DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A proposed Atlanta Police Department training facility in DeKalb County has been the target of protestors for months.
Southeast Atlanta resident Ysabel Martinez told Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln she opposes the new Atlanta law enforcement training facility.
“I hear gunshots, like mass gunshots, we can hear explosions,” said Martinez.
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However, Tuesday morning Atlanta police say they were clearing out protestors, who’d taken up camp in trees, at the site of the new facility.
After issuing several commands, Atlanta police said they had to force activists out of the trees using pepper spray.
Police have been working for months to keep the property protestor free, so construction can begin.
This year, police say activists have committed several acts of violence and vandalism.
Over the summer, surveillance video shows where activist vandalized the offices of the contractor who has been hired to build the new police training center.
This summer, several protesters were arrested after they threw a Molotov cocktail at police as officers raided a camp on the grounds of a planned Atlanta Police Department training facility.
This past weekend, firefighters battling a dumpster fire at the site of the Atlanta police training facility in DeKalb County were attacked, police say.
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DeKalb County police say crews were called to a fire at the Key Road facility just after 10:30 a.m. When they got there, protestors began throwing objects at them.
Atlanta police were already on the scene, and requested assistance from DeKalb police.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating this latest attack.
Protestor support groups confirmed with Channel 2 Action News that at least one arrest was made Tuesday.
The proposed state-of-the-art facility will take up take up an 85-acre plot of land in the largest urban forest in metro Atlanta. Protestors say its presence would be bad for the environment.
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