(MENAFN) Dozens of individuals have been arrested following a violent protest at a new police training center in Atlanta that has been the subject of prior demonstrations and a protester's death. The Atlanta Police Department revealed that nearly three dozen people have been detained after hurling flaming bottles and rocks at officers during the protest. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum announced in a midnight news conference that several pieces of construction equipment were set on fire at the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center site in DeKalb County.
The protest is said to have been a coordinated attack on equipment and officers by individuals who used the cover of a peaceful protest to access the premises before changing into black clothing and entering the construction area. Protesters dressed in all black threw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers at the construction site. Police surveillance footage captured one piece of heavy equipment in flames among multiple pieces of construction equipment destroyed.
The Atlanta Police Department charged 23 people with domestic terrorism in connection with the protest, and the protesters facing charges, whose names and photographs were published online, are from various states across the U.S. as well as Canada and France, according to police. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation filed all charges, and the protesters' ages range from 18 years old to almost 50.
The Atlanta Police Department called the incident "a coordinated attack" on equipment and officers by individuals who they allege "used the cover of a peaceful protest" to access the premises before changing "into black clothing and entering the construction area." Schierbaum described the protest as "a very violent attack." Other police agencies stepped in to assist city officers, and no officers were injured.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp condemned the violence, saying that the individuals involved "chose destruction and vandalism over legitimate protest, yet again demonstrating the radical intent behind their actions." In January, a 26-year-old environmental activist was shot to death by law officers in the forest where the training center is being built. The construction of the training center has been a controversial issue for many, and more protests are planned in the coming days.
In response, the Atlanta Police Department has issued a statement calling on protesters to remain peaceful during the planned protests. The statement added that the police force had a multi-layered strategy in place, which includes reaction and arrest, to prevent future violent attacks like the recent one at the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
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