An activist group that has categorized conservative and Christian organizations as “hate groups” was slammed for blaming the police when one of its own staffers was charged with domestic terrorism in Atlanta’s “Cop City” clash.
The Southern Poverty Law Center exposed its political bias in its public response to the arrest of its attorney Thomas Jurgens in a press release that described the law enforcement response as “heavy handed,” said Cully Stimson, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
“The SPLC’s press release immediately does exactly what you shouldn’t do if you’re a neutral and detached organization and not a police-hating, capitalist-hating, hate monger group,” Stimson told Fox News Digital.
“They should have said, ‘We understand that one of our employees was arrested, and we will respect the legal process. And we’ll let that legal process play out.'”
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER LAWYER ARRESTED, CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC TERRORISM AMID ATLANTA ‘COP CITY’ ATTACK
The SPLC released its press statement Monday evening, one day after the attorney and 22 others were arrested, saying Jurgens, who wasn’t named, identified himself as a “legal observer on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild.” The SPLC added that Jurgens’ arrest “is not evidence of any crime but of heavy-handed law enforcement intervention against protesters.”
“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,” the statement added. “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.”
ATLANTA’S FUTURE POLICE TRAINING FACILITY ‘COP CITY’ SET ABLAZE
Jurgens was released on bail Tuesday, the SPLC said in a second press…
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