The Atlanta Police Department confirmed the arrests of 23 people following a violent demonstration at a location where Atlanta plans to construct a police and fire training facility dubbed by opponents as “Cop City.”
“The agitators destroyed multiple pieces of construction equipment by fire and vandalism. Multiple law enforcement agencies deployed to the area and detained several people committing illegal activity,” police stated, noting that “35 agitators have been detained so far.”
Officials said suspect Dimitri LeNy is from France and another, Fredrique Robert-Paul, is from Canada. Suspects Ayla King, Alexis Paplai, and Timothy Bilodeau are from Massachusetts, the department stated, noting that two others—Samuel Ward and Max Biederman—are from Arizona.
The remaining suspects were from Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, Indiana, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, Florida, Maine, Utah, Colorado, Wisconsin, and other states. The only suspects with Georgia addresses were identified by authorities as Thomas Jurgens and Jack Beaman.
In tactics reminiscent of far-left Antifa black bloc groups, the “Cop City” suspects were dressed mainly in all black. They also threw Molotov cocktails, bricks, rocks, and other objects at police, authorities said.
Police from nearby communities stepped in to assist city officers, and no officers were injured, Schierbaum said, noting that the FBI has joined police in the case. Officers used nonlethal enforcement methods to disperse the crowd and detain those involved, he said. Asked about injuries to any of the demonstrators, the chief said that “some minor discomforts” were reported and were being attended to by medical personnel.
“This was a very violent attack, very violent attack,” Schierbaum said. “This wasn’t about a public safety training center. This was about anarchy ... and we are addressing that quickly.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said the people involved “chose destruction and vandalism over legitimate protest, yet again demonstrating the radical intent behind their actions.”
“As I’ve said before, domestic terrorism will NOT be tolerated in this state,” Kemp said in a March 6 statement. “We will not rest until those who use violence and intimidation for an extremist end are brought to full justice.”
The Atlanta City Council approved the $90 million Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in 2021, stating that a state-of-the-art campus would replace substandard offerings and boost police morale, which is beset by hiring and retention struggles following left-wing, anti-police riots that erupted across Atlanta and the United States in the summer of 2020.
The group involved in this weekend’s incident, Defend the Atlanta Forest, issued a statement to local media outlets on March 5 claiming that it was engaged in “legitimate protest.”
