This doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Last month a construction site in Clayton County, Georgia had to shut down after 23 pieces of construction equipment were vandalized. The site in question is a new development which the Clayton County Board of Commissioners believes could have a $10 million impact on the local economy. So the obvious question was who would want to shut down that project and why. Police are now looking at nearby DeKalb County for a possible explanation.

Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts told Channel 2′s Mark Winnie that they are working to determine if the vandalism is related to opposition to the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

According to the police chief, a detective on the case reports a contractor whose equipment was damaged also works on the training center, which has allegedly been the impetus for numerous acts of vandalism.

Channel 2 Action News confirmed the contractor works on both projects…

Channel 2 Action News also found websites by those opposing the training center listing the contractors working on the training center and providing additional details about the business.

I immediately thought this sounded probable because opponents of the new police training center have a) vandalized construction equipment before and b) have targeted companies funding the project and construction executives. Last year they vandalized the home of an Alabama construction executive involved in the project.

Vandals targeted the Birmingham-area home of M. Miller Gorrie, the chairman of Brasfield & Gorrie, which is a primary contractor for the training center set to be built across 85 acres just outside Atlanta city limits in DeKalb County. The company confirmed Gorrie’s house was targeted, and police said they have opened a criminal investigation…

The incident happened in the early morning hours of last Friday, according to Thomas Boulware, a police lieutenant in Mountain Brook, AL, located just outside Birmingham. The house, two vehicles and some sculptures on the property were targeted, and police are investigating an initial charge of “harassing communications,” Boulware said. The investigation is active and no arrests have been made.

In an anonymous online blog post, the anti-training center activists claimed responsibility for the vandalism at Gorrie’s house. Referring to the company as “brasfield & buttface,” the group said they vandalized the house with paint and damaged two of Gorrie’s cars, including splashing them “with a gallon of laquer thinner.”

So it’s not supposition that they did this, the activists confessed, albeit anonymously to avoid consequences. This is something that’s pretty common on the anarchist left. There are websites devoted to anonymous publication of whatever illegal activities group members have carried out.

And that brings me to this post on a site called Anarchist Federation. It’s titled “20 Machines belonging to Brent Scarbrough vandalized at Clayton Co. construction site ‘may be linked to Atlanta public safety training center site.'” The post is basically a slightly revised version of the story I quoted above which they say was anonymously submitted. The only additions are some links including a link to the campaign against Scarbrough and his company. That site also has a list of jobsites where the company is working and notes how to identify equipment owned by Scarbrough’s company.

I’d say that settles who was behind this, at least in general. Hopefully police will be able to find enough evidence to make some arrests of the specific individuals involved. Unfortunately the video report isn’t available on YouTube but you can click the link above or this one below to see it.

Could vandalism at an under-construction Clayton County development be connected to opposition to Atlanta’s Public Safety Center? https://t.co/i8NudOHLJ9

— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) December 7, 2023