Democrats have long dismissed the idea that Antifa poses a threat, with New York Rep. Jerry Nadler famously calling it “a myth.”
However, such claims were again disproven this past weekend following a fiery riot that resulted in 35 militants being arrested.
Police assaulted with rocks and fireworks
According to the Daily Wire, the Atlanta Police Department put out video footage on Monday which showed “violent agitators” rampaging through a construction sight.
More footage of the group of violent agitators used the cover of a peaceful protest of the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. pic.twitter.com/ewtDRf130G
— Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) March 6, 2023
The disturbance took place in a rural area just outside Atlanta where a new police training facility is being constructed. Critics have dubbed the project “Cop City.”
What’s more, conservative journalist Andy Ngo tweeted out footage taken by New York Times journalist Sean Keenan which showed rioters engaged in arson.
NYT reporter Sean Keenan captured rare close-up video of part of the domestic terrorist attack by #Antifa and far-left extremists in Atlanta yesterday. The militants launched a coordinated mob ambush on police guarding a construction site the extremists pic.twitter.com/IP7YaaR4WC… https://t.co/EmN5juUlGa
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 6, 2023
Rioters came from as far away as France and Canada
Yet more footage revealed how the rioters confronted police by throwing rocks as well as launching explosive fireworks.
Breaking: @Atlanta_Police released another camera angle of the #Antifa terror attack southeast of Atlanta. A large mob of @defendATLforest masked extremists ambushed the officers, hurling explosive fireworks & rocks at them. The officers were trying to https://t.co/9pTeUCNlwX… https://t.co/BK10lIMchC pic.twitter.com/MVfeeaiEok
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 6, 2023
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr told Fox News that many of those who had been arrested were not local residents, with some rioters traveling from as far away as Canada and France.
“So this is a national network, an international group of people that are organized to come to our state to undermine a public safety training center,” Carr explained.
SPLC attorney arrested at riot
Among the arrested individuals was Tom Jurgens, who works as an attorney for the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
One of the Antifa members arrested on domestic terrorism charges in Atlanta last night is a staff attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The FBI has historically used the SPLC as a source for who should be considered domestic terrorists. pic.twitter.com/y5isk5AHaq
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 6, 2023
The Associated Press reported in 2018 that the FBI had for years used the SPLC as a resource in identifying so-called “violent extremists.”