ATLANTA — A protest has happened again at the proposed Atlanta police academy training site derisively known as "Cop City," and police claim objects were thrown at DeKalb Fire Department firefighters after a fire was started.
DeKalb Police Department responded to reports of a dumpster fire on Key Road around 10:32 a.m. on Saturday, assisting Atlanta Police Department.
The department said that when they arrived at the scene, DeKalb Fire said they were having issues putting out the fire because protesters were throwing objects at them. So for the safety of the firefighters, police units from both departments assisted in evacuating the area. No injuries were reported, but the fire and police units remain on the scene, and Key Road remains closed.
Authorities are urging the public to avoid the area and to follow instructions from law enforcement.
The infamous "Cop City" has been the subject of heated protests. The outcry came after the city of Atlanta revealed a plan to build a new state-of-the-art police training center on Key Road, just outside the city limits in DeKalb County. It would clear-cut a portion of the forest that has grown since the city abandoned an old prison farm on the site in the 1980s.
The city has taken baby steps to transform the property into a police and fire training center partly because protestors have pushed back, sometimes aggressively. Police said some of them appear to live in the woods due to being redeveloped.
Protesters say the woods should be preserved and funding for police services should be cut or eliminated.