Tom Jurgens, 28, an attorney who works for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), has been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism after joining the far-left terror group Antifa in firebombing and destroying equipment being used to build a Public Safety Training Center in Atlanta, GA. The riot occurred in September 2022 and “allegedly” involved throwing Molotov cocktails and assaulting police officers.
Jurgens has been charged with terrorism, aggravated assault against a police officer, inciting a riot, and criminal damage to property.
Considering the SPLC’s stance against extremism and violence, the fact that an SPLC attorney has been arrested for acts of terrorism has sparked no small amount of controversy and criticism. The SPLC consistently labels conservative organizations as “hate groups” without sufficient evidence, while simultaneously downplaying or outright ignoring left-wing extremism.
New reports say the SPLC has not issued any public statements regarding Jurgen’s arrest, but considering that one of their own attorneys was participating with a far-left hate group and has been charged with domestic terrorism, many questions and concerns have been raised about the organization’s ability to cast judgment on other organizations.