Atlanta’s police chief gave a statement before the City Council today in which he noted that of the 23 people charged thus far in connection with the rioting last night, only two were from Georgia and only one lives in Atlanta. Two of those charged were from other countries (Canada and France). The full list was posted on the APD website. This afternoon a number of sites are reporting that one of the two men from Georgia is a Southern Poverty Law Center lawyer named Thomas Webb Jurgens.

Thomas Webb Jurgens, 28, was one of the nearly two dozen people detained on Sunday in what police have described as a “coordinated attack” on the still-under-construction Atlanta Public Safety Training Center — dubbed “Cop City.”

Jurgens is a staff attorney with SPLC — the left-leaning, anti-hate group, according to the State Bar of Georgia and his since-deleted LinkedIn page.

Yahoo News got a look at Jurgens’ LinkedIn page before it was deleted.

Jurgens previously served as a legal intern in Dekalb County’s public defender office and as an assistant public defender for the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, according to his LinkedIn profile. A family member of Jurgens confirmed with a local journalist that the lawyer had been charged with domestic terrorism following the violence.

Jonathan Turley pointed out how this is reminiscent of another case that wrapped up recently.

One of those charged this week, Thomas Webb Jurgens, with domestic terrorism turns out to be a lawyer for the Southern Poverty Law Center. https://t.co/rx5dzvr81L The case is reminiscent of the two lawyers charged with firebombing a NY police cruiser. https://t.co/dLCKAWqzqv

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) March 7, 2023

The SPLC and the National Lawyers Guild have each issued a statement about the arrest. First up the NLG:

“Law enforcement detained at least 35 demonstrators in Atlanta on Sunday, including an NLG Legal Observer. All of these arrests are part of ongoing state repression and violence against racial and environmental justice protesters, who are fighting to defend their communities from the harms of militarized policing and environmental degradation. Each of these instances, including the many protesters charged with domestic terrorism, make clear that law enforcement views movement activists as enemies of the state.

“As trained witnesses of police conduct, NLG Legal Observers serve an important role in supporting movement organizers and activists. NLG is proud to contribute in whatever ways we can to advancing the critical work of our movement allies advocating for liberation and community care. NLG remains in solidarity with the movement to Stop Cop City.”

Of course it’s the job of the police to repress violent individuals who commit arson and destroy other people’s property, which is what happened here. Here’s the SPLC statement.

“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.

“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 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.”

Prominent mention of Black, Brown and Indigenous communities and dismantling “white supremacy” which seems a bit out of place given that Jurgens appears to be a white. As a matter of fact, most of the people charged so far appear to be white (see the mugshots below).

As for identifying as a legal observer, I’m guessing that only protects you if you’re acting like a legal observer, meaning someone who is watching but not taking part in the protest or any illegal activity. We don’t know any more than that about what happened at this point. Hopefully we’ll learn more this week.

I will note that police detained about 35 protesters Sunday but only 23 have been charged so far. So it appears they haven been somewhat selective. Maybe that’s an indication that they have some specific evidence Jurgens was involved in something. There is certainly lots of video of the event. But obviously, given his status as an NLG observer, the police are going to have to demonstrate he went beyond lawyering to make these charges stick.

Here are the mugshots of the various people who’ve been charged including Jurgens.

#StopCopCity suspect Thomas Webb Jurgens, a staff attorney working on the Southern Poverty Law Center's Economic Justice Project, was arrested and charged with domestic terrorism following Sunday's far-left firebombing of the Atlanta police training facility under construction. pic.twitter.com/Iarco99b9V

— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) March 6, 2023