UPDATE: While Friday night was uneventful, Antifa protesters turned violent on Saturday night in downtown Atlanta.
“Hundreds of protesters gathered at Underground Atlanta before moving down Peachtree St. in the heart of downtown Atlanta,” reports WSB-TV. “Shortly after, an Atlanta police cruiser was set on fire and windows of local businesses were busted.”
Protestors against the Public Safety Training Center set an Atlanta Police car on fire. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/eC4oCOPxPE
— Larry Spruill Jr (@LarrySReports) January 22, 2023
The office of Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) released a statement:
The governor remains well informed of the situation through regular updates from state law enforcement and is actively monitoring the situation. State patrol is well equipped to respond to any and all threats to public safety and is coordinating closely with other state agencies and local PD.
While the state continues to respect peaceful protest, acts of violence against person or property will NOT be tolerated. Those committing such unlawful acts will be arrested and prosecuted fully.
And the Atlanta Police Department (APD) released a statement of its own:
The Atlanta Police Department is aware of the ongoing events, and we will continue to monitor them and address accordingly. We stand ready to respond to demonstrations to ensure the safety of those in our communities and those exercising their first amendment right, or to address illegal activity, should the need arise.
A later statement from the APD read:
Atlanta Police have responded to a group damaging property at several locations along Peachtree St. Several arrests have been made at this time and order has been restored to the downtown space. This is still an active and ongoing investigation and we will not be able to provide specifics on arrests numbers or damaged property, at this time.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: For months, Antifa protesters have occupied a wooded area in DeKalb County, Ga., where Atlanta authorities have planned to build a public safety training center. The left has dubbed the area “Cop City,” and the moniker has taken off in the same way the misnomer “Don’t Say Gay” did for Florida’s Parental Rights in Education legislation.
The protesters at the site call themselves “Forest Defenders,” as if the area were a specially protected wildlife area instead of the overgrown site of a former prison farm.
After Antifa protesters shot a Georgia State Trooper during a clearing operation on Wednesday, police shot back and killed an Antifa member. As a result, the domestic terrorist group “Scenes From the Atlanta Forest” called for a “Night of Rage” against police in Atlanta — and nationwide — on Friday night.
Looks like Antifa is trying to organize some kind of riot in Atlanta this Friday. pic.twitter.com/Atunea4Acs
— Georgia Chief (@GeorgiaChief) January 19, 2023
Instead, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the “Night of Rage” was just a bunch of pouty protests.
In Portland, Oregon, a city with a history of fringe left-wing activism, protesters held a candlelight vigil for Teran Wednesday night just hours after the shooting. The city already had conspicuous “Stop Cop City” graffiti in support of the Atlanta protesters before Wednesday’s violence.
“The Stop Cop City + the Atlanta Forest occupation is one of the most important resistance actions currently happening in the United States,” an anarchist activist based there tweeted Thursday.
Other vigils were held Friday in Los Angeles; Seattle; Charlotte, North Carolina; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Atlanta.
Some rage, huh? Far-left groups are planning “mourning events” for the killed terrorist throughout the country on Saturday night.
Related: Antifa Forces Lay Siege to Georgia County in Battle Against ‘Cop City’
Meanwhile, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has released more details about the “Forest Defender” terrorist who police shot and killed, as well as the weapon he used. The GBI identified the protester as Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26.
“During the multi-agency operation at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center that began on January 18, 2023, approximately 25 campsites were located and removed,” a Thursday press release from the GBI explained. “Additionally, mortar style fireworks, multiple edged weapons, pellet rifles, gas masks, and a blow torch were recovered.”
While we don’t know where Teran hailed from, the GBI released the names and home locations of seven protesters the bureau arrested for “domestic terrorism and criminal trespass, with additional charges pending”:
- Geoffrey Parsons, age 20, of Maryland
- Spencer Bernard Liberto, age 29, of Pennsylvania
- Matthew Ernest Macar, age 30, of Pennsylvania
- Timothy Murphy, age 25, of Maine
- Christopher Reynolds, age 31, of Ohio
- Teresa Shen, age 31, of New York
- Sarah Wasilewski, age 35, of Pennsylvania
Notice that none of them are from Georgia.
On Friday night, the GBI also released details of the weapon that they believe Teran used to fire at the state trooper.
(1/3) We are releasing a photo of the handgun that was in Manuel Esteban Paez Teran’s possession when a Georgia State Patrol trooper was shot on January 18 at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. pic.twitter.com/ER1mGfgBkL
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) January 21, 2023
“The handgun is described as a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm,” the GBI said in its press release. “Forensic ballistic analysis has confirmed that the projectile recovered from the trooper’s wound matches Teran’s handgun. Other preliminary information released in this case is consistent with the investigation so far.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr have called for the city to proceed with clearing the land and building the facility.
“Thankfully, no police were harmed in ANTIFA’s self-declared “night of rage” called in response to the shooting on Wednesday,” wrote Erick Erickson on Saturday morning. “However, they now claim that the shooting will draw more terrorists into Atlanta and the only way to stop it is to call off the project. Instead, the project should go forward as quickly as possible.”
There’s no other option after this week’s events. Come on, Atlanta. Do the right thing.
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