The Arrest of the Network for Strong Communities Board Members

Wednesday - June 14 2023, 15:45 UTC - 1 year ago

On May 31, 2023, the Atlanta Police Department deployed a SWAT team to arrest three board members of the Network for Strong Communities Inc., who were charged with charity fraud and money laundering. The Network for Strong Communities was founded in 2020 with the mission to provide legal assistance to activists opposing plans for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, and has provided help to dozens of people arrested since 2022. Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, an environmental activist, was shot and killed by a Georgia State Patrol trooper in January 2023, and Governor Brian Kemp issued a state-of-emergency declaration, which allowed activists to be denied bail. The three Network for Strong Communities board members were released on the same day of their arrest on June 7, 2023.

On May 31, 2023, the Atlanta Police Department deployed a SWAT team to arrest Marlon Kautz, Adele MacLean and Savannah Patterson. These three people weren’t fugitives from justice or drug kingpins, but rather volunteer board members of a local charity. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation then charged these trustees of the Network for Strong Communities Inc. with charity fraud and money laundering. Charges under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a very expansive state version of federal RICO laws, may also be pending. As a charity expert who researches nonprofit governance, I am struck by how unusual this scenario is. This story strikes close to home for me as well. A friend of mine was arrested three months ago by the Atlanta police while attending a related music festival organized by the "Stop Cop City" protesters.

What’s the charity? .

Network for Strong Communities Inc. was founded in 2020. The Internal Revenue Service approved its application to operate as a public charity under federal law, and the Georgia secretary of state’s office reports the organization is in good standing. An open records request I filed on June 5 with the Georgia secretary of state’s office returned only routine charity documents. Among its community engagement activities, the network operates the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which has, since 2016, provided local activists with legal support, including bail bonds and attorney fees. Bail funds pool donated money to pay bail for people who can’t afford it. They help low-income people who are facing legal charges to avoid the economic hardship of pretrial detention. There’s another charity with the same name based in Missouri, but the two organizations aren’t connected.

What is the organization doing? .

The Network for Strong Communities has provided legal assistance to dozens of people who have been arrested since 2022 during marches, demonstrations and other events opposing plans for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. That’s a controversial facility under construction in Atlanta’s largest urban forest. A loose environmental and civil rights coalition calling itself Defend the Atlanta Forest has spearheaded the actions, which stem from fears of police militarization and environmental harm. But concerns about the facility are widespread among city residents. Most of the environmental and civil rights activists objecting to the training center they call "Cop City" have used constitutionally protected tactics. But some have allegedly committed criminal acts of sabotage. The protests have expanded and garnered international attention after Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, an environmental activist, was shot and killed by a Georgia State Patrol trooper in January 2023 during an encounter with law enforcement, as officers sought to clear protesters from the site. Georgia has relied on its state domestic terrorism law and an unusual state-of-emergency declaration that Gov. Brian Kemp issued on Jan. 26, 2023, to jail the arrested activists and deny them bail for extended periods. But the three Network for Strong Communities board members were released onl the same day of their arrest on June 7, 2023. It wasn’t clear what charges were related to their arrests or whether those charges were eventually dropped.