Police Breaking Up ‘Cop City’ Protest Arrest Legal Observer

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(Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Southern Poverty Law Center staff attorney and graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, Tom Jurgens, was arrested on domestic terrorism charges, along with 22 others, following a protest at Weelaunee Forest in southwest DeKalb County, Georgia. The movement, known as Defend Atlanta Forest or Stop Cop City, is protesting the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center at that location.

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The protests object to the $90 million facility they believe will further militarize policing:

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“Police here have already responded to protests with militarized tactics, chemical weapons and domestic terrorism charges,” Micah Herskind, a community organizer, said. “With plans to include a ‘mock city’ for police to train in urban warfare tactics, Cop City would only further provide police with training and equipment to suppress dissent and terrorize Black and working-class communities.”

Some who oppose Cop City are concerned about the dwindling tree canopy in the area, as Will Harlan, the southeast director for the Center for Biological Diversity, noted:

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“The South River Forest is one of the last and largest urban forests in Atlanta and in the country,” he said. “It is a really special place. It provides a habitat to some rare fish species and rare plant species, and it’s one of the largest intact forests we have in the region.”

As reported by Law.com, the clash between protestors and cops has gotten lethal before:

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Things came to a head in January, when a protest went sour. Police shot 26-year-old environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, or “Tortuguita, during a raid at a protest camp. Protestors threw flaming bottles and rocks at the police officers during the altercation. Police claim that Tortugita attacked them, but protestors question whether this was the case.

Last weekend, protestors organized a concert at Weelaunee Forest when things again came to a head. Police claim they were attacked by protestors in black masks, leading to the charges against 23 individuals for domestic terrorism:

“I strongly believe in the right to peacefully protest for what one believes is right and just,” District Attorney Sherry Boston of DeKalb County said. “However, I draw the line at violence, destruction of property and threatening and causing harm to others.”

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But Jurgens was not at the site to protest — he was there as a legal observer under the auspices of the National Lawyers Guild, according to his attorney. And that’s confirmed by SPLC:

“An employee at the SPLC was arrested while acting—and identifying—as a legal observer on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild,” the Southern Poverty Law Center published in a press release yesterday. “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.”

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Video posted to Instagram shows Jurgens in the bright green legal observer hat.

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It sure looks like Jurgens was clearly identified as a legal observer, yet he was still arrested. Did the cops inadvertently prove exactly *why* folks are protesting Cop City? (Though, unlike the others arrested at the same time on the domestic terrorism charges, DeKalb County Magistrate Judge A.W. Davis granted Jurgens bond of $5,000.)

While rounding up the “green hats” is a strategy police have used in the past to deal with legal observers, as was alleged in New York in 2020, it can also lead to hefty settlements.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].

Topics

Government, Legal Observer, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Southern Poverty Law Center, Tom Jurgens