Twitter has suspended an account that had been calling for a “night of rage” in response to an armed and violent rioter being killed by police. The rioter was protesting the construction of an Atlanta Police Department training facility when he became violent and shot a Georgia State Trooper. The rioter was subsequently killed by police officers.
As reported by Fox 5 Atlanta, Department of Public Safety Colonel Chris Wright said the incident happened around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning during a “clearing operation” of the construction site.
“Investigators say law enforcement officers were attempted to get a man out of a tent located on the property,” the outlet reported. “He did not respond to commands given to him to exit and at some point, Wright said that a protestor fired a shot, hitting the trooper. Officers returned fire, killing the suspect.”
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Michael Register explained that the rioter opened fire first.
“An individual, without warning, shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper,” Register said. “Other law enforcement personnel returned fire in self-defense and evacuated the trooper to a safe area. The individual who fired upon law enforcement and shot the trooper was killed in the exchange of gunfire.”
After the shooting, the Twitter account Scenes from the Atlanta Forest (@scenesatl), called for “reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies,” and a “night of rage” on Friday. The account was suspended hours later for violating Twitter’s rules.
The news comes a few weeks after Georgia Governor Brian Kemp vowed to arrest more of the rioters protesting the construction of an Atlanta Police Department training facility, which opponents have dubbed “Cop City.”
