Georgia law enforcement officials arrested seven far-left militants on domestic terrorism charges following a deadly shooting Wednesday just outside the “Cop City” police training center near Atlanta that left one militant dead and a Georgia State Police trooper wounded. All seven suspects are from out of state.
The Gateway Pundit reported that the far-left militant killed was from the communist group Stop Cop ATL. He has now been identified along with the seven arrested suspects.
Seven militants have been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism following a deadly shootout with law enforcement at their “autonomous zone” in a wooded area south of Atlanta. They are all from out of state.
On Wednesday morning, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies conducted a raid on the so-called autonomous zone at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. Since June 2021, Antifa and other far-left extremists from across the US have occupied the area to prevent the construction of what they call a “cop city.”
The GBI says a Georgia State Patrol trooper was shot and severely injured during Wednesday’s raid by a man camped in the area. Officers returned fire and killed the gunman, who allegedly used a pistol.
Georgia’s Department of Public Safety will not name the injured patrol trooper, saying it would “compromise security against criminal or terroristic acts due to retaliation,” but told local media he was in the ICU after having emergency surgery. The deceased gunman was named on Thursday by the GBI as 26-year-old Manuel Esteban Paez Teran. He used the alias “Tort” and “Tortuguita.”
Following the shooting, the GBI and its law enforcement partners continued to clear the autonomous zone and several arrests were made of suspects—all of whom are from out of state. The GBI say they confiscated a cache of weapons that include mortar-style fireworks and edged weapons.
Matthew Ernest Macar, 30, Spencer Bernard Liberto, 29, and Sarah Wasilewski, 35, all from Pittsburgh, are each facing charges of domestic terrorism and aggravated assault upon a public safety officer.
A fourth suspect who would not identify himself in jail was later identified as 20-year-old Geoffrey D. Parson, of Baltimore.
Additionally, Timothy A. Murphy, 25, of Rockport, Maine, Christopher Reynolds, 31, of Dayton, Ohio, and Teresa Yue Shen, 31, of Brooklyn, New York, were charged with domestic terrorism.
TPM can report that several of the suspects come from well-to-do backgrounds. Shen is an alumna of the Manhattan liberal arts institution Barnard College. Macar graduated with a master’s degree in international affairs from Penn State University in 2016.
Liberto and Wasilewski appear to be in a relationship based on their social media photos and posts. Both have a long history of radical leftist politics. Wasilewski’s Twitter account also shows that she follows Antifa groups and the “@defendatlantaforest” account, which is the main social media group representing the autonomous zone.
She also frequently liked posts from the far-left violent extremist Pittsburgh group, Filler Distro. Filler Distro is one of several groups calling for violent retribution against law enforcement over the death of their comrade.
A spokesperson for the GBI told TPM: “We are aware of these threats you mention and are monitoring them, along with our local, state, and federal partners.”