POTRERO, Calif. (AP) -- Protesters targeted the site of a planned training facility for Blackwater USA, the private security contractor that is under fire for recent actions in Iraq.
Organizers said about 300 people gathered Sunday at the 824-acre site in Potrero, a rural area about 45 miles east of San Diego and just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
A dispatcher with the San Diego Sheriff's Department did not know how many protesters showed up.
The training camp would include shooting ranges, a driving track and a helipad on a property formerly used as a chicken ranch.
The Potrero Planning Group has endorsed plans for the camp, but final approval may still be months way.
Planning Board Chairman Gordon Hammers has said the camp would provide an economic boost to the area.
The prospect of a training camp in the area has divided the community. Protesters want a recall vote against members of the planning group.
Citizens' Oversight Projects member Raymond Lutz said the recall attempt was akin to a referendum on the project.
"If the recall is successful, the community has voted down the project," Lutz said. "At that point, Blackwater should drop the project and spare the community any further agony."
The Iraqi government claims Blackwater security guards were responsible for the killing of 17 Iraqis on Sept. 16, and that the killings were unwarranted.
The incident has outraged Iraqis and brought calls for an overhaul to the rules governing private contractors such as Blackwater, which provides heavily armed security for U.S. diplomats serving in Baghdad.
