After staging altercations overnight Wednesday, radical left-wing Atlanta activists belonging to Antifa called for a "night of rage" on Friday, January 20, in "retaliation" for the death of one of their members in a shootout with police. Officers were trying to clear out the radicals who had barricaded themselves in the forest known as Cop City when the deceased opened fire and seriously wounded a state policeman, who is in the ICU. His fellow officers returned fire and shot down the assailant.
In a tweet uploaded on the Scenes from the Atlanta Forest account, the "comrades" of the slain activist called to "honor the memory" of the perpetrator of the police shooting. They called for "reciprocal violence against the police and their allies. On Friday, January 20, wherever you are, you are invited to participate in a night of rage."
A CALL FOR RETALIATION
Consider this a call for reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies. On Friday, January 20th, wherever you are, you are invited to participate in a night of rage in order to honor the memory of our fallen comrade.https://t.co/C6gfU6gfXB pic.twitter.com/WcfKGQ0Ptf— Scenes from the Atlanta Forest (@scenesatl) January 18, 2023
Protests against police academy
The wounded policeman, whose identity has not been revealed, was shot and had to be admitted to the ICU, where he is in stable condition. The officer was hit by a bullet when he and his colleagues tried to clear out the Antifa from the Cop Land forest and one of the protesters opened fire on them without warning. The remaining members of state law enforcement responded to the attack and shot down the shooter.
The clashes came after the protesters heard the announcement that a police academy would be built in Cop City. The Antifa refuse to allow the police academy to be built and have been protesting in the area, hiding in the trees and making their demands known. After the shooting, members of the group decided they would stay in the area until the city put a stop to the academy. They called for "a vigil at Little Five Points."
This group doesn’t feel today’s shooting was in self-defense. The group doesn’t know who the man was that was killed as of this hour. They’re calling on @andreforatlanta to stop this training facility along with @atlcouncil.
— Cody Alcorn (@CodyAlcorn) January 18, 2023
A multi-agency operation
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a statement reporting the incident during an operation involving several different law enforcement agencies. The release stated that the officers were attempting to "identify individuals who were trespassing and committing other crimes at the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center."
🧵 Full statement from today’s multi-agency operation: https://t.co/THLlaSdeC8
The GBI continues to investigate an officer involved shooting in Atlanta, DeKalb County, GA. pic.twitter.com/4pMZshw9Mc
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) January 19, 2023
Wednesday night disturbances
Throughout the night, further altercations took place when, after the vigil, some 200 activists blocked off the streets and began throwing scooters while protesting the death of the militant. Throughout the day and night they continued to demand that Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens suspend the project.
BREAKING: Treehouse Antifa is now marching and throwing scooters into the road at Little Five Points in Atlanta
They were holding a vigil for their fallen comrade pic.twitter.com/Xcqpj3ubIK
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 19, 2023
Terrorist with a cache of explosives arrested
Last Wednesday's incident was not the first clash between police and activists. In the last month, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested six militants on charges of domestic terrorism and other violent crimes. The arrestees were caught with a cache of explosives. Prior to their arrest, they attempted to burn a man alive in his car.
Breaking: A Georgia state trooper was shot by a militant near the Atlanta #Antifa-linked autonomous zone. Officers returned fire, killing the gunman. Last month, the @gbi_ga charged 6 militants there with domestic terrorism & other violent felonies. https://t.co/2YIJC62kdx https://t.co/eJTJ2Ev00a
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 18, 2023
