Left-wing protests of a police training center in Georgia and a pipeline in the Appalachian Mountains reached Tucson this week — when four protestors were apprehended by the Tucson Police in connection with the vandalization of two downtown bank branches on Sunday night.
The arrests mark what experts say is a concerning escalation in the movement and its associated criminal activities.
Following the incident, after broken windows were swiftly boarded up and graffiti was promptly removed, protestors remained resolute in their commitment to challenging corporations they perceived as endorsing law enforcement or engaging in projects deemed environmentally precarious.
Law enforcement took four protestors into custody, resulting in three arrests. Arlene Villalobos, Gabriel Parks, and Hassan Hassan were charged with arson, criminal damage, and rioting. One individual faced charges of an unspecified misdemeanor and was subsequently released.
The StopCopCitySummit Instagram page reported a collective bail amount of $14,500 for the trio, and they announced intentions to solicit donations to cover legal fees.
“The protestors actions resulted in significant damage and endangered both property and lives, including throwing incendiary devices into an occupied building,” the Tucson Police Department announced. “These actions do not reflect the values of our Tucson community. We stand united to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone in our community.”
The Arizona Daily Independent reached out to Wells Fargo for comment, and the financial institution directed inquiries to the statement issued by the Tucson Police Department. Wells Fargo emphasized its cooperation in the ongoing investigation.
But protestors told 13 News that Tucson is as good a place as any to make their message known, and that money spent on police should instead be spent on education and housing.
“To be afraid of people defacing property is not the biggest thing. The biggest thing is like, getting people housing, getting people food, getting people jobs so they can participate in this god forsaken capitalistic economy,” one protestor told 13 News.
After the initial protest escalated into a riot on Sunday, StopCopCity activists proceeded to a Tucson neighborhood named Fountain Hills, where it is claimed that a Nationwide Insurance executive resides. The group blockaded the gated community chanting “This is not a local struggle.”
BREAKING: #StopCopCity activists are blockading the entrance of a gated community in Fountain Hills, AZ, where a Nationwide Insurance exec allegedly lives. An activist shared this video with me.
For more background read my story published earlier today: https://t.co/xjaqJJNlMe pic.twitter.com/80Ott81Bvf
— Candice Bernd (@CandiceBernd) February 27, 2024
On Monday, protestors blockaded a gated Fountain Hills community where it is alleged that a Nationwide Insurance executive resides. Six protestors were arrested after securing their hands with duct tape to concrete-filled tires.
Simultaneously, on the opposite side of town, additional activists organized at the offices of Scottsdale Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Truthout, a publication upon research, has associated with a far-left media organization Unicorn Riot, asserted the insurance company’s involvement based on a May 2023 certification of insurance. Unicorn Riot, presenting itself as a decentralized, educational non-profit media organization.
According to their official Instagram account, the involved groups have pledged to sustain daily disruptions until Nationwide Insurance, via its subsidiary Scottsdale Insurance, terminates its contract with the Atlanta Police Foundation. Despite our attempt to seek an official comment from StopCopCity, a response has not been received at this time.
they like the outdoors so much
simple chain gang cleaning our roadways
say 1 year will help them
and they ought not be able to ‘raise’ donations for bail
Protester says “Tucson is as good a place as any [to protest].”
My plea to Pima County Attorney Conover: Make sure these protesting azwholes change their tune: Tucson is the WORST place to protest.
Part of a coordinated effort by the left to create the need for Marshall Law. Remember how convenient Covid was in the last Presidential election? All of a sudden our rights were taken away.
Are the agitators with the Communist Party USA or the Revolutionary Communist Party? In an investigation, details matter.
The Left are the violent ones.