Anarchist Group Denies Attacking Midtown Starbucks

ATLANTA, GA — A local organization that said it was protesting corporations that profit from "prison slavery" is denying its members attacked a Starbucks customer in Midtown on Friday night.

Police arrested three protestors after they allegedly walked into the Ponce de Leon Avenue coffee shop and attacked several customers.

Casey Martinson, 29, Nicholas Wolf, 28, and another whose name was removed after they provided exonerating documents to Patch, were charged with terroristic threats, among other charges.

But the group that staged the protest, Atlanta Anarchist Black Cross, blamed police for the incidents.

"On Friday protesters from many groups including Atlanta Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, Anarchist Black Cross, and Street Groomers staged a march through Midtown targeting corporations which profit from prison slavery," according to a statement from the group. "To support the unprecedented prison strike, we visited Wendy’s, McDonalds, Aramark and Starbucks; all companies which exploit prison labor.

"Police were aggressive and hostile, at one point trying to run over protesters with a squad car," the group said. "When the march reached Starbucks, police violently arrested three protesters, indiscriminately macing bystanders and even other officers. A Starbucks customer has claimed that the protest attacked him, but this is false. It appears that the police were looking for any excuse to crack down on the protest."

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