House homeland committee demands answers from Biden national security officials on 'Cop City' attack
The Committee on Homeland Security blamed 'violent far-left extremists'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The House Committee on Homeland Security is demanding answers from Biden administration officials regarding the attack against the "Cop City" construction site in March.
"The Biden administration is turning a blind eye to anarchists and violent far-left extremists targeting the brave law enforcement and first responders in Atlanta on the frontlines of America's crime crisis," committee chairman Mark E. Green, R-TN, told Fox News Digital.
"With 23 individuals arrested on charges of alleged domestic terrorism at the state level and not a word from the White House or the Secretary of Homeland Security, this administration is continuing to incentivize lawlessness in our nation," Green continued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In the interest of our homeland security, Republicans are demanding answers and accountability regarding Secretary Mayorkas’ response to these attacks and the Biden administration’s lack of support for law and order."
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid testify before the House Homeland Security Committee in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on November 15, 2022, in Washington, D.C. The security and intelligence officials testified about the current threat level against the United States, including both physical and cyber-attacks. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations charged 23 individuals with domestic terrorism after they allegedly attacked the construction site for the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, nicknamed "Cop City."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The suspects had attended the nearby South River Music Festival, but left at around 5:30 p.m. and descended on the training center site in an apparent "coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers."
The suspects hail from a number of locations outside not only Georgia but the United States. Dimitri LeNy is from France, and Fredrique Robert-Paul is from Canada.
Samuel Ward and Max Biederman traveled from Arizona, and Mattia Luini and Priscilla Grim came down from New York to join the attack. Three suspects – Ayla King, Alexis Paplai and Timothy Bilodeau – are from Massachusetts.
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Atlanta police released video of fires set to equipment at the construction site of a police and fire training facility dubbed "Cop City." (Atlanta Police Department)
Only two suspects had Georgia addresses, which the committee argued would indicate a "nationally coordinated, organized and developed plan of attack."
The coordinated nature of the attack, and the seeming international element, prompted the Committee on Homeland Security to commence an oversight investigation. The committee submitted the letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The FBI confirmed to Fox News Digital that it had received the letter, but it provided no further comment. DHA had not responded to a request for comment by time of publication.
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Police say at least 35 "agitators" were arrested in attack on "Cop City." (Atlanta Police Department)
The committee has requested all documents and communications related to the site from January 1, 2022, to the present, including all threat assessments, situation information reports, briefing materials and requests for assistance – among other materials – as well as a report on what knowledge DHS and the FBI had prior to the attack and what efforts they took to try to thwart it.
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The letter also requested that Mayorkas and Wray provide a briefing on the subject no later than May 4, and that the FBI notify the committee if it determines that any of the suspects committed federal crimes.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.