Thomas Webb Jurgens, along with 22 people, has been arrested for domestic terrorism in connection with Sunday’s violent attack.
The riot took place on a police training center construction site, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. It has grasped the attention of netizens.
The Atlanta Police Department reported that a group of violent agitators used the proposed cover of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center to demonstrate against construction machinery and police officers.
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Why is attorney Thomas Webb Jurgens Arrested? Charges Explored
Authorities say Thomas Webb Jurgens, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, was among 23 protesters who stormed an Atlanta training center.
According to the New York Post, on Sunday, March 5, Thomas Webb Jurgens and a group of other protesters threw Molotov cocktails at Cop City, a public safety training center targeted by the group.
Although it is unclear how long Thomas Jurgens has been involved with the protest group, Atlanta authorities have alleged that they are a violent terrorist organization acting in the name of peaceful protesters.
The protesters, organized under Stop Cop City, claim that the 381-acre Weelaunee Forest is stolen Muskogee land.
Supporters of Stop Cop City claim that its creation will lead to eradicating wildlife and forestry, and the land belongs to the city of DeKalb County, not Atlanta.
Who is attorney Thomas Webb Jurgens?
Thomas Webb Jurgens’ LinkedIn page stated that he worked as an assistant public defender in Florida.
Likewise, he served as a law clerk for the DeKalb County public defender before starting work for the SPLC’s Economic Justice Project. His LinkedIn has been taken down.
An SPLC attorney Jurgens was an observer on behalf of the National Bar Association. It was later known as “Cop City” by critics of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
Jurgens is a former public defender in Orlando and a graduate of the University of Georgia.
Reportedly, only two suspects belong to Georgia. They are Thomas Webb Jurgens and Jack April Beamon.
Other agitators are Kamryn Pipes, Jack April Beamon, Kayley Meissner, and others.
Initially, Jurgen’s arrest grasped the attention of Republican Rep. Greg Price. He noted that the FBI relied on the SPLC’s determination of who constitutes a hate group.
Last month, an FBI whistleblower accused the FBI of enforcing radical, traditional Catholic ideology as a potential domestic extremist, listing the faction as one of its hate groups, according to the SPLC.
The FBI retracted the document after it got leaked, saying it did not meet the FBI’s strict standards.
The FBI, which previously called the SPLC a well-known, established, and credible organization, reported on domestic terrorism, according to Fox News.
What is SPLC?
SPLC is the abbreviation for The Southern Poverty Law Center. It is an American non-profit advocacy organization. It specializes in civil rights and public interest litigation.
The organization is based in Montgomery, Alabama. It is known for legal action against this white-collar lawsuit for targeting hate groups and for other extremist organizations. It also helps in promoting tolerance education programs.
The SPLC’s classifications and lists of hate groups are often cited as authoritative and widely accepted, along with academic and media coverage of such groups.
These hate groups are those who attack or harm a group of people because of their unique characteristics.
However, the SPLC list has been criticized by those who claim that some of the SPLC lists are foreign, politically motivated, or baseless.
There have also been allegations of the organization’s misuse or embezzlement of funds, leading some employees to refer to the headquarters as the “House of Poverty.”
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