A nonprofit with millions of dollars allegedly raised cash for the militants to buy ammunition and surveillance equipment.
Flock Safety’s business motto is: “To solve crime, you need evidence.” The Atlanta-based “all-in-one” security technology company boasts major police departments as clients for its license plate-reading camera technology.
On Tuesday, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr alleged in a 109-page domestic terror and felony RICO indictment that one of the 61 suspects used his employment at the security company to provide sensitive security information to his violent co-conspirators.
“On June 6, 2022, WILLIAM BUDDEN WARREN, while employed with Flock, did provide locations of future Flock camera installations so that Defend the Atlanta Forest members could avoid detection,” reads the indictment. “This would allow Defend the Atlanta Forest members to further occupy the forest. This is an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.”
RICO suspect William Budden Warren was a project manager at security company Flock Safety
If true, the implications are serious. Carr alleges that dozens of mostly out-of-state suspects—and at least three known foreign suspects—are members of the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” group, a network of “anarchist, anti-police, and anti-business” violent extremists who have organized acts of violence, intimidation and property destruction in Georgia and other states since 2020 to stop the construction of a future first responder training facility.
The Georgia Attorney General released a graphic showing where the RICO and domestic terrorism suspects are from
Through an occupation of a forested public area south of Atlanta lasting nearly two years, members of the group cut the safety rope of an arborist, torched millions of dollars of construction equipment, held a civilian at gunpoint, set up potentially deadly booby traps, hurled firebombs at responding police and engaged in other acts of violence.
Most of the 61 RICO suspects were previously arrested on other serious crime allegations connected to the ‘Defend the Atlanta Forest’ group
Loading this lets X set cookies and collect data.
View on XThat Warren allegedly exploited his position as a high-level project manager at Flock Safety to provide confidential security information to criminal third parties could have major implications for one of the largest surveillance companies in the country. And according to Flock Safety, they apparently had no idea it may have even happened until this week.
“Today, when we became aware of this incident, the person in question had his employment immediately terminated,” wrote a spokesperson to The Post Millennial on Tuesday. The company says it has “no reason to believe” that additional information was shared, though they did not clarify if an investigation had been completed. “This employee did not have the ability to manipulate camera footage or delete images, and we believe all of our customer’s data remains totally untouched and unobstructed.”
Warren had been a full-time employee at Flock Safety for nearly four years until he was fired. Until Tuesday, he was a project manager specializing in law enforcement accounts.
William Budden Warren trained in Christian ministry in the past before becoming enmeshed in leftist politics, according to social media
The Atlanta Police Department, along with nearly all other police departments in the Atlanta metro area, have contracts with Flock Safety for the cameras they use to identify stolen vehicles and help locate wanted suspects. The APD said it was aware of the state’s allegations against Warren before the indictment was public. It declined to comment further.
With roots going back to George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” movement has attracted far-left radicals made up of anarchists, communists and eco-extremists dedicated to the goal of abolishing police, private property and the state. With extensive social media accounts, nonprofit crowdfunding, leftist “influencers” and a blog, the group has been able to recruit far beyond the Atlanta area, leading to escalating violence that has turned deadly.
Most of the 61 RICO suspects were previously arrested on other serious crime allegations connected to the ‘Defend the Atlanta Forest’ group
In January this year, Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, of Tallahassee, Fla. shot and severely injured a Georgia State Patrol trooper at the group's so-called “autonomous zone” occupation south of Atlanta before being killed by police. As revenge for Teran’s death, who was instantly hailed a martyr by the group’s supporters, a series of escalating attacks occurred in the following months, including an organized “Night of Rage'' riot in downtown Atlanta, solidarity attacks in multiple other states and militants traveling to the home of an officer accused of shooting Teran.
Many of the suspects have extensive ties to Antifa and dozens of Antifa accounts on social media have called for solidarity attacks after their comrades were charged with domestic terrorism and other crimes over the past 10 months.
An Antifa flag at their autonomous zone occupation south of Atlanta in 2022
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
Antifa have repeatedly fundraised for the violent group
The ‘autonomous zone’ occupation centered around and near a decrepit, abandoned former prison
The indictment also alleges that through the Network for Strong Communities, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, millions of dollars were laundered to support militants in the group to buy ammunition, surveillance equipment and other supplies, in addition to supplying legal support for arrested members. Marlon Kautz, Savannah Patterson and Adele Maclean, leaders of the nonprofit, were indicted on 15 counts of money laundering.
Marlon Scott Kautz used the alias Mouse.’ Savannah D. Patterson went by ‘Spud’ and ‘Danny.’ Adele Maclean was known as ‘Earthworm'
Most of those indicted by a Fulton County grand jury in the RICO case were already arrested or charged in earlier incidents. Prior investigations by this journalist into the suspects' backgrounds reveal that most come from educated and privileged families.
One of those indicted in the RICO case is Thomas Webb Jurgens, an attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center and a member of the National Lawyers Guild. The NLG is a far-left legal group that provides leftist violent extremist suspects and Antifa members with legal aid in criminal cases. Fellow RICO defendant James "Jamie" Marsicano is also an NLG member. Marsicano hails from one of North Carolina’s most wealthy families.
Most of the 61 RICO suspects were previously arrested on other serious crime allegations
Abigail Elizabeth Skapyak, of Savage, Minn., was one of the first arrested in Atlanta in 2022 in connection with the occupation. She is a former Department of Justice intern who studied at the American University in Washington, DC. She has been repeatedly arrested at far-left direct actions in Minneapolis.
RICO suspect and former DOJ intern Abigail Elizabeth Skapyak, of Savage, Minn., has been arrested at multiple riots in different states across the US
Teresa Yue Shen, a Brooklyn woman who graduated from Barnard College before working at Reuters and CNN, was charged with domestic terrorism in January before being indicted on racketeering charges. While on bail release, she was arrested at another violent direct action in New York City in May. She is from a wealthy Chinese pharma tycoon family.
Teresa Yue Shen, of Brooklyn, was arrested at another riot in New York City while out on bail for domestic terrorism in Georgia
Another RICO defendant named in the indictment is Francis Carroll, who is also charged with domestic terrorism and felony first-degree attempted arson. He is the son of a yacht-sailing, multimillionaire family and is from the wealthy Maine city of Kennebunkport, also the location of a summer home belonging to former President George W. Bush. He was out on bail for domestic terrorism in December and was re-arrested at a riot in Atlanta in January. In June, he was re-arrested for violating the conditions of his bail. He currently remains in custody, according to Dekalb County jail records.
RICO suspect Francis Carroll smiled when he was arrested on suspicion of domestic terrorism in January 2023
RICO suspect Lillian Pearl Ellis studied at Eckerd College, a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Fla.
In addition to William Warren, there are four other RICO defendants who weren’t previously charged at other riots: Lillian Pearl Ellis, 30, Sonali Gupta, 32, Geneva Rose Tilbury, 25, of Kansas City, Mo. and Leif Kingfisher Nicholas Novak, 31, of Tucson, Ariz.
Geneva Rose Tilbury, of Kansas City, Mo., is a nonbinary-identifying activist who studied environmental studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
The indictment announced in Fulton County used the same state RICO statute to charge Donald Trump and 18 associates just weeks earlier. If convicted, the defendants can serve 5–20 years in prison on the racketeering charge. A domestic terrorism conviction in Georgia carries a sentence of 5–35 years. DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, a Democrat, withdrew from prosecuting cases related to the group before it was taken on by the attorney general. The Georgia attorney general's office was reached for comment.
This is the full list of the 61 indicted RICO defendants:
Jack Morgan Beamon, 22, of Athena, Ga.
Max Jacob Biederman, 25, of Tempe, Ariz.
Timothy E. Bilodeau, 26, of Boston, Mass.
Emma Katherine Bogush, 25, of Bethany, Conn.
Andrew Darnell Carlisle, 32, of Decatur, Ga.
Francis M. Carroll, 23, of Kennebunkport, Maine
Amin Jalal Chaoui, 29, of Richmond, Va.
Brooke Elaine Courtemanche, 27, of Wooster, Ohio
Colin Patrick Dorsey, 42, of Blue Hill, Mass.
Julia Caroline DuPuis, 24, of Atlanta, Ga.
Ariel Caitlin Ebaugh, 22, of Locust Grove, Ga.
Lillian Pearl Ellis, 30
Madeleine Feola, 22, of Oberlin, Ohio
Ivan James Ferguson, 23, of Henderson, Nev.
Phillip Allen Flagg, 29, of Worchester, Mass.
Maggie June Gates, 25, of Bloomington, Ind.
Nadja Geier, 24, of Nashville, Tenn.
Priscilla Christine Grim, 49
Sonali Gupta, 32
Luke Edward Harper, 27, of Lake Worth, Fla,
Serena Abby Hertel, 26, of Los Angeles, Calif.
Marianna Elizabeth Hoitt-Lange, 25, of New York
Thomas Webb Jergens, 28, of Atlanta, Ga,
Hannah Margaret Kass, 30, of Philadelphia, Penn.
Marlon Scott Kautz, 39, of Atlanta, Ga.
Ayla Elegia King, 19, of Worchester, Mass.
Katie Marie Kloth, 36, of Schofield, Penn,
Madeleine Gunther Kodat, 30, of Philadelphia, Penn.
Zoe C. Larmey, 26, of Nashville, Tenn.
Ana Gypsy Lee, 39, of Gainesville, Ga.
Dimitri Roger Leny, 25, of France
Spencer Bernard Liberto, 30, of Pittsburg, Penn.
Mattia Luini, 31, of New York, New York
Matthew Ernest Macar, 31, of Pittsburg, Penn.
Adele Garrett MacLean, 32, of Atlanta, Ga.
James Lee Marsicano, 30, of Charlette, N.C.
Grace Taylor Martin, 23, of Madison, Wisc.
Kayley Cheryl Meissner, 20, of Madison, Wisc.
Emily Murphy, 37, of Berkley, Mich.
Timothy A.R. Murphy, 26, of Rockport, Maine
Tyler John Norman, 39, of Blue Mountain, Wisc.
Leif Kingfisher Nicholas Novak, 31, of Tucson, Ariz.
Ehret William Nottingham, 22, of Fort Collins, Colo.
Nicholas Dean Olson, 26, of Bennington, Neb.
Alexis Achilles Papali, 49, of Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Geoffrey Parsons, 21, of Baltimore, Md.
Savannah D. Patterson, 30, of Atlanta, Ga.
Kamryn Durel Pipes, 27, of Baton Rouge, La.
Victor Enrique Puertas, 46, an illegal foreign national who resided in Provo, Utah
Christopher Reynolds, 32, of Ohio
Fredrique Robert-Paul, 35, of St. Pascal, Canada
Arieon T. Robinson, 22, of Milwaukee, Wisc.
Teresa Yue Shen, 32, of New York, New York
Abigail Elizabeth Skapyak, 24, of Savage, Minn.
Caroline Hart Tennenbaum, 36, of Atlanta, Ga.
Geneva Rose Tilbury, 25, of Kansas City, Mo.
Abeeku Osei Vassail, 23, of Atlanta, Ga.
Leonardo Zen Voiselle, 21, of Macon, Ga.
Samuel Clemens Ward, 26, of Mesa, Ariz.
William Budden Warren, 31, of Decatur, Ga.
Sarah Wasalewski, 35, of Penn.