Five Antifa members are charged with domestic terrorism following the Atlanta demonstration

Five Antifa members have been arrested on domestic terrorism charges after protesting in front of a projected $90 million police training facility.

The planned center’s location has been the epicenter of Antifa protests for months; protestors have dubbed the area Cop City and declared it an independent zone. Many of those who were apprehended were hiding in treehouses where bombs were later discovered.

Prior to Tuesday’s arrests, police detained a number of individuals at the scene for crimes involving vandalism and arson, as well as carjackings and assaults on locals and government officials.

According to a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the official reason for the protest is environmental concern for the Weelaunee Forest. The center would clear 381 acres of forest land.

Among the photographs recording the demonstration is a picture of a group of ski-mask-wearing protestors standing atop a truck with a banner reading “No forest, no peace, truck the cops” and a smaller placard reading “No Cop City.”

Antifa members were arrested in Atlanta on Tuesday for opposing a law enforcement effort to disperse demonstrators from the site of a new police training facility in the woods.

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, have been identified as those arrested.

The GBI reported earlier this week that protestors had begun throwing rocks and bottles at police and other emergency personnel at the location. After clearing the area, officers seized bombs, flares, and gasoline, according to authorities.

Saturday, when the local fire department was called to the location to extinguish a dumpster fire, multiple crimes occurred. Richard Porter told WXIA that the mob attacked him when he tried to collect scrap metal from the area.

Porter stated the group members threw objects at him, including a ‘gas bomb.’ He ran, abandoning his burned-out truck behind. Porter told the station, ‘I thought they were going to torch the truck with me inside’

Criminal trespass, domestic terrorism, aggravated assault, obstruction, and inciting a riot were the charges against Serena Hertel.

Arieon Robinson was charged with criminal trespass, obstruction, and domestic terrorism, while Leonard Vioselle was charged with criminal trespass, domestic terrorism, and possession of the instruments of the crime.

Nicholas Olsen (left) was charged with domestic terrorism, assault with a deadly weapon, interference with government property, and obstruction.

Francis Carroll (right) was charged with criminal trespass, domestic terrorism, aggravated assault, felony obstruction, interference with government property, and possession of criminal instruments.

Vioselle is the only group member from the area where the public safety center is being built.

The authorities deployed tear gas and pepper balls to disperse the protesters.

The Atlanta Community Press Collective tweeted on the day of the arrests, “Treesitters describe being swarmed and teargassed by police.”

While a spokesman from the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, a group sponsoring the rally, told AJC that those arrested were “legal political protestors,”

Marlon Kautz stated, “It is quite evident that the individuals they have been arresting, targeting, and assaulting have been engaged in nothing but peaceful civil disobedience.”

A spokesperson from a different organization, Community Movement Builder, told the newspaper, ‘I believe forest defenders will continue to defend the forest.

This includes civil disobedience, rallies, and demonstrations. That entails all available strategies.’

According to the organization, dozens of police officers and undercover policemen descended upon the location. A local official told AJC that after the initial arrest, authorities began “going through the woods to clear everybody.”

Two under-construction residences in the neighborhood of the rally were torched by demonstrators.

Activists were arrested for arson and other offences during the conflict, which was marked by a truck that had been set on fire.

Garbage may be observed at the protest site.

Domestic terrorism convictions entail terms ranging from five to thirty-five years in jail. The group is currently being detained at the DeKalb County Jail.

Sherry Boston, district attorney of DeKalb County, issued the following statement: ‘I strongly believe in the freedom to protest peacefully for what one feels to be fair and reasonable.

However, I draw the line at violence, property destruction, and threatening or harming others.’

She continued, “My office will always defend the rights of DeKalb County residents.” The reported violent behaviors at the training facility pose a major threat to the public and will not be permitted.’

These arrests should serve as a clear reminder that we will not rest when it comes to bringing domestic terrorists to justice, as stated by Georgia’s Republican governor Brian Kemp in a tweet.

The group is also charged with criminal trespass, interference with government property, and aggravated assault, in addition to domestic terrorism.

Francis Carroll faces the most number of charges in this case. He resides in the wealthy Maine town of Kennebunkport, where former president George H.W. Bush famously spent his summers after leaving office.

Hertel graduated from Pitzer College in 2020 with a major in environmental analysis and mathematics. According to her online biography, she is interested in public health and environmental justice, with a particular focus on prisons and water.

For months, opponents of the training center have protested by constructing platforms in the surrounding woods and camping at the site.

According to them, the Atlanta Police Foundation’s proposed $90 million project would result in the destruction of so many trees that it would be detrimental to the ecosystem. They also reject investing so much money in “Cop City,” which they claim will be used for “urban warfare” training.

The 85-acre site is owned by the city of Atlanta, but is located just outside the city boundaries in unincorporated DeKalb County. The property contains a former state prison farm.

Firefighters and police officers were pelted with rocks and incendiary devices as they attempted to remove barriers blocking entrances to the site, according to Boston. After clearing the area, police discovered explosive devices, fuel, and road flares, according to the GBI.

Opponents of the training center said in an email to news outlets that police used “extreme and unjustified methods” against them, including “tear gas canisters and pepper bullets.”

In September 2021, the Atlanta City Council voted to lease the land to the Atlanta Police Foundation.

The training facility would feature a shooting range, classrooms, a simulated town, an emergency vehicle driving course, stables for police horses, and a “burn building” for firefighters to practice extinguishing fires. The vote followed weeks of protests by those opposed to the facility