Masked rioters vandalized the streets of Atlanta, Georgia
A police officer blocks a downtown street following a protest in Atlanta, January 21, 2023 © AP / Alex Slitz
Hundreds of activists swarmed downtown Atlanta on Saturday in response to a call for a “Night of Rage,” after one of the protesters against a planned police training center was killed in a shootout with officers earlier this week.
A crowd of mourners marched through the streets in a “largely peaceful protest,” as described by a local FOX reporter. The event turned violent after masked activists clad in all-black began pelting rocks and shooting fireworks at the Atlanta Police Foundation headquarters.
The rioters also smashed the building’s windows with hammers, vandalized walls with anti-police graffiti, and set at least one police cruiser on fire, according to multiple photos and videos shared online.
Atlanta Riot Explained 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/B2w2IDF5pa
— E (@ElijahSchaffer) January 22, 2023
“Atlanta is safe, and our police officers have resolved the disruptions Downtown from this evening,” the city’s mayor, Andre Dickens, said after police swooped in to contain the unrest.
In addition to smashing up businesses, cars & the ATL Police Foundation, far-left extremists came with arson supplies to set an @Atlanta_Police vehicle on fire. The riot was organized as revenge for their gunman dying in a shootout at the autonomous zone. pic.twitter.com/NGcqZmKO9t
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 22, 2023
“Atlanta Police have arrested 6 people so far, some of whom were carrying explosives. These individuals meant violence and used the cover of peaceful protest to conceal their motives,” Dickens added.
BREAKING: @Atlanta_Police vehicle burns in downtown Atlanta, police are working urgently to clear the streets of #COPCITY protesters. Very chaotic scene unfolding right now. #BREAKING#ATL#NEWS#NOW@FOX5Atlantapic.twitter.com/XGf6M50t4O
— Billy Heath III (@BillyHeathFOX5) January 21, 2023
The escalation of violence comes after Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26, (a nonbinary person who used they/it pronouns and went by the name Tortuguita, according to AP) allegedly fired a gun at a state trooper and was killed by return fire on Wednesday.
HERE WE GO AGAIN: Atlanta local reporter calls the Antifa riot a “mostly peaceful protest” as police vehicles get set on fire and the city destroyed. pic.twitter.com/dw6odUBFPH
— Katie Daviscourt🇺🇸 (@KatieDaviscourt) January 22, 2023
“An individual, without warning, shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper… [and] was killed in the exchange of gunfire,” Georgia Bureau of Investigations Michael Register said earlier this week. The officer was shot in the “pelvic area,” but was reportedly in stable condition after a surgery.
However, since there is no recording of the shooting as most GSP troopers are not issued body-worn cameras, the activists called the official account of events into question. They reportedly distributed flyers calling for a “night of rage” and violent retaliation, while at least one Twitter account was banned for urging “reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies.”
Tortuguita was killed as authorities cleared yet another protester camp from the site of the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. Activists have been camping out at the site of the $90 million project “urban warfare” for over a year, claiming it would be “environmentally damaging” to cut down trees to build what they dubbed a “Cop City.”
