Atlanta Police detained at least 35 protesters after a violent clash in what authorities said was a "coordinated attack" on a training center.
The incident came as hundreds of people attended a concert at the site, and police officials said that a group then began throwing rocks and firebombs at officers. Images of the demonstrations were uploaded to social media platforms and showed several fires at the scenes.
Atlanta Police Clash With Protesters
The training center is the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, also known as "Cop City," and is under construction on land owned by the city in South River Forest. After officers clashed with protesters, they locked the area down and were supported by a Swat team nearby.
Police officials noted that the group of demonstrators used the peaceful demonstrations as a disguise to "conduct a coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers." An official statement said that several pieces of construction equipment were destroyed due to the clash, as per BBC.
The statement added that the illegal actions of the violent protesters could have easily resulted in bodily harm to law enforcement personnel and civilians. It noted that officers exercised restraint and used non-lethal enforcement to conduct the arrests of the perpetrators. Opponents argued that the site is a vital green space for the city and described it as the "lungs of Atlanta."
The Defend The Atlanta Forest website called on all people of good conscience to support the movement to stop the construction of Cop City and defend the Weelaunee Forest. The latest incident comes as more protests are set in the following days to oppose the structure of the training center.
Atlanta police noted that they have already prepared a "multi-layered strategy that would include reaction and arrest of perpetrators. There was a protest in January at the site after police officers killed a 26-year-old activist during a raid to clear people from the site.
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Violent Demonstrations
During a midnight news conference, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said several pieces of construction equipment at the site were set on fire on Sunday. Police also showed surveillance video where a piece of heavy equipment is seen burning at the facility, according to CBS News.
Among the arrests, police have charged 23 people with domestic terrorism in connection with the violent protests, the Atlanta Police Department said. The individuals charged, whose identities were revealed by police through their online website, came from various states across the country, as well as from Canada and France.
The ages of the people charged by police ranged from 18 years to almost 50 years. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was the one that filed all of the charges against the demonstrators.
Authorities said that the group of violent attackers changed into black clothing after leaving a nearby music festival before they marched towards the construction site. In a Monday statement, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said that what happened was simple violence and not a peaceful protest, said Fox News.
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