(Reuters) – Fire broke out at the construction site of a future Atlanta police training center on Sunday after a protest at the property, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing police.
Heavy smoke could be seen for miles, WSB television reported, saying events had begun with a music festival that was part of a week of demonstrations to protect the forest where the facility is being built.
The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, derided by critics as “Cop City,” will become a police and fire training center on 85 acres (34.4 hectares) of a 400-acre property in unincorporated DeKalb County that is owned by the city, according to the facility’s website.
The site was subject to a protest in January that briefly turned violent as demonstrators set a police car on fire and smashed windows of buildings. Demonstrators then gathered to protest the law enforcement killing of an activist during a raid to clear the construction site.
Atlanta police and fire officials did not immediately respond to requests for information.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
