Five ‘Stop Cop City’ suspects arrested after breaking into construction site following RICO, terrorism, money laundering indictment of comrades | The Post Millennial
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Five ‘Stop Cop City’ suspects arrested after breaking into construction site following RICO, terrorism, money laundering indictment of comrades
Officers located the quintet around 9:30am after they “trespassed onto the site and had chained themselves to a piece of construction equipment.”
Update: The five arrested have been identified as James Jeffrey, David Dunn, Timothy Sullivan, Lalita Martin, and Ayeola Whitworth. The five have been charged with criminal trespass and obstruction of law enforcement officers. Martin was also charged with reckless conduct.
On Thursday, five "Stop Cop City" protestors were arrested for breaking into the construction site just outside Atlanta, Georgia on the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Facility and momentarily halting work by affixing themselves to an excavator.
All five were subsequently taken into custody, where the Atlanta Police Department and Georgia Bureau of Investigation are working together to determine possible charges.
According to the APD, officers located the quintet around 9:30 am Thursday morning after they "trespassed onto the site and had chained themselves to a piece of construction equipment."
They also installed an official-looking "stop work order notice" sign on the fence.
"Pursuant to the will of the people in Atlanta, DeKalb County, around the country and world, it is hereby ordered that all construction cease immediately," the notice read, claiming that the site was in "violation" of destroying a forest and the public trust, and "undermining the democratic referendum process."
"We are aware protestors are actively requesting others to come to the site to show their support," the ADP said.
Throughout the morning, a crowd of around 25 protestors gathered outside the fenced-off area to cheer the group on. The APD said that "additional resources" had been moved to the site, with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners ensuring that the First Amendment rights of those taking part in the small demonstration are protected, "as well as to ensure the work site remains secure and work continues on the training center."
The move comes just two days after 61 of their comrades, many of whom have links to Antifa, were indicted in Fulton County over their involvement in the violent attempt to prevent the Public Safety Training Center from being built.
The defendants, collectively branded an "enterprise of militant anarchists, eco-activists and community organizers," have all been accused of violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Individual defendants are also facing other charges related to their particular roles.
When asked by The Post Millennial senior editor Andy Ngo if these recent arrests would be added to a future amendment to the RICO case, the Attorney General's Office stated, "We will continue to evaluate the facts of each circumstance and make an appropriate determination in areas in which we have jurisdiction."
For months, Antifa members and other far-left extremists have wreaked havoc on the site of the proposed facility, carrying out numerous attacks, setting up potentially deadly booby traps, and generally making it impossible for officials to move forward on the project.
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