Back in May a group of anti-police protesters in Georgia were arrested after throwing rocks and a Molotov cocktail at police. The “protesters” have been trying to prevent the city of Atlanta from building a new 85-acre police training center (which the left has dubbed “cop city”) in a large wooded area near the city. The group has blocked roads and harassed construction workers who came to the site to work. During the May incident, police accompanied the construction workers to ensure their safety and the protest group started throwing rocks at them. Then this happened:

The protesters have built tree houses in the area in order to claim they are not merely protesters but residents of the property. A string of crimes in the area has continued and a law enforcement task force was created to deal with it. Earlier this month, a man who stopped near the site because of what he believed was abandoned junk was attacked by protesters and had his truck burned by them after he fled the area.

That same day, two homes that were under construction in the area were also burned:

A fire burned down two homes in a subdivision still under development in DeKalb County last Saturday night. Authorities said it happened along Bouldercrest Road, not far from a controversial training center planned for first responders that critics call “cop city.”

The blaze broke out just hours after another fire about a mile up the street. How the fire ignited, authorities said, remains mystery…

One resident, David Ray, told FOX 5 he wasn’t around when he found out his property was going up in flames…

“We’re trying to build a new community and enhance DeKalb County and unincorporated Atlanta in that area,” he said. “The houses are completely gone.”

Yeah, that’s a real head-scratcher. I wonder if the anti-development leftists who’ve been throwing Molotovs at police and cars had anything to do with it?

Last Saturday firefighters responded to a literal dumpster fire in the area and wound up being pelted with rocks and bottles:

DeKalb Police Department responded to reports of a dumpster fire on Key Road around 10:32 a.m. on Saturday, assisting Atlanta Police Department.

The department said that when they arrived at the scene, DeKalb Fire said they were having issues putting out the fire because protesters were throwing objects at them. So for the safety of the firefighters, police units from both departments assisted in evacuating the area.

Tuesday, the task force raided the area in order to remove barricades set up by the protest group. They were once again pelted with rocks and bottles and wound up arresting five people on domestic terrorism charges.

Five people have been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism and other charges after a joint operation at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. The GBI is part of a joint task force formed to combat ongoing criminal activity at the Atlanta Police Department (APD) site. Yesterday, December 13, 2022, our agents assisted APD and other local, state, and task force members in an operation to remove barricades blocking some of the entrances to the training center…

…several people threw rocks at police cars and attacked EMT’s outside the neighboring fire stations with rocks and bottles. Task force members used various tactics to arrest individuals who were occupying makeshift treehouses.

The following people have been arrested and taken to the DeKalb County Jail:

Francis Carroll, age 22, of Maine

Criminal Trespass, Domestic Terrorism, Aggravated Assault, Felony Obstruction, Interference with Government Property, Possession of Tools for the Commission of the Crime

Nicholas Olson, age 25, of Nebraska

Domestic Terrorism, Aggravated Assault, Interference with Government Property, Obstruction

Serena Hertel, age 25, of California

Criminal Trespass, Domestic Terrorism, Aggravated Assault, Obstruction, Inciting a Riot

Leonardo Vioselle, age 20, of Macon, GA

Criminal Trespass, Domestic Terrorism, Possession for Tools of the Crime

Arieon Robinson, age 22, of Wisconsin

Criminal Trespass, Obstruction, Domestic Terrorism

After police cleared the area of concern, which included makeshift treehouses, they found explosive devices, gasoline, and road flares.

Andy Ngo has more details on the identities of the five people who were arrested. Meanwhile, it sounds as if things aren’t going well for the five arrestees in court today.

Judge Jason presiding over the Magistrate Criminal Court today. The court appears disorganized today, with non-forest defendants appearing late, an attorneys who has been unable to contact her client, and one person assigned the wrong warrant.

— Atlanta Community Press Collective (@atlanta_press) December 15, 2022

Judge Jason defers to Superior Court. No bond for the first forest defender.

— Atlanta Community Press Collective (@atlanta_press) December 15, 2022

Third forest defender denied bond.

— Atlanta Community Press Collective (@atlanta_press) December 15, 2022

So it looks like none of these guys will be getting out of jail prior to trial. Finally, earlier today AJ+ posted a fawning video showing protesters in masks setting up barricades on the site. This clip is 15 minutes long but it seems it came a few days too late.

Update 12/17: Elon Musk’s reaction the accused domestic terrorists raising money on Twitter.

This is messed up

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2022