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Wayne County woman 1 of 6 charged with multiple felonies in violent Atlanta protest

Charges include 4 felonies, 4 misdemeanors

Emily Murphy, 37 (Fulton County Sheriff's Office)

ATLANTA – A Wayne County woman has been charged with multiple felonies after she was arrested in protests that turned violent in Downtown Atlanta on Saturday.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, in Georgia, released the names of six people charged in the Atlanta protests that ended violently on Jan. 21.

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According to officials, Emily Murphy, 37, of Grosse Ile, was one of the six arrested.

She has been charged with four misdemeanors -- pedestrian in roadway, willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, riot, and unlawful assembly -- as well as four felonies -- second-degree criminal damage, first-degree arson, interference with government property, and domestic terrorism.

Read: Violent protest in downtown Atlanta over killing of activist

A 24-year-old from Nashville; a 22-year-old from Spokane, Washington; a 23-year-old from Nevada; a 20-year-old from Decatur, Georgia; and a 22-year-old from Kennebunkport, Maine were also arrested. They all received the same charges as Murphy.

A burned police car sits on the street following a violent protest, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, in Atlanta, in the wake of the death of an environmental activist killed after authorities said the 26-year-old shot a state trooper. (AP Photo/Alex Slitz) (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

According to the Associated Press (AP), protests turned violent Saturday in the wake of the death of an environmental activist who was killed by authorities on Wednesday after, according to officials, the 26-year-old shot a state trooper.

The AP says activists dressed in all black threw rocks and lit fireworks in front of the Atlanta Police Foundation, shattering large glass windows.

In addition to the rocks and fireworks, the rioters lit a police cruiser on fire, smashed windows, and vandalized walls with anti-police graffiti, according to the AP.

Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered and marched to mourn the death of the 26-year-old environmental protestor.


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