Georgia AG tells Atlanta media to stop referring to rioters as 'protesters': 'Peaceful protesters use words ... rioters set police cars on fire'



Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr told media members in Atlanta to stop referring to the "Cop City" rioters as "protesters" amid lawlessness in the city this weekend.

"To the Atlanta Media: Peaceful protestors use words. Rioters smash windows, set police cars on fire & shoot law enforcement officers" Carr tweeted Saturday. "Stop calling these people protesters."

\u201cTo the Atlanta Media:\n\nPeaceful protestors use words.\n\nRioters smash windows, set police cars on fire & shoot law enforcement officers.\n\nStop calling these people protesters.\n\n@FOX5Atlanta @ajc @wsbtv @11Alive @gpbnews \n@GBI_GA @ga_dps @AtlantaPolice\u201d
— Chris Carr (@Chris Carr) 1674345372

Carr issued hashtags linked to local stations WAGA-TV, WSB-TV, WXIA-TV, GPB News, as well as to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

What's the background?

Multiple videos showed rioting Saturday amid a protest over a fatal police shooting at the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center nicknamed "Cop City." Activist Manuel Esteban Paez Teran — who called himself "Tortuguita" — allegedly shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper, after which, law enforcement returned fire, killing Teran, who was 26.

The protest for Teran turned violent within an hour as rioters launched fireworks and threw large rocks at the Atlanta Police Foundation building in downtown Atlanta. Two police cruisers were set on fire, bricks were thrown at other APD vehicles, and windows of local businesses were smashed.

\u201cBREAKING: #COPCITY protesters throw rocks at Atlanta Police Foundation building in downtown Atlanta. They also set off fireworks and spray painted the building. #ATL #BREAKING #NOW @FOX5Atlanta\u201d
— Billy Heath III (@Billy Heath III) 1674341983


\u201cBREAKING: @Atlanta_Police vehicle burns in downtown Atlanta, police are working urgently to clear the streets of #COPCITY protesters. Very chaotic scene unfolding right now. #BREAKING #ATL #NEWS #NOW @FOX5Atlanta\u201d
— Billy Heath III (@Billy Heath III) 1674342830

What did media outlets do?

Media outlets, while acknowledging the rioting, still emphasized that the protest began as "peaceful."

NPR, for example, wrote that "the initial hour of the demonstration had been peaceful ..."

A WAGA-TV reporter — narrating during a live video showing a vehicle fire raging in the background — said "it was a largely peaceful protest":

\u201cLocal Atlanta reporter calls the protest in Atlanta "largely peaceful protest" as a police cruiser is on fire in the background.\n\nYou can't make this stuff up.\u201d
— Largely peaceful protest 3sidedstory \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2 (@Largely peaceful protest 3sidedstory \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2) 1674350437

Freelance journalist David Peisner raised the question to CNN — as videos of the chaos in Atlanta flashed onscreen — if property destruction can be considered violence.

"I think that there’s a real blurring of the lines in the use of the word 'violence.' Is property destruction violence? To some people it certainly is. But, you know, this idea that breaking windows or other acts of property destruction are the same as actual violence against humans, it’s kind of a dangerous and slippery concept," Peisner said.

He continued: "Look, I don't think this is a smart move. I don't think it's a productive move from the standpoint of the protesters, but as the chief himself said, this is a small group ... you keep using these words ‘violent, violent, violent, violent' ... the only acts of violence against people that I saw were actually police tackling protesters."

\u201cCNN is still bringing on dummies simping for ANTIFA and their violence \ud83e\udd26\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\u201d
— ULTRATHEY (@ULTRATHEY) 1674404909

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted Saturday that "violence and unlawful destruction of property are not acts of protest. They are crimes that will not be tolerated in Georgia and will be prosecuted fully."

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Video: 'Cop City' chaos erupts in Atlanta when rioters set police cars on fire, launch fireworks, hurl rocks



Explosive video shows a riot breaking out in Atlanta following a protest against fatal police shooting at the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center that has been nicknamed "Cop City."

On Wednesday, police fatally shot activist Manuel Esteban Paez Teran. The 26-year-old staged a protest at the future site of a planned public safety training center to be constructed in a southeast Atlanta forest.

Teran – who called himself "Tortuguita" – reportedly refused to comply with law enforcement, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Teran allegedly shot a Georgia State Patrol Trooper at Intrenchment Creek Park. Other law enforcement officers returned fire, struck Teran, and killed him.

Protests against the police shooting were organized for downtown Atlanta at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Protesters held signs that read: "They Can’t Kill Us All” and “Trees Give Life, Police Take It.” There were also chants of "Stop Cop City" and "If they build it, we will burn it."

However, the event of about 300 participants turned violent within an hour.

Rioters launched fireworks and threw large rocks at the Atlanta Police Foundation building in downtown Atlanta. Two police cruisers were set on fire and other APD vehicles had bricks thrown at them. Windows of local businesses were smashed during the riot revolving around the "Cop City" controversy.

\u201cBREAKING: #COPCITY protesters throw rocks at Atlanta Police Foundation building in downtown Atlanta. They also set off fireworks and spray painted the building. #ATL #BREAKING #NOW @FOX5Atlanta\u201d
— Billy Heath III (@Billy Heath III) 1674341983


\u201cBREAKING: @Atlanta_Police vehicle burns in downtown Atlanta, police are working urgently to clear the streets of #COPCITY protesters. Very chaotic scene unfolding right now. #BREAKING #ATL #NEWS #NOW @FOX5Atlanta\u201d
— Billy Heath III (@Billy Heath III) 1674342830
\u201cBREAKING: A crime scene has been established in Atlanta as cops work to secure a perimeter around two vandalized PD vehicles. One fully engulfed in flames, another has a smashed windshield. This is a rapidly developing situation, we\u2019ll have updates on @FOX5Atlanta #COPCITY #ATL\u201d
— Billy Heath III (@Billy Heath III) 1674344028
\u201cHere are some pictures from the @WellsFargo along Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta. A witness tells me a group handed him a stop "cop city" flier, and then he saw them smash several windows. There's still a heavy police presence in the area. @11AliveNews\u201d
— Dawn White (@Dawn White) 1674349270


\u201cAs police showed up the crowd split in mostly two directions with the largest chunk of people able to move away from police presence. After the majority of arrests took place we noticed one of the cop cars smashed up was also lit ablaze.\u201d
— Garrison Davis (or just Gare) (@Garrison Davis (or just Gare)) 1674340552

Several rioters were arrested.

The Atlanta Police Department issued a statement on the violence:

The Atlanta Police Department is aware of the ongoing events, and we will continue to monitor them and address accordingly. We stand ready to respond to demonstrations to ensure the safety of those in our communities and those exercising their first amendment right, or to address illegal activity, should the need arise.

The office of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp released a statement:

The governor remains well informed of the situation through regular updates from state law enforcement and is actively monitoring the situation. State patrol is well equipped to respond to any and all threats to public safety and is coordinating closely with other state agencies and local PD. While the state continues to respect peaceful protest, acts of violence against person or property will NOT be tolerated. Those committing such unlawful acts will be arrested and prosecuted fully.

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'Sit down Karen!': Video shows woman wearing mask on her chin attacking elderly man mid-flight for not wearing a mask



A woman was taken into FBI custody following a physical confrontation on board a flight on Wednesday. The mid-flight kerfuffle allegedly escalated over an argument about face masks despite both passengers not wearing a mask or not wearing a face covering properly.

A viral video — which has been viewed nearly 6 million times — shows a squabble between a woman and an elderly man on a Delta flight from Tampa Bay, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia, according to the Daily Mail.

The video shows the woman wearing a mask on her chin and standing in the plane's aisle mid-flight. She is getting in the face of the older man who is sitting down in his seat.

"Put your f***ing mask on," the woman demands, to which the man replies, "I'm eating."

He then threatens to dump a drink on her head, and she challenges the man, "Stand your a** up."

The man rebuts, "Sit down Karen!"

The pejorative term "Karen" is slang for a middle-aged white woman who is angry, obnoxious, and entitled.

A flight stewardess attempts to calm the woman to no avail. A male flight attendant asks the woman, "Do you want the police to meet you on the ground?"

The woman asks, "What about him?"

She screams at the man, "Mask up!" Then she orders the flight crew to make the man put on his mask.

The two passengers exchange insults, and then the fuming woman punches the man in the face.

The man reacts by saying, "Now you're going to jail! That's assault! You're going to jail! As soon as we get to Atlanta, you're going to jail!"

The woman appears to wind up for another punch, but a flight attendant restrains her.

The woman screams at the man and then spits in his face.

"That's double going to jail," the man yells.

A flight attendant uses the beverage cart to push the woman away from the man.

The man tells the flight crew, "Look, she punched me. She slashed my face."

The woman interrupts by shrieking, "Put your f***ing mask on!" She once again instructs the flight crew to tell him to put his mask on.

The woman is then escorted to the back of the plane.

The video then jumps ahead to after the plane landed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Another female passenger explains, "She went crazy on the airplane — punched this man in the face, spit on him, scratched him." She added that the detained woman "poured hot water" on her leg.

The Atlanta Police Department issued a statement regarding the "disturbance" involving an "unruly passenger on a Delta flight" that led to "the injury of fellow passengers and Delta employees."

"When the aircraft arrived at the gate, officers were able to meet with exiting passengers who advised that the suspect, Ms. Patricia Cornwall had caused a disturbance while in the air," authorities noted. "Based on the statements gathered and visible evidence, officers detained Ms. Cornwall and contacted the on-call FBI agent."

"The officers then relocated with Ms. Cornwall to the domestic Atlanta Police precinct where FBI agents responded and took custody of Ms. Cornwall," the statement read.

A spokesperson for Delta issued a statement regarding the incident to WSB-TV.

"Flight 2790 from Tampa to Atlanta was met by law enforcement after an unruly customer disturbance during flight. Situations like these are rare for the vast majority of our customers and Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior at our airports and aboard our aircraft," the statement said.

In January, the Federal Aviation Administration announced a "zero tolerance policy" in response to an uptick in disruptive airline passengers. Last week, the FAA partnered with the Transportation Security Administration to share information of unruly passengers who could be removed from the TSA's PreCheck program.

Content Warning: Graphic content:

Delta flight from Tampa to Atlanta got crazypic.twitter.com/I9BZUKv3LB
— ATL Uncensored | Atlanta News (@ATL Uncensored | Atlanta News) 1640395664