The far-left smear organization known as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has defended one of its attorneys after police arrested him for alleged domestic terrorism.
As Breitbart News reported on Monday, this past weekend, far-left agitators allegedly threw Molotov cocktails and launched fireworks at an Atlanta police training facility that has been under construction. Among the 23 people arrested for what police called a “coordinated attack” is Thomas Jurgens, 28, a staff attorney at the SPLC. Following the arrest, Jurgens’ Linkedin page was deleted. Jurgens hails from Georgia but was allegedly with people from out of state.
APD has arrested and charged the following people w/ domestic terrorism:@wsbtv pic.twitter.com/f5gs49xfQE
— Michael Seiden (@SeidenWSBTV) March 6, 2023
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) did not address any of the alleged violence that unfolded over the weekend and defended Jurgens as having been a “legal observer” of the protest.
“An employee at the SPLC was arrested while acting — and identifying — as a legal observer on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). The employee is an experienced legal observer, and their arrest is not evidence of any crime, but of heavy-handed law enforcement intervention against protesters,” the organization said.
“This is part of a months-long escalation of policing tactics against protesters and observers who oppose the destruction of the Weelaunee Forest to build a police training facility,” it continued. “The SPLC has and will continue to urge de-escalation of violence and police use of force against Black, Brown and Indigenous communities — working in partnership with these communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.”
This is part of a months-long escalation of policing tactics against protesters and observers who oppose the destruction of the Weelaunee Forest to build a police training facility. #STOPCopCity
— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) March 6, 2023
To read our full statement, please click below. #STOPCopCity https://t.co/i7JfVp1nys
— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) March 6, 2023
The Southern Poverty Law Center called me a terrorist for posting a flyer of a publicly available drag show. Turns out one of their attorneys is an Antifa member and was arrested for domestic terrorism. It’s always projection with them. pic.twitter.com/lavHCM39Xx
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 6, 2023
Ah weird, you’re suddenly for radical extremist groups committing violence against government enforcement. https://t.co/HcKOFjHHCJ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 7, 2023
The SPLC and the National Lawyers Guild have released statements in support of their staffer/affiliate charged with domestic terrorism. They blame police for making arrests and try to hide behind CRT and intersectional jargon. They do not criticize the violent actions of the… https://t.co/vBto4fQudc pic.twitter.com/WUtuugPsym
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 7, 2023
During the demonstration over the weekend, protesters allegedly threw Molotov cocktails, fireworks, rocks, and bricks at police officers. Atlanta Police Chief Schierbaum later described it as a “coordinated attack” and that multiple pieces of construction equipment were set on fire.
“This was a very violent attack, very violent attack,” Schierbaum said. “This wasn’t about a public safety training center. This was about anarchy … and we are addressing that quickly.”
According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, some left-wing agitators even tried blinding police officers by shining green lasers into their eyes.
Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also condemned the violence, calling it an act of “domestic terrorism.”
“As I’ve said before, domestic terrorism will NOT be tolerated in this state,” Kemp said. “We will not rest until those who use violence and intimidation for an extremist end are brought to full justice.”
The SPLC’s listing of conservatives alongside legitimate hate groups almost had deadly consequences in 2013 when domestic terrorist Floyd Lee Corkins II attempted a mass shooting at the Family Research Council (FRC) after the SPLC listed it as a hate group.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, wrote in the Washington Post that the center’s use of “hate” labels destroys public discourse.
“The wickedness of the SPLC’s blacklist lies in the fact that it conflates groups that really do preach hatred, such as the Ku Klux Klan and Nation of Islam, with ones that simply do not share the SPLC’s political preferences,” he wrote. “The obvious goal is to marginalize the organizations in this second category by bullying reporters into avoiding them, scaring away writers and researchers from working for them, and limiting invitations for them to discuss their work.”
