Following a weekend of anti-police protests in Atlanta that spiraled into wild riots, one of New York City's most high-profile ex-police commissioners told Fox News these "radical groups" have no end goal except "mayhem."
Ray Kelly, the NYPD commissioner in the years following 9/11 who was also credited with stepping-up Giuliani-era stop-and-frisk policing under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said the Atlanta riots reminded him of the chaotic summer following the death of George Floyd.
"[P]eople who do this, by and large, come from these sort of amorphous, loosely organized radical groups, and they can travel throughout the country," he said Monday on "The Story."
"Their goal is mayhem. And … when they see an issue that was drawn to it and try to exacerbate the situation. That's what we see now."
ATLANTA: PROTESTERS CALL FOR 'VIOLENCE' AGAINST POLICE AFTER SHOOTING LEAVES 1 DEAD, OFFICER INJURED
Kelly noted how the Atlanta violence mostly stemmed from activists opposition to police building a training center in the Georgia forest – where one individual shot and wounded a state trooper and was later killed by return fire.
"You would think this would be supported as a good-government move to put in a new police and fire training center, which, by the way, is funded by the Police Foundation. It's not [from] government funds, but they see this as an issue that can separate people. They're going to join in the battle and try to keep it going as long as they can," Kelly said.
He praised Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum – appointed to the role by Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens – for taking a hardline stance against violence in the community and threats toward law enforcement.
Atlanta protesters were angry about the death of 26-year-old Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, who was killed by police after he allegedly refused demands from authorities on Wednesday and fired a gun at state troopers at the site of the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
GEORGIA STATE TROOPER SHOT BY PROTESTER AT 'COP CITY' NEAR ATLANTA
The activist reportedly identified as a nonbinary person who went by the name Tortuguita ("little turtle" in Spanish) and used they/it pronouns. Protesters carried signs with Tortuguita's name on Saturday.
"An individual, without warning, shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper," Georgia Bureau of Investigations' Michael Register told reporters earlier this week.
The Twitter account Scenes from the Atlanta Forest later called for a "Night of Rage" on Friday to enact "reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies," according to a post.
All but one of the six charged with terrorism-related offenses is from outside the Peach State. A judge reported denied bail, considering some suspects flight risks, according to a separate report on "America Reports."
Emily Murphy, Francis Carrol, Graham Evatt, Ivan Ferguson, Madeleine Feola and Nadja Geier were named as suspects.
Fox News' Emma Colton and Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
