Five activists were charged with domestic terrorism this week after alleged attacks on police cars and EMTs near a DeKalb County, Georgia, police training center’s proposed location.
Authorities arrested five people between the ages of 20 and 25 in the area, levying a domestic terrorism charge against each and imposing various charges including interference with government property, felony obstruction and riot incitement among them, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) revealed Wednesday, noting its participation in a joint task force for combat ongoing crime there. Left-wing activists began occupying the planned $90 million training center’s wooded site more than a year ago, with dozens of arrests happening since, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
Five people were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism and other charges after a joint task force operation at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
🔗: https://t.co/f9A6o6ONJW pic.twitter.com/BSENP3SAZo
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) December 14, 2022
Several people “threw rocks at police cars and attacked EMT’s outside the neighboring fire stations with rocks and bottles” Tuesday, the agency said. (RELATED: Massive Fire Erupts At Evidence Center For Police Department)
“Task force members used various tactics to arrest individuals who were occupying makeshift treehouses,” the GBI reported. “After police cleared the area of concern, which included makeshift treehouses, they found explosive devices, gasoline, and road flares.”
The Atlanta Solidarity Fund’s Marlon Kautz, whose organization provides support to people arrested at protests, suggested that these arrests happened due to police improperly tying “legitimate political protesters” to violence, arguing that “there’s clear evidence to the contrary that the people they have been arresting and targeting and attacking have been engaged in nothing but peaceful civil disobedience,” according to AJC.
“I think there are forest defenders who will continue to defend the forest,” the Black liberation group Community Movement Builder‘s founder Kamau Franklin said, the outlet reported. “That means civil disobedience, that means rallies, demonstrations. That means all the tactics that we can use.”
The GBI referred to the Daily Caller News Foundation to its press release.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.