The three have been accused, in accordance with arrest warrants, of deceptive donors by spending cash to assist Defend the Atlanta Forest, a bunch that has been blamed by native authorities for the arson and vandalism of buildings and heavy gear throughout protests, and for throwing Molotov cocktails, rocks and fireworks at uniformed law enforcement officials.
The warrants listed particular reimbursements to the three from Mr. Kautz’s charity, registered because the Community for Sturdy Communities, which runs the Atlanta Solidarity Fund: $298.54 to Mr. Kautz for mesh communications gear to observe the forest, $115.80 to Ms. Patterson for tenting provides, and $29.72 to Ms. McLean for a secure purchased from Amazon, amongst different bills.
The authorities additionally famous that $48,000 had been transferred by the Community for Sturdy Communities to a different group, which then returned the cash — actions that prosecutors stated constituted cash laundering.
Through the listening to, prosecutors stated that the defendants’ work would possibly seem lawful, even laudable, however that their cash had helped fund harmful acts, together with violent protests associated to the coaching facility and vandalizing Ebenezer Baptist Church, the storied Atlanta congregation led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Raphael Warnock.
John Fowler, a deputy lawyer basic, additionally stated that they “harbor extremist anti-government and anti-establishment views.” (The case is being prosecuted by the Georgia lawyer basic’s workplace and the district lawyer for DeKalb County.)