23 charged with domestic terrorism at Atlanta police protest

Officials in the southern US state of Georgia on Monday announced that 23 protesters, including a Frenchman and a Canadian, had been charged with domestic terrorism after Atlanta police arrested 35 people on Sunday. 

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, who announced the initial arrests a midnight press conference Sunday, said "violent agitators" had launched a coordinated attack on police. 

What do we know about the incident that led to the charges?

The arrests took place after a music event turned violent when black-clad participants stormed the construction site of the Atlanta Public Safety Center in DeKalb county — derisively referred to as "Cop City" by detractors — throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police and setting several pieces of heavy equipment on fire.

Hundreds of people attended Sunday's events. "The illegal actions of the agitators could have resulted in bodily harm," police said. "Officers exercised restraint and used nonlethal enforcement to conduct arrests."

"When you throw commercial-grade fireworks, when you throw Molotov cocktails," Police Chief Schierbaum said, "your only intent is to harm. This is not a protest. This is criminal activity."

Media outlets reported that black smoke could be seen billowing from the site for miles.

Several law enforcement agencies were involved in quelling the unrest.

'Very violent attack,' Atlanta police chief says

"This was a very violent attack," Schierbaum said, "This wasn't about a public safety training center: This was about anarchy." 

Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, on Monday said the people involved in Sunday's incident "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. "We will not rest until those who use violence and intimidation for an extremist end are brought to full justice."

What is 'Cop City'?

The Atlanta City Council approved the $90 million (€84.2 million) Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in 2021, saying the state-of-the-art campus would replace substandard existing facilities and boost police morale.

The police and fire training center is being built on 85 acres (344,000 square meters) of a 400-acre property. It is designed to include classrooms and administrative buildings, a shooting range, a driving skills area to practice chases, a "burn building" for firefighters to train on, and a "mock village" with a home, convenience store and nightclub for law enforcement to conduct tactical exercises.

Opponents have two major problems with the project.

Those who oppose the militarization of the police say the site will be used to train for "urban warfare."

Self-described "defenders of the forest" say construction will involve cutting down so many trees in the Weelaunee Forest southeast of Atlanta — one of the largest urban forests in the US — that it would be environmentally damaging for the city's six million residents.

How have Georgia lawmakers reacted to protests?

Sunday's clashes were the latest in a series of contentious stand-offs between authorities and protesters.

On January 18, a 26-year-old environmental activist was shot and killed during a police raid to clear protesters from the woods. In the aftermath of the shooting, demonstrations spread to downtown Atlanta.

On January 21, a police cruiser was set ablaze and windows were shattered when rocks and fireworks were hurled at a downtown skyscraper housing the Atlanta Police Foundation.

Such protests have prompted Georgia state lawmakers to look at toughening laws and sentencing, for instance, by proposing that rioting be made a felony rather than a misdemeanor. 

Those previously arrested during clashes at the site are being charged with felony domestic terrorism, which can carry sentences of up to 35 years.

Despite criticism of heavy-handedness, lawmakers are also looking at classifying domestic terrorism as a violent felony. That would mean an individual's entire sentence would have to be served — even for first-time offenders who would not be eligible for probation — and parole could not be granted until at least 30 years of the sentence had been served.

Critics have voiced alarm over what they see as the criminalization of protesters, especially environmental and land-rights defenders attempting to block pipelines and protect woodlands and waterways, by labeling them eco-terrorists.

They say the breadth of the 2001 Patriot Act allows the government to put corporate profits before land stewardship and the public good with lawmakers criminalizing peaceful protest and using militarized police to violently suppress it under penalty of harsh sentencing. 

Atlanta police brace for further protests

Police on Monday said the Georgia Bureau of Investigations would be prosecuting those charged.

Beyond two foreign nationals, two of those arrested were Georgia residents. All others were from various states across the US, including Arizona, Massachusetts and New York.

The vast majority of peaceful protesters were Atlanta residents.

More demonstrations are scheduled for the coming days, prompting Atlanta police to release a statement reading, "With protests planned for the coming days, the Atlanta Police Department, in collaboration with law enforcement partners, have a multi-layered strategy that includes reaction and arrest."

js/ar (AP, Reuters)