025, the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate allegations that Joseph Kelly had sexual contact with multiple minors. Both Joseph and Natalie Kelly were arrested later that same day by GBI agents and Decatur County Sheriff’s Office investigators. They were booked into the Decatur County Jail.”

The bureau added, “At this time, there is no indication that the alleged acts are related to his employment.”

The accused child predator has since been released on a $55,400 bond. His wife was released on a $11,400 bond.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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Soros-backed Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, who slammed the rich, doubles net worth since taking office

Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock — who has praised Marxism and cheered the redistribution of wealth — has made a killing since he took office, The Post has learned.

The Peach State pastor — whose campaign was heavily backed by far-left billionaire George Soros — doubled his net worth from just over $1 million in 2020 to as much as $2.2 million in 2024, financial disclosure records show.

Warnock, 55, made history in 2021 when he became Georgia’s first black senator by defeating incumbent Kelly Loeffler in a special election.

He accused his predecessor during the race of using her seat to get rich.

But records show he almost tripled his annual earnings, going from $242,101 when he was a reverend in 2020 to bringing in on average $659,977 each year since becoming a politician — between salaries for his various gigs, book deals and investments, records show.

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Georgia Elections: 74% VOTING SYSTEM ERROR- Saved By Hand Count!

In this VIDEO clip, DeKalb Board of Elections Attorney, Brent Herrin explains to the State Election Board that: “…TABULATING MACHINES WERE NOT ACCURATE. A decision by the board was made to do a HAND RECOUNT to ensure accurate results of the election,” Keisha Smith, DeKalb Elections Director, nods her head repeatedly in agreement. Duh! Isn’t that what we have been saying for 20+ years? Georgia’s Dominion voting system declared the wrong winners for the May 22, 2024 DeKalb Co. District 2 Commission primary. It only became known because a candidate received no votes in the precinct where she and her husband lived and voted. When she reported the problem to the DeKalb Election Board, they ordered a machine recount that produced the same results again. They then conducted a hand count of the race that proved the voting system shorted the candidate 3049 of her actual 4078 votes, over 74% of her total votes. The system gave 1456 of her votes to one of her opponents and failed to count another 1805 of her votes. The July 15, 2022 DeKalb Co. Election Board materials attributed the massive miscount to a complex ballot alignment error after one candidate withdrew from the race. However, no one has ever been willing to explain why the system failed to count 1805 votes.

So what really happened?

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Family says woman declared brain dead but her pregnancy continues under state law

The family of a 30-year-old metro Atlanta mother and nurse said she was declared brain dead more than 90 days ago — but is still being kept alive because she’s pregnant.

Adriana Smith, a registered nurse at Emory University Hospital, was nearly nine weeks pregnant in early February when she started experiencing intense headaches. According to her mother, April Newkirk, Smith sought treatment at Northside Hospital but was released after being given medication.

“They gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests. No CT scan,” Newkirk said. “If they had done that or kept her overnight, they would have caught it. It could have been prevented.”

The next morning, Newkirk said Smith’s boyfriend woke to her gasping for air in her sleep—gargling sounds he believes were caused by internal bleeding. 

He called 911. Smith was taken to Emory Decatur and later transferred to Emory University Hospital where she worked. A CT scan revealed multiple blood clots in her brain.

“They asked me if I would agree to a procedure to relieve the pressure, and I said yes,” Newkirk said. “Then they called me back and said they couldn’t do it.”

Smith was declared brain dead. Her family has been by her side every day since, including her young son, who they said still believes his mother is just sleeping.

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Georgia Governor Signs Bill Granting Immunity for Harms Caused by Pesticides and Fertilizers

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed SB144 into law, which has also been referred to as an immunity bill for agrochemical businesses that sell pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. The bill states, “a manufacturer cannot be held liable for failing to warn consumers of health risks above those required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.” The Georgia legislature passed the bill and was awaiting Kemp’s signature, which he finalized on Monday.

Georgia became the second state in the nation to provide manufacturer immunity for harm caused by pesticides after North Dakota signed a similar bill into law last month. Bayer has been handling tens of thousands of lawsuits related to cancer allegedly caused by Roundup, a product that Bayer owns after the agrochemical corporation purchased Monsanto in 2018. In April, The HighWire reported about Bayer’s recent court loss in which the company is required to pay over $2 billion for causing a man’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the high payout amount is expected to be appealed. This case was conducted in a Georgia courtroom.

The EPA is still awaiting a court decision regarding its most recent evaluation of glyphosate’s effect on human health. The EPA currently states, “No risks of concern to human health from current uses of glyphosate.” The EPA website also states, “No evidence that glyphosate causes cancer in humans.”

Meanwhile, the passage of SB144 in Georgia means a farmer cannot sue Bayer for harms allegedly caused by Roundup because the product contains the label required by the EPA. The label states, “Keep Out of Reach of Children CAUTION See [back/ side] [panel/ booklet/ label] for [additional] first aid and precautionary statements. Alternative Text: [See container label for [complete] use directions, first aid and precautionary statements.]”

Bayer issued a statement applauding the Governor for signing the legislation. The statement said, “The signing of SB 144 by Governor Kemp demonstrates that Georgia stands with its farmers, who work tirelessly to produce safe and affordable food for communities throughout the state. We thank Governor Kemp and the legislators, farmers and ag groups that supported this important piece of legislation.”

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Georgia governor signs law banning funding for gender transitions in prison

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation banning the use of taxpayer funds for gender “transition” procedures for prison inmates, declaring it a “common-sense step.”

Senate Bill 185 states that “no state funds or resources shall be used” for “(s)ex reassignment surgeries or any other surgical procedures that are performed for the purpose of altering primary or secondary sexual characteristics; (h)ormone replacement therapies; and (c)osmetic procedures or prosthetics intended to alter the appearance of primary or secondary sexual characteristics.”

Exceptions would be made for “medical conditions where such treatments are considered medically necessary” unrelated to gender dysphoria or sex reassignment; rare cases of “medically verifiable disorder of sex development, including individuals born with ambiguous genitalia or chromosomal abnormalities resulting in ambiguity regarding the individual’s biological sex”; “partial androgen insensitivity syndrome”; or weaning off hormone replacement therapies that were underway before incarceration.

“Taxpayer dollars should not be used for procedures like this, and this legislation codifies that common-sense step,” Kemp declared just before signing the bill at a public event, WMAZ reported.

“A budget is a reflection of our priorities, and by voting red, we are signaling that our priorities lean more toward paying for sex reassignment surgeries than budget dollars for teachers, pre-K students and for law enforcement, which is why in my mind SB 185 is a common-sense piece of legislation for our constituents,” Republican state Rep. Scott Hilton said last month in the floor debate over the bill, WABE added.

In recent years, there has been growing concern around the world over placing men who claim to be women in female prison populations that has proved to be a means of both securing lighter treatment during incarceration and gaining easy access to women to prey upon. Transgender status also has the potential to be exploited to avoid incarceration entirely in some cases, as seen in Wales when a man who identified as a woman received a suspended sentence keeping him out of prison despite physically assaulting two partners within days of each other on the grounds that he would be “vulnerable” behind bars.

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