A lawyer with the Southern Poverty Law Center and 22 other protestors have been accused of domestic terrorism after they allegedly shot Molotov cocktails and fireworks at an area planned to be an Atlanta law enforcement training compound.
On Monday, police indicated that the 28-year-old Thomas Webb Jurgens was among almost two dozen people arrested Sunday in what law enforcement has characterized as a “coordinated attack” on the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
A part of the terrorist attack was reportedly captured by New York Times reporter Sean Keenan and later shared on Twitter by American journalist Andy Ngo.
NYT reporter Sean Keenan captured rare close-up video of part of the domestic terrorist attack by #Antifa and far-left extremists in Atlanta yesterday. The militants launched a coordinated mob ambush on police guarding a construction site the extremists pic.twitter.com/IP7YaaR4WC… https://t.co/EmN5juUlGa
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 6, 2023
The Right Scoop pointed out that Jurgens has represented the SPLC before, noting that it is the same organization that the FBI used as a source to justify its released memo warning against “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology.”
According to a report by the New York Post, Georgia’s State Bar lists Jurgens as a staff attorney for the SPLC. He has now deleted his LinkedIn page. Jurgens and one other man are notably the only two charged citizens that are from Georgia.
Others arrested hailed from other parts of the U.S., Canada, and even France.
A collection of mugshots put out by authorities put out Monday afternoon reportedly shows several protestors smirking.
Law enforcement stated that a total of 35 “violent agitators” were apprehended after they attacked the site, dubbed “Cop City.” It remains unknown if the other arrested parties will face similar charges surrounding domestic terrorism.
The chaos apparently began after protestors allegedly started chucking Molotov cocktails, fireworks, rocks, and bricks at the cops.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the events were “coordinated” and that numerous bits of construction equipment at the facility were lit on fire.
Surveillance video from the site reportedly took footage of smoke and flames after the heavy equipment was ignited, while also showing officers attempting to cover themselves as objects flew toward them.
Georgia’s Department of Public Safety alleged that some of the attackers intentionally messed with the police officers’ vision by beaming green lasers at their faces.
“This was a very violent attack, very violent attack,” Schierbaum announced at a midnight press conference.
Schierbaum promised that Georgia’s law enforcement would bring swift action.
“This wasn’t about a public safety training center. This was about anarchy … and we are addressing that quickly.”
