Atlanta police says 35 arrested after mob attacks officers, destroys construction equipment

The Atlanta Police Department said 35 people are in custody after a violent mob attacked police officers and destroyed construction equipment at the site of the proposed law enforcement training center.

Police said Sunday "a group of violent agitators used the cover of a peaceful protest of the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center to conduct a coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers." 

Several law enforcement agencies responded to the scene as demonstrators "changed into black clothing and entered the construction area and began to throw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers," according to the department. 

Multiple pieces of construction equipment were destroyed by fire and vandalized. 

The responding officers used non-lethal force to make the arrests, the department said. 

Demonstrations against the training center have turned violent and resulted in arrests before. 

An anti-police protester shot a Georgia State Trooper and was killed in an exchange of gunfire earlier this year, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.