Is eco-terrorism to blame for vandalism at SC business? Burning trucks found, man arrested
Authorities are trying to determine whether threatening messages and burned trucks at a concrete company in South Carolina’s lowcountry are tied to a bitter environmental dispute in the Atlanta area.
Dorchester County authorities found two trucks on fire at Thomas Concrete, on Jedburg Road in Summerville, when they arrived on the scene about 1 a.m. Saturday, according to a news release from the county sheriff’s department.
Investigators also found several trucks on the property that had been spray-painted with messages referencing Weelaunee, the name of a forest in Atlanta where protesters have fought a proposed police training center.
Among the messages found by South Carolina authorities were “From Weelaunee’’ and “You build it, we burn it,’’ according to the sheriff’s department news release. The messages were scrawled in red paint, authorities said.
“We definitely have not had anything like this in Dorchester County, where they come in and set fire like that and leave us a message,’’ Sheriff’s Department Lt. Rick Carson told The State newspaper.
A Charleston man, Seth Brock Spigner, has been arrested in connection with the incident. He faces second-degree arson charges. He was released on $25,000 bond. He could not be reached for comment Monday. Spigner graduated from Stratford High School near Charleston in 2019, according to the Gazette newspaper.
The sheriff’s department contacted the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms because of the incident’s possible link to an “extremist group,’’ according to the release. It said concrete companies in Atlanta and Raleigh, N.C., had previously been targeted.
The release said 16 trucks at a Thomas Concrete location in Raleigh had been burned. The incident occurred in November, according to one report. The company’s website says it is a leading supplier of ready-mix concrete in the southeast.
The dispute in Atlanta centers on whether to build the $90 million training facility in one of the city’s largest urban forests. The area has a biologically diverse watershed and is home to multiple endangered species.
A group known as the Climate Justice Alliance has been leading the charge against the police training center. The sheriff’s department said the alliance recently protested construction at the site.
The protests have been intense, with police in Atlanta saying those opposed to the project have launched a coordinated attack on construction equipment and officers, according to The Washington Post. A police car also has been set on fire and buildings’ windows shattered.
Protesters have been upset since Georgia state troopers fatally shot a 26-year-old social justice activist who had protested the training center. The shooting, in January 2023, occurred after police said an activist opened fire, injuring a state trooper, according to the Post. The troopers involved in the shooting were not charged.
According to the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Department, Spigner, 23, was arrested after authorities saw someone come out of the woods near Thomas Concrete and hurriedly leave in a car Saturday morning. The sheriff’s department stopped the person; deputies said they found specks of red or pink paint on the person’s fingernails. An arrest was made later in the day.
Video from the site shows a man carrying a white canister entering the property from the woods about 12:24 a.m. Saturday. The person then manipulated fuel caps on multiple trucks before setting fire to two of them and leaving the property, the sheriff’s department said.
Using vandalism as a tactic to make a point about environmental protection is a bad tactic, said Dana Beach, a long-time conservationist in South Carolina. Those who take such actions are not “rational, logical people.’’
“It’s a distraction’’ from the issues, said Beach, who founded the S.C. Coastal Conservation League more than 30 years ago.
If the incident occurred as authorities described, Beach said he’d like to know whether it was linked to those protesting in Atlanta or if the person who burned the trucks was acting alone.
This story has been updated with comments from Dana Beach.
This story was originally published January 1, 2024 at 12:00 AM.
