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An Antifa goon arrested over the weekend for setting fire to a proposed $90million police training center has been identified as the transgender daughter of a millionaire North Carolina businessman.
James 'Jamie' Mariscano, 29, was among the Antifa rioters arrested Sunday night after burning construction vehicles and attacking police officers with fireworks and Molotov cocktails at the site of the future Atlanta Police Safety Training Center, booking documents show.
Mariscano is an outspoken anti-police advocate who is in her first year of law school at North Carolina School of Law.
Her father, Michael Mariscano, was previously heralded as Charlotte, North Carolina's 'most powerful person' for running a foundation worth $4 billion.
Jamie is now being held on domestic terrorism charges without bail, along with 21 of her cohorts as they were just trying to defend the public forest.
Jamie has described herself publicly as an anti-police advocate who would like to dismantle the prison system.
A profile for the nearly 30-year-old on the National Lawyers Guild website describes her as a 'queer and trans organizer from Charlotte, North Carolina.'
It says that before she started law school this year, 'Jamie worked with mutual aid collective Charlotte Uprising to start a grassroots community bail fund that raises money to bail people out of jail and support them through court, regardless of charge.
'Jamie believes that no one should be in a cage, and dreams of a world where we can prevent and respond to harm in our communities without relying on prisons or police,' the profile continues.
She has previously had warrants out for her arrests at other demonstrations in North Carolina, where her father is a well-known philanthropist.
Michael Mariscano served for 23 years as president and CEO of the Foundation for the Carolinas — a Charlotte-based organization that increases charitable giving and improves communities with civic leadership opportunities — before he retired in January.
Michael was so respected amongst the political leaders in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County that they proclaimed this past October 24 'Michael Mariscano Day.'
In a proclamation at the time, government officials cited his long- term role as a fundraiser across the region, raising half a billion dollars since just 2019.
He also served on the Duke University Board of Trustees, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and the UNC Charlotte Foundation.
Jamie, meanwhile, is now serving as a Haywood Burns fellow for the National Lawyers Guild, working at the Law Office of Habekah B Cannon, whom she describes as 'an explicitly abolitionist, public interest criminal defense firm.'
It is not clear when she traveled down to the Weelaunee public forest outside of Atlanta to join other Antifa protesters for a 'week of action' to protest the development of the police training center, which they have dubbed 'Cop City.'
The week-long demonstrations were set to include a Jewish Shabbat service on Friday night, herbal workshops and a 'know your rights' workshop.
And as the fiery riot broke out Sunday night, a Weelaunee Music Festival was scheduled for the protesters who have descended into the woods in recent months.
But as the music festival was going on, the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement, activists protesting the development of the training center in the Weelaunee public forest 'changed into black clothing, entered the construction area, and began to throw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers.
'The agitators destroyed multiple pieces of construction equipment by fire and vandalism.
'Multiple law enforcement agencies deployed to the area and detained several people committing illegal activity.
'The illegal actions of the agitators could have resulted in bodily harm, and clearly do not reflect a peaceful demonstration. Thankfully, officers exercised sound judgment and restraint while conducting non-lethal enforcement and arrests.'
The police department also released video on Monday showing a mob of around 150 people with masks covering their faces march through scrub and woodland around the proposed $90million center before unleashing havoc and setting fire to a power line.
Police officers protecting the site were forced to stand off as the attackers overran the site and targeted machinery. They were then pelted with rocks and fireworks by the thugs.
In the aftermath, 23 people including Mariscano and Thomas Webb Jurgens, 28, an attorney for the hard-left Southern Poverty Law Center, were arrested.
Jurgens joined the SPLC in September 2021 and worked on its Economic Justice Project, according to his LinkedIn page. He has also worked as an assistant public defender and a legal intern at a US attorney's office in Florida.
Jurgens was present as a 'legal observer on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild', the SPLC said.
Another of those charged with domestic terrorism was revealed to be the son of a New York City plastic furniture tycoon.
Mattia Luini, 30, whose late father Ivan Luini helped popularize high-end plastic furniture in the United States, remained in custody on Wednesday night. His mother owns a $2 million condo.
Luini had told his mother, Martegani, he was traveling down to Atlanta over the weekend to attend a concert and 'protest the development of the forest.'
Others who were charged include several serial protesters and a young dancer who recently turned to violent activism.
They are now defending their actions, arguing that the 381 acres of Weelaunee Forest where the police training center is being built is 'stolen Muscogee land' and that the creation would mean the destruction of wildlife and forestry.
The group has even released their own two-minute video showing the mask-clad mob in combat fatigues and hoodies, some of whom also carried makeshift shields, swarming the site.
It shows the rioters smashing the windows of a metal cabin, setting fire to vehicles and hurling flares.
A description for the propaganda video, titled 'Cop City Finds Out' says that 'a large crew of forest defenders gathered and marched to the cop city construction site.
'Forest defenders torched construction equipment, a police surveillance station, and destroyed barricades intended to keep people out of the forest.
'As smoke rose from the smoldering ashes of their new training facility, police locked down the park and began making arrests.
'As part of their brutal repression tactics police have handed down domestic terrorism charges to 23 people.'
It concluded by saying: 'Cop City will never be built.'
- James 'Jamie' Mariscano, 29, was among the Antifa rioters arrested Sunday night after burning construction vehicles and attacking police officers
- She is an outspoken anti-police advocate with a history of prior arrests
- Her father, Michael Mariscano, was previously heralded as Charlotte, North Carolina's 'most powerful person' for running a foundation worth $4 billion
An Antifa goon arrested over the weekend for setting fire to a proposed $90million police training center has been identified as the transgender daughter of a millionaire North Carolina businessman.
James 'Jamie' Mariscano, 29, was among the Antifa rioters arrested Sunday night after burning construction vehicles and attacking police officers with fireworks and Molotov cocktails at the site of the future Atlanta Police Safety Training Center, booking documents show.
Mariscano is an outspoken anti-police advocate who is in her first year of law school at North Carolina School of Law.
Her father, Michael Mariscano, was previously heralded as Charlotte, North Carolina's 'most powerful person' for running a foundation worth $4 billion.
Jamie is now being held on domestic terrorism charges without bail, along with 21 of her cohorts as they were just trying to defend the public forest.
Jamie has described herself publicly as an anti-police advocate who would like to dismantle the prison system.
A profile for the nearly 30-year-old on the National Lawyers Guild website describes her as a 'queer and trans organizer from Charlotte, North Carolina.'
It says that before she started law school this year, 'Jamie worked with mutual aid collective Charlotte Uprising to start a grassroots community bail fund that raises money to bail people out of jail and support them through court, regardless of charge.
'Jamie believes that no one should be in a cage, and dreams of a world where we can prevent and respond to harm in our communities without relying on prisons or police,' the profile continues.
She has previously had warrants out for her arrests at other demonstrations in North Carolina, where her father is a well-known philanthropist.
Michael Mariscano served for 23 years as president and CEO of the Foundation for the Carolinas — a Charlotte-based organization that increases charitable giving and improves communities with civic leadership opportunities — before he retired in January.
Michael was so respected amongst the political leaders in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County that they proclaimed this past October 24 'Michael Mariscano Day.'
In a proclamation at the time, government officials cited his long- term role as a fundraiser across the region, raising half a billion dollars since just 2019.
He also served on the Duke University Board of Trustees, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and the UNC Charlotte Foundation.
Jamie, meanwhile, is now serving as a Haywood Burns fellow for the National Lawyers Guild, working at the Law Office of Habekah B Cannon, whom she describes as 'an explicitly abolitionist, public interest criminal defense firm.'
It is not clear when she traveled down to the Weelaunee public forest outside of Atlanta to join other Antifa protesters for a 'week of action' to protest the development of the police training center, which they have dubbed 'Cop City.'
The week-long demonstrations were set to include a Jewish Shabbat service on Friday night, herbal workshops and a 'know your rights' workshop.
And as the fiery riot broke out Sunday night, a Weelaunee Music Festival was scheduled for the protesters who have descended into the woods in recent months.
But as the music festival was going on, the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement, activists protesting the development of the training center in the Weelaunee public forest 'changed into black clothing, entered the construction area, and began to throw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers.
'The agitators destroyed multiple pieces of construction equipment by fire and vandalism.
'Multiple law enforcement agencies deployed to the area and detained several people committing illegal activity.
'The illegal actions of the agitators could have resulted in bodily harm, and clearly do not reflect a peaceful demonstration. Thankfully, officers exercised sound judgment and restraint while conducting non-lethal enforcement and arrests.'
The police department also released video on Monday showing a mob of around 150 people with masks covering their faces march through scrub and woodland around the proposed $90million center before unleashing havoc and setting fire to a power line.
Police officers protecting the site were forced to stand off as the attackers overran the site and targeted machinery. They were then pelted with rocks and fireworks by the thugs.
In the aftermath, 23 people including Mariscano and Thomas Webb Jurgens, 28, an attorney for the hard-left Southern Poverty Law Center, were arrested.
Jurgens joined the SPLC in September 2021 and worked on its Economic Justice Project, according to his LinkedIn page. He has also worked as an assistant public defender and a legal intern at a US attorney's office in Florida.
Jurgens was present as a 'legal observer on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild', the SPLC said.
Another of those charged with domestic terrorism was revealed to be the son of a New York City plastic furniture tycoon.
Mattia Luini, 30, whose late father Ivan Luini helped popularize high-end plastic furniture in the United States, remained in custody on Wednesday night. His mother owns a $2 million condo.
Luini had told his mother, Martegani, he was traveling down to Atlanta over the weekend to attend a concert and 'protest the development of the forest.'
Others who were charged include several serial protesters and a young dancer who recently turned to violent activism.
They are now defending their actions, arguing that the 381 acres of Weelaunee Forest where the police training center is being built is 'stolen Muscogee land' and that the creation would mean the destruction of wildlife and forestry.
The group has even released their own two-minute video showing the mask-clad mob in combat fatigues and hoodies, some of whom also carried makeshift shields, swarming the site.
It shows the rioters smashing the windows of a metal cabin, setting fire to vehicles and hurling flares.
A description for the propaganda video, titled 'Cop City Finds Out' says that 'a large crew of forest defenders gathered and marched to the cop city construction site.
'Forest defenders torched construction equipment, a police surveillance station, and destroyed barricades intended to keep people out of the forest.
'As smoke rose from the smoldering ashes of their new training facility, police locked down the park and began making arrests.
'As part of their brutal repression tactics police have handed down domestic terrorism charges to 23 people.'
It concluded by saying: 'Cop City will never be built.'
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