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Low inflation and unemployment are both good news for the economy, but voters aren’t feeling it. That could be a blow to Republicans in the midterm elections.
Georgia’s 10th Congressional District has a new surprise candidate in the midterm elections.
Ryan Millsap, a film executive and real estate investor, announced his candidacy as a “MAGA warrior” and political outsider on his way to Congress to “challenge the status quo” and “fight back against the radical left and RINOs.”
Millsap is the former chairman and CEO of Blackhole Studios, now known as Shadowbox Studios, where projects such as “Venom,” “Blockers” and “Loki” were filmed in Georgia.
The Hollywood-adjacent businessman will enter the race during qualifying week, his last chance to officially appear on the ballot in Georgia’s May primary. He will face popular Republican state Rep. Houston Gaines, who has taken a rapid path to political leadership. Millsap will also have to address allegations in 2024 that he shared racist and anti-Semitic messages via text message, despite working closely with Atlanta’s Black and Jewish communities.
In his campaign launch, Millsap said one of the events in his life that fueled his political ambitions was an attack on his business by Antifa. He says he stood up to “antifa and the radical left when they tried to burn down everything he built.”
USA Today reached out to Millsap’s campaign for clarification on these claims, but had not received a response as of 1 p.m. March 5.
Here’s what we know happened:
Blackhall Group expands real estate near ‘Cop City’
The conflict between Blackhall Group and environmentalists began several years ago, when the company wanted to expand its studio in DeKalb County.
A QuitClaim deed was signed in 2021 between Blackhall and DeKalb for a land swap that included land that was part of Weelauney People’s Park.
The agreement was at the center of a 2021 lawsuit, with opponents claiming it was illegal and blocked access to public parks. Other legal challenges, including a “stop work order”, have delayed development, with activists claiming Blackhall failed to obtain the necessary permits to remove trees from land that was previously part of the park. This land was also adjacent to an area that would later be known as “Cop City.”
The $90 million, 85-acre site was developed into the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, allowing “the South’s largest city with the largest police and fire departments” to focus on training while increasing recruitment and retention, according to the Atlanta Police Foundation.
The plan faced widespread criticism from those who believe the facility would militarize police and threaten marginalized populations. They were joined by environmentalists, including members of the group Save Atlanta’s Forests, who feared the facility would damage the tree canopy and natural environment of Atlanta, colloquially known as the “City in Trees.” The protests, dubbed “Stop Cop City,” escalated and eventually led to violence with police, and in September 2023, 61 people were arrested in RICO cases.
The charges in the Cop City case ranged from extortion to arson, money laundering and domestic terrorism, many of which are still pending in court.
Escalating protests cause property damage in Black Hole
In the summer of 2022, Black Hole Group contractors directly clashed with protesters, resulting in property damage.
“We had some contractors come out to work on private property. They were there doing maintenance and cleanup in preparation for development,” Millsap told WAGA in 2022. “When the police arrived on the scene, about 40 people came out of the woods. They started throwing rocks and bottles and cans at the police, at us, and at the cars. While one of my men was operating the excavator, they jumped on the excavator and smashed all the windows.” ”
Milsap said protesters burned a Ram 5500 pickup truck, damaged an excavator and spray-painted threatening text on the sidewalk, including, “If this park isn’t safe, neither is Milsap.”
According to the 2024 report, the total damage caused by activists during the protests amounted to $10 million. The figures span multiple stakeholders, including Blackhall Group and Birmingham-based construction firm Brasfield & Gorey.
“These guys are real,” Millsap said at the time. “I think they’re a credible threat.”
Were the protesters members of “Antifa”?
In 2025, the Trump administration designated Antifa (anti-fascist) a domestic terrorist organization. The White House called the group “a militarist and anarchist organization that unequivocally calls for the overthrow of the United States government, law enforcement, and our nation’s legal system.”
However, the definition of what “antifa” actually is remains a matter of debate. The main reason is that Antifa does not have a centralized organization.
Antifa is not a group, but rather an ideology, according to the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).
“Just as there is no widespread Antifa organization, there is not necessarily a specific shared ideology among those who call themselves antifascists. Many people associate the Antifa label with socialists, communists, and anarchists, but not everyone who uses the term identifies with any of these ideologies,” ACLED said. “Similarly, the label has grown increasingly mainstream over the past decade and therefore cuts across a wide range of ideologies, although some anti-fascists subscribe to more radical extremist activities.”
Some of the protesters were charged with domestic terrorism, but the attorney general’s office did not designate all of them as “Antifa” in the 2023 indictment.
Instead, the AG said, “Save the Atlanta Forest (one of the groups participating in the protests) frequently uses symbols associated with the anarchist movement, including, but not limited to, a capital ‘A’ in a circle, a raised fist, the Antifa flag, symbols associated with the anti-fascist movement, and other iconography.”
“Save Atlanta Forests posted many of its invitations to join the movement on various social media platforms, including Twitter and Telegram,” the attorney general said in the indictment. “Many violent anarchists and extremists come from out of state to join the Save Atlanta Forest movement, knowing that their posts are followed and reposted by other decentralized extremist groups, especially Antifa.”
“Antifa” was not defined in the indictment.
Eileen Wright is an Atlanta Connect reporter for USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. X Find her at @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
