Five Antifa members are in custody on domestic terrorism charges after they protested outside a planned $90 million police training center in a predominantly black area of Atlanta.
The site of the planned center has been the focal point of protests for months by Antifa, who have referred to the site, which protesters have turned into an autonomous zone, as Cop City. Many of those arrested took refuge in tree houses where police later recovered explosives.
Prior to Tuesday’s arrests, police had arrested several people at the site for crimes including destruction of property and arson when houses under construction were set on fire, as well as car theft and attacks on locals and government officials.
The official reason for the protest, according to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is an environmental concern for the Weelaunee Forest. The center would remove 381 acres of forest.
Among the photos documenting the protest, a group of balaclava-clad protesters were seen standing on top of a truck holding a banner that read: “No Forest, No Peace, Walk to the Police,” as well as a smaller banner that read: “Not Cop City.”
Antifa members were arrested Tuesday in Atlanta for resisting a police operation to clear protesters from the site of a new police training facility in a wooded area.
Those arrested have been named as Serena Hertel, 25, of California, Nicholas Olson, 25, of Nebraska, Francis Carroll, 22, of Maine, Arieon Robinson, 22, of Wisconsin and Leonardo Vioselle, 20, of Macon, Georgia.
Earlier this week, the GBI said protesters had started attacking police and other emergency services workers at the scene with rocks and bottles. After officers cleared the area, they recovered bombs, flares and gasoline, authorities said.
Multiple crimes occurred Saturday when the local fire department was called to the scene to extinguish a dumpster fire. Richard Porter said WXIA that he was robbed by the group when he was trying to collect scrap metal from the area.
Porter said members of the group threw things at him, including a “gas bomb.” He fled, leaving behind his truck which caught fire. Porter told the channel: “I thought they were going to burn the truck with me.”
Serena Hertel was charged with trespassing, domestic terrorism, aggravated assault, obstruction, and inciting a riot.
Arieon Robinson was charged with trespassing, obstruction and domestic terrorism
Leonard Vioselle was charged with trespassing, domestic terrorism and possession of tools of crime
Nicholas Olsen was charged with domestic terrorism, aggravated assault, interference with government property, and obstruction
Francis Carroll was charged with trespassing, domestic terrorism, aggravated assault, felony obstruction, interference with government property, and possession of tools for the commission of the crime.
Vioselle is the only member of the group who is from the area where the public safety center is being built. The authorities used tear gas and pepper balls to evict the protesters from the scene.
On the day of the arrests, the Atlanta Community Press Collective wrote on Twitter: “Treekeepers report they are surrounded and police are firing tear gas at them.”
While a representative of a group supporting the protest, the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, told AJC that those arrested were “legitimate political protesters.”
Marlon Kautz continued: “There is clear evidence to the contrary that the people they have been arresting, targeting and attacking have not been involved in anything other than peaceful civil disobedience.”
A representative of another group, Community Movement Builder, told the newspaper: ‘I think there are forest advocates who will continue to defend the forest. That means civil disobedience, that means rallies, demonstrations. That means all the tactics we can use.
The group said dozens of police officers and undercover officers arrived at the scene. After the initial arrest, officers began “going through the woods to clear anyone and everyone,” a local official told AJC.
Two houses that were under construction in the vicinity of the protest were set on fire by the protesters
Truck set on fire at the protest site, activists arrested for arson among other crimes during the confrontation
Garbage is seen at the protest site
Convictions for domestic terrorism carry penalties of between five and 35 years in prison. The group is being held at the DeKalb County Jail.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement: “I strongly believe in the right to peacefully protest what one believes to be right and fair.” However, I draw the line on violence, destruction of property, and threats and harm to others.’
She added: ‘My office will always stand up to protect the citizens of DeKalb County. Alleged acts of violence at the training facility site put the public in grave danger and will not be tolerated.”
In a tweet, Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp said: “We will not rest when it comes to bringing domestic terrorists to justice, and these arrests should serve as a strong reminder of that.”
In addition to the domestic terrorism charges, the group is accused of trespassing, interference with government property and aggravated assault.
Francis Carroll faces the most charges in the case. He is a resident of the prosperous Maine town of Kennebunkport, where George HW Bush spent the summers after his presidency.
Hertel graduated from Pitzer College, where she majored in environmental analysis and mathematics in 2020. An online biography describes her interests as “public health and environmental justice, with a focus on prisons and water.”
Opponents of the training center have been protesting for months by building platforms in the surrounding trees and camping on the site.
They say the $90 million project, to be built by the Atlanta Police Foundation, involves cutting down so many trees that it would be bad for the environment. They are also opposed to investing so much money in what they call ‘Cop City’, which they say will be used to practice ‘urban warfare’.
The 85-acre property is owned by the city of Atlanta, but is located just outside the city limits in unincorporated DeKalb County and includes a former state prison.
Just as an attempt was made to remove the barricades blocking the entrances to the site, firefighters and policemen were attacked with rocks and incendiary weapons, Boston said. Once the area was cleared, police found explosive devices, gasoline and road signs, the GBI said.
In an email to the media, opponents of the training center said police used ‘extreme and unwarranted measures’ against them, including ‘tear gas canisters and pepper bullets’.
The Atlanta City Council voted in September 2021 to lease the land to the Atlanta Police Foundation.
The training center would include a shooting range, classrooms, a simulated town, an emergency vehicle driving course, stables for police horses and a ‘burn building’ for firefighters to practice putting out fires. The vote came after weeks of protests by people opposed to the complex.