GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — An arson was reported early Tuesday morning at a concrete company in Gwinnett County, with an online outlet aligned with the opposition movement against the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center claiming responsibility.
The claim was made in a blog post on the "Scenes from the Atlanta Forest" site, which has long posted information and blogs about the "Stop Cop City" movement; the post itself was attributed to an anonymous email.
It's not clear what, if any, ties the website has to more visible elements of the protest movement - a different website, for instance, advertised Tuesday's protest march on the construction site for the future police and fire training center.
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The post itself was titled "Make Contractors Afraid Again" and claimed that fires were set to six vehicles at the concrete company. The post described how incendiary devices were placed into the rear engine compartments of the cement mixing trucks. The site also posted a list of other addresses for the concrete company.
The public information officer for Gwinnett Fire & Emergency Services told 11Alive that investigators were aware of the blog post but that "at this time our investigation will continue as normal."
"We are investigating all suspects in this matter," the fire service said.
Atlanta Police also said they are actively monitoring the incident in Gwinnett County as they work with other investigating agencies.
On Tuesday, Gwinnett Fire said its crews responded to the company's address on Seaboard Industrial Drive just after 2:30 a.m. and found "multiple work vehicles owned by a concrete company that were burning behind the business."
They said the fires were brought under control at 3:08 a.m.
"No injuries were reported at this fire incident. Gwinnett County Fire Investigators are leading a joint investigation with the assistance of the Lawrenceville Police Department, the Gwinnett County Police Department, and State and Federal law enforcement partners. The cause of this fire remains under active investigation. Arson is a serious felony crime and is punishable by imprisonment and associated fines," Gwinnett Fire & Emergency Services said. "Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the Gwinnett County Fire Investigations Section at 678-518-4890 or the Georgia Arson Control Hotline at 1-800-282-5804. Georgia Arson Control, Inc. offers a reward of UP TO $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for arson."
The fires were set ahead of the protest march, which briefly featured a clash between activists and police as they tried to make their way to the construction site but were blocked by a large column of law enforcement officers and vehicles.
Videos posted by protest groups showed a large marching column, which had began at Gresham Park at roughly 8:30 a.m. with the intent of reaching the training center construction site to block it, being met by several officers with riot shields.
Some videos showed flashbangs and tear gas being deployed.
The tense confrontation appeared to de-escalate as protesters regrouped and marched back the way they'd came.