Attorney among 23 charged with domestic terrorism in Atlanta ‘Cop City’ attack

 An attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center is among the 23 protesters who have been charged with domestic terrorism after they allegedly hurled Molotov cocktails and fireworks at a future Atlanta police training facility, cops said Monday.

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.

Of the 23 people slapped with domestic terrorism charges over the violent protest, Jurgens and only one other man, Jack Beaman, hail from the state of Georgia.

Police said the majority of those arrested are from other parts of the US — as well as France and Canada.

Thomas Webb Jurgens, 28, was one of 23 charged with domestic terrorism after Sunday’s protests at the still-under-construction Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

DeKalb County Sheriff's Office

Jurgens is a staff attorney with SPLC, according to the State Bar of Georgia and his since-deleted LinkedIn page.

A handful of protestors could be seen smirking in their mugshots released by authorities Monday afternoon.

The SPLC didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment in the wake of Jurgens’ arrest.

In total, 35 “violent agitators” were nabbed after they attacked the future site of the $90 million police training facility, cops said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the remainder of those arrested will also be hit with domestic terrorism charges.

The ordeal unfolded when the protesters started throwing Molotov cocktails, fireworks, rocks and bricks at officers during the demonstration.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum described the flare-up as “coordinated” and said multiple pieces of construction equipment were set on fire at the 85-acre site outside of the city.

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Mattia Luini, of New York, was also among the 23 protesters charged with domestic terrorism.

DeKalb County Sheriff's Office

French national Dimitri LeNy was among the two foreigners arrested over the protest.

DeKalb County Sheriff's Office

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Kayley Meissner hails from Wisconsin.

DeKalb County Sheriff's Office

Grace Martin is also a Wisconsin native.

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A handful of the 23 protestors charged with domestic terrorism could be seen smirking in their mugshots.

DeKalb County Sheriff's Office

Surveillance video captured towering plumes of smoke and flames rising from the site after the heavy equipment was set alight, as well as officers appearing to duck for cover as items were hurled in their direction.

The Georgia Department of Public Safety said some protestors also tried to blind officers by shining green lasers into their eyes.

“This was a very violent attack, very violent attack,” Schierbaum said at a midnight press conference.

“This wasn’t about a public safety training center. This was about anarchy … and we are addressing that quickly.”

Multiple law enforcement agencies from neighboring areas were called in to help quell the violence, Schierbaum added.

Dozens of protestors, many wearing black, started throwing Molotov cocktails, fireworks, rocks and bricks at officers during the demonstration.

AFP via Getty Images

Protesters threw Molotov cocktails, fireworks and bricks at officers during the protest.

AFP via Getty Images

Multiple pieces of construction equipment were set on fire at the 85-acre site outside of the city.

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He said the officers used non-lethal enforcement to carry out the arrests.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a statement condemning the violence, saying those involved “chose destruction and vandalism over legitimate protest.”

“As I’ve said before, domestic terrorism will NOT be tolerated in this state,” Kemp said. “We will not rest until those who use violence and intimidation for an extremist end are brought to full justice.”

The site of the training facility has resulted in clashes between police and left-leaning protestors ever since it was approved by the Atlanta City Council in 2021.

It is the same site where 26-year-old environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán was shot to dead by cops during a raid at a protest camp in January.

https://nypost.com/2023/03/06/splc-attorney-among-23-charged-in-atlanta-cop-city-attack/

Admin to take steps toward challenging Mexico GMO corn ban

 The Biden administration is preparing to challenge the Mexican ban on shipments of genetically modified corn from the U.S., a policy that has threatened billions of dollars in economic activity for American farmers.

The Mexican government is planning by next year to stop its imports of genetically modified corn, which makes up about 90 percent of what is grown in the U.S. The Biden administration said on Monday that it was requesting formal consultations with Mexico over the policy.

“Mexico’s policies threaten to disrupt billions of dollars in agricultural trade and they will stifle the innovation that is necessary to tackle the climate crisis and food security challenges if left unaddressed,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement. “We hope these consultations will be productive as we continue to work with Mexico to address these issues.”

Tai’s office said it was requesting talks with Mexico under the terms of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact. The official request comes after previous conversations between Tai and Mexican representatives in recent months.

Officials now have 30 days to discuss and resolve the issue, with the Biden administration saying it would “consider all options, including taking formal steps to enforce U.S. rights under the USMCA,” which could include tariffs on Mexican goods.

Mexican health officials are apprehensive of genetically modified corn, hesitancy that the scientific community and U.S. industry have pushed back against. 

Mexico bought $4.2 billion worth of corn from the U.S. in 2022, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making it the second-largest market for U.S. corn in the world, trailing only China and ahead of Canada.

https://thehill.com/business/3886413-biden-administration-to-take-steps-toward-challenging-mexico-corn-ban/

Fetterman shown in first pics since being hospitalized for depression

 Sen. John Fetterman appeared hard at work in pictures posted to Twitter Monday by his chief of staff — the first glimpse the public has gotten of the Pennsylvania Democrat since he was hospitalized for clinical depression last month.

“Productive morning with Senator Fetterman at Walter Reed discussing the rail safety legislation, Farm Bill and other Senate business,” the politician’s top aide, Adam Jentleson, captioned the images of the ailing 53-year-old politician.

“John is well on his way to recovery and wanted me to say how grateful he is for all the well wishes. He’s laser focused on PA & will be back soon,” Jentleson added.

Fetterman spokesman Joe Calvello said last week that the senator was “on a path to recovery” but that it would still “be a weeks-long process.” He did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

“We don’t have a lot to update folks with since there’s no real news to report except that John is doing well, working with the wonderful doctors, and remains on a path to recovery,” the communications director tweeted at the time. “John is visiting with staff and family daily, and his staff are keeping him updated on Senate business and news.”

John Fetterman appeared hard at work in pictures posted by his chief of staff.

Twitter/@AJentleson

Fetterman spokesman Joe Calvello said last week the senator was “on a path to recovery” but it would “be a weeks-long process.”

Twitter/@AJentleson

Fetterman has had a series of health scares in the past year.

Twitter/@AJentleson

Fetterman’s office announced Feb. 16 that the former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor, who suffered a stroke in May of last year, had checked himself into the hospital after an examination by Capitol attending physician Brian Monahan, who “recommended inpatient care.”

Last week, Fetterman sponsored three Senate bills, prompting at least one doctor to remark on the “very unusual” approach to mental health treatment.

“If you broke your ankle, you know, nobody would think twice. Okay, he’s got surgery on his ankle and he’s recovering, but he’s performing from the bed,” Dr. Marc Siegel told Fox News Digital. “But mental illness, by definition, is an impairment of mood and judgment. So it would be highly, highly unlikely that somebody could do that, unless they’re just keeping them there to kind of keep them out of the way of the stress of daily living, but they feel that he’s up to the job.”

Last week, Fetterman sponsored three Senate bills, a “very unusual” approach to mental health treatment according to one doctor.

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Fetterman’s stroke left him physically weak and with a reduced ability to process language. The formerly hefty pol slimmed down in the months leading up to the election and largely stayed out of the public eye, with the exception of a disastrous debate performance against celebrity doctor and GOP candidate Mehmet Oz.

Gisele Fetterman, the senator’s wife, lashed out at an NBC reporter who noted the senator had difficulty making conversation without the aid of a captioning device, slamming the journalist as “ableist.”

Jentleson revealed at the time of Fetterman’s hospitalization that the senator “has experienced depression off and on throughout his life” but “it only became severe in recent weeks.”

Gisele Fetterman, the senator’s wife, around the same time lashed out at an NBC reporter who noted the senator was slow of speech.

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Jentleson revealed in February that Fetterman “has experienced depression off and on throughout his life” but “it only became severe in recent weeks.”

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The Pennsylvania senator was also hospitalized on Feb. 8 after feeling lightheaded during a Democratic Party retreat, but was released two days later.

Under Pennsylvania law, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro must appoint a replacement for Fetterman if he is unable to serve his full six-year term.

https://nypost.com/2023/03/06/fetterman-hard-at-work-in-first-pics-since-hospitalization/

Student Loan Debt Relief Is A Worse Idea Than You Think

 by Daniel Lacalle,

The U.S. Supreme Court has heard different arguments from supporters and opponents of President Joe Biden’s student debt forgiveness program. It is probable that the justices will rule before June. However, it is important to remember a few challenges.

Student loans are an essential tool to help maximize the number of citizens that have access to the best and most exclusive tuition. American universities are among the top in the world and high-quality tuition comes with an elevated cost. To help the disadvantaged access top universities it is important to have a thriving and affordable loan system, a solid grant program and an open market that supports the majority, including those who are not in university yet.

We must aim to make the current system better, not maintain it disguising the problem with a deficit-financed subsidy.

A student loan debt relief program does nothing to solve the cost of tuition. It justifies it and will likely make fees rise again as universities see that the government subsidizes those that may take a difficult-to-pay loan. Furthermore, by providing a subsidy to the already indebted, banks may have an incentive to give loans to students with less probability to repay them. It is likely to create a wave of non-performing loans predicated on the view that this scheme will be prolonged and even increased. The reader may say that I am exaggerating, which I find interesting when we are living every day the result of debt accumulation excess.

A student loan debt relief program is a subsidy to take risky debt. It penalizes those that paid their loans and those that access new tuition, and it incentivizes others who did not take student loans and worked their way through college to take a risky loan. It may sound like a clever idea on paper, but it helps an exceedingly small proportion of citizens while hurting everyone else. Why? Because the loan relief program is paid with higher deficit, which means higher taxes and more inflation now and in the future. There is no revenue measure that finances this scheme because the government already runs a massive deficit. One cannot think of this measure without considering that the Federal budget runs an unsustainable deficit and that there has been no discussion of any budget cuts to finance this program, let alone the structural deficit.

Providing a subsidy to students that cannot pay their loans does not help them consume more. First, even if that were the case, the impact on total consumption of those that receive the relief compared to the negative effect for those that suffer higher taxes and persistent inflation does not even move the needle. However, I believe that the impact on consumption even for those benefitted by the program will be limited. It is unlikely that a partial bailout of the debt of a citizen is going to make a complete reversal of that person’s credit score. A partial debt release will make a small impact on one family or citizen, but extraordinarily little to consider this a stimulus for the economy.

If the debt relief of students is considered a stimulus for the economy that will boost consumption, why do the same proponents ask for constant increases in taxes for those that can consume and invest?

Would it not be easier to provide a tax deduction scheme that allows all those who take student loans to benefit from lower personal income burdens? Furthermore, would it not be better to agree with the financial system on support to help re-finance and re-structure non-performing loans in order to provide a market-oriented relief instead of a subsidy to excess debt?

The problem of the debt relief program is that it needs to be a subsidy so that the ones that receive it think that it was the government who helped them, not the taxpayers and consumers, who are the ones that pay for it in higher inflation and taxes. Any other, and more reasonable, alternatives do not create votes. If we looked for better alternatives, we would be thinking of providing support through a market-based re-structuring of debt and avoid the negative consequences of perpetuating and increasing tuition fees and elevated inflation as well as penalizing those that paid their debt. This student loan relief helps a few thousand to hurt millions.

There are numerous ways to facilitate a re-structuring of high debt burdens and the financial system can help to make it quickly and efficiently.

Of course, there must be ways of support to those students that took loans they cannot repay today. It must be a tailored, ad-hoc re-structuring that does not create negative perverse incentives for everyone else to take credit they cannot afford. It can include tax deductions for talented students.

The same students that think it is a promising idea to receive this relief will also pay for it in high inflation and higher taxes for longer.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/why-student-loan-debt-relief-worse-idea-you-think