The Master's Tools Only Tighten, or How We’ll Never Prosecute Our Way Out of Fascism
September 5, 2023
On August 15, Fani Willis, the Fulton County prosecutor indicted Donald Trump and 18 other defendants – including Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani – with 41 criminal charges. The charging document argues that Trump and his fellow co-conspirators engaged in a criminal conspiracy, using Georgia’s very broad RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) statute.
The resistance media got very excited, describing the indictment as “sweeping” with little to no clarity on what that word is supposed to mean in this context.
Let me be clear. I’m not shedding tears that Trump was indicted.
But what I don’t care for is the lionization of prosecutors and sheriffs. The sheriff of Fulton County – whose jail has killed five people in one month – got to tough-guy swagger speak and say, “it doesn’t matter your status, we’ll have a mug shot ready for you.” That’s some swinging dick energy from a guy whose jail killed a man using bedbugs as the lethal agent.
The fact is, Willis – who is on the receiving end of racist attacks, of course, because this is America – has indicted many, many people on RICO charges. She’s charged teachers and rappers. A broad statute is a good tool if you want to prosecute. So good, in fact, that the Georgia Attorney General just charged over 60 Cop City protestors using RICO.
The best argument in favor of the Trump indictment is the one Anthony Michael Kreis makes here. However, I do not think prosecutors and police can save us from encroaching fascism. Despite the fact that Democrats shower money on law enforcement, they do not love progressives (or even moderate Democrats) back. They are loyal to the side that lets them get away with brutality, cruelty, and murder. The increasing number of police in far-right groups is not a sign that there needs to be a police force to police the police. It’s the natural outgrowth of a criminal system that loves only itself and must persistently seek others to destroy.
For every Donald Trump, who has made a small fortune off charges that are far from certain to stick, there are 100 ordinary people RICO will ensnare – and their charges will stick. The flame, enchanting as it may be, is never worth the wick when it comes to expansive criminal laws. Abolition must mean abolition for everyone or it is abolition for no one.