The City of Atlanta chose not to verify a batch of signatures gathered by campaigners opposed to the development of a police and fire training center known as “Cop City” on Monday due to a stay issued earlier this month by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Activists seek a citywide referendum to prevent the training facility from opening.

As the Vote to Stop Cop City Coalition went to submit around 116,000 petition signatures at Atlanta’s city hall, activists were met with an “acknowledgement letter” from city officials. The city clerk’s office said that, while it would store the signatures, it was unable to begin the verification process because of a stay issued by the Eleventh Circuit blocking a lower court’s ruling that allowed campaigners to collect signatures beyond a 60 day deadline imposed by Georgia law.

A representative of the coalition stated that the legal argument in the letter was “just wrong,” citing US Supreme Court precedent in Anderson v. Celebrezze and Burdick v. Takushi, in which the court held that restrictions on democratic processes are only constitutional if they further a legitimate government interest. The representative also said, “The argument that they are confined by the law is insincere. What is really happening here is that they’re using any method possible to prevent people from … having a voice in government.” The coalition then vowed to go to court to challenge the city’s decision.

Monday’s events come just days after Georgia’s attorney general indicted 61 people under the states Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law over their connections with occasionally-violent demonstrations against the training center. In March, 35 protesters were detained after a confrontation with the police near the centers’ construction site. Prosecutors later charged 23 of them with domestic terrorism over the incident.

Clashes between police and protesters also resulted in the death of activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known as Tortuguita, in January during a raid on a protest encampment near the facility. While police claim that Terán fired at officers, Terán’s family and supporters remain skeptical, as a family-commissioned autopsy found that the activist’s hands were raised during the confrontation.

Controversy has followed the development of “Cop City” following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests due to concerns about the role of police in American society, police maltreatment of people of color and the center’s location in an urban forest. The facility is set to cost $90 million and will occupy 85 acres of land.