Rocks, Molotov Cocktail Thrown at Atlanta Officers at Site of Future Training Facility

Atlanta Police say rocks and a suspected Molotov cocktail were thrown at officers Tuesday as they accompanied a contracting company at the future site of a public safety training facility.

Atlanta Police Department Assistant Chief Darin Schierbaum said no one was injured when someone threw a "glass container with an accelerant inside and a crude ignition device." Police detained eight people on charges ranging from criminal trespass to obstruction of a law enforcement officer, Fox5 reports.

“There has been a number of concerted efforts to stop the Public Safety Training Center by committing criminal acts here in Atlanta, into Cobb County, in Birmingham, AL; and other states and we appreciate the Federal Bureau of Investigation joining this investigation to stop these attempts of intimidation, to stop these criminal acts for this public safety training center,” Schierbaum said in a press conference.

He explained the contractors were on site to remove some illegal structures that had been built on the land and pointed out the property is owned by the City of Atlanta, is not a park, and is not open to the public. The officers were accompanying the workers due to previous encounters with protesters.

Schierbaum shared how individuals who have been previously arrested in connection with protesting construction of the new training facility often are from out of state but could not provide specific details of the ones arrested Wednesday.

“The majority of individuals that are being arrested here, in Cobb County, and other places have driver's licenses from Pennsylvania, from Tennessee, from Rhode Island, from Virginia, from New York, and from Minnesota,” he said. “We will not be deterred by the acts of a few that do not represent our community and are attempting to harm first responders today and to dilute the capabilities of this city provide quality first responder services for them.”