LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The FBI is now investigating after three fires popped up overnight near the Hall of Justice in downtown Louisville.
That's across the street from Jefferson Square Park where protesters have been gathering daily for weeks. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department says the fires are serious crimes and there could be charges coming.
According to Lt. Col. Carl Yates, a spokesman for the sheriff's department, firefighters arrived on the chaotic scene around midnight. There was a firepit on the sidewalk and a large crowd outside the Hall of Justice.
But firefighters were not welcomed by the group and were forced to leave as the fire still burned.
"This is not peaceful protesting," Yates said. "This is criminal activity."
There were multiple fires. Yates says a group that was in Jefferson Square Park earlier in the evening tossed some sort of incendiary device at the plywood on the doors of the Hall of Justice.Â
"It caught fire on impact and the heat from the fire was intense enough to not only catch the wood paneling on fire, but melt some of the glass behind it," Yates said.
Water bottles seen on the ground in front of the Hall of Justice. Louisville Metro Police say the bottles were thrown at Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies who were responding to a fire there.
Image courtesy: Louisville Metro Police Department
Deputies came out with a fire extinguisher, and put the fire out, but Yates says the group started throwing water bottles at the officers, so deputies fired pepper balls.
"They're not only catching a building on fire, but a building with people inside," Yates said. "And not just deputy sheriffs, but prisoners and other people."
Then another fire was started -- a pile of trash and recycling pins in the middle of South 6th Street was set ablaze. The Louisville Metro Police Department activated its Special Response Team to push the crowd back in order to respond to this fire.
"That fire burned for some time before the fire department could come in safely to put that out," Yates said.
LMPD did not make any arrests overnight.
"We realize that all the protesters are not in this category," Yates said. "The vast majority of them, are just like the vast majority of police officers. We're there for the right reasons and doing it in the right way."
The FBI is now investigating.
Louisville Metro Police released surveillance video of the Sixth Street fire Monday afternoon.
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