At A Glance | March 13

Police Arrest 23 Protesters at Atlanta Police Training Center Construction Site

Protesters at Atlanta police training center site | Photo credit: Axios

Police arrested 23 individuals on domestic terrorism charges after a demonstration and fires broke out at the construction site of an Atlanta, Georgia, police training center March 5, according to multiple media outlets. The arrests, which likely include anarchist and environmental extremists, came on heels of weeklong protests in which activists opposed construction on a site that they've dubbed "Cop City." Police said events turned violent at a weekend music festival where "agitators" donning black clothing, breached the site, set a police car on fire, smashed building windows and launched bricks, rocks, Molotov cocktails and fireworks at officers. The police and fire training center is slated for construction on 85 acres of a 400-acre city-owned property within the Weelaunee Forest, according to the facility's website. Demonstrators claim the facility will have an adverse impact on the forest that they call the "lungs of Atlanta." The "Defend The Atlanta Forest" website promoted a series of events from March 4 to March 11, including live music and forest tours. Demonstrators gathered at the site in January to protest the law enforcement's role in the death of an activist during a raid to clear the area.

Iran Reportedly Behind Hit-List Targeting US Jewish Community and Law Enforcement Agencies

Iran allegedly created an antisemitic hit-list targeting the Jewish community and law enforcement agencies in the northeastern U.S. in an effort to expose and isolate supporters of Israel, according to a March 5 Zachor Legal Institute report. The anonymous "Mapping Project," encouraged the dismantlement and disruption of most of Boston's Jewish community. The report implicates the Iranian-owned Press TV outlet that called for the replication of the Mapping Project in all 50 U.S. states. The U.S. government sanctioned Press TV in 2021 and seized its website, citing its use as a front for Iran's regime to "subvert U.S. democratic processes." The website featured 505 targets, more than two-thirds of which are not Jewish institutions, but rather U.S. security institutions, including the exact locations of 271 police stations, nine U.S. military bases and installations and offices of Homeland Security, the FBI, Secret Service and U.S. government-linked weapons manufacturers - all of which the website pinpointed on a single interactive map.

Arrests Made in Connection With 7 Bombings in Fresno, California

Police announced the arrest of four men and a woman March 1 in connection with seven bombings in Fresno, California, that have occurred since December 2022, according to media reports. The suspects allegedly made and detonated six improvised explosive devices on vehicles, one of which destroyed a Fresno County probation department car. They placed the IEDs inside or under the vehicles on six different occasions. The seventh device exploded in a mailbox. Police arrested Scott Anderson, 44, and Frank Rocha, 56, in Riverside County. Authorities named additional suspects: Paul New, 55, Steven Burkett, 51, and Amanda Sanders, 41. After serving search warrants in three different locations, authorities seized 11 illegal firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and nearly 90 grams of methamphetamine that appeared packaged and ready for sale, along with about $50,000 in cash and white racially motivated extremist paraphernalia. Police said the motive for the bombings is unclear and reported no injuries.

The 'At a Glance' product is a weekly summary of current events intended to highlight terrorism incidents and trends. The content is aggregated from open-source information and considered a snapshot in time of reporting from news agencies, government press releases, research studies, etc. The product is intended for informational purposes only and does not reflect the opinion of NJOHSP or the State of New Jersey. For a list of aggregated sources, please visit NJOHSP's podcast episode notes at: njohsp.gov/podcast.