Public meeting on Georgia mosque canceled over safety fears

COVINGTON, Ga. – Officials in a Georgia county say they've canceled a meeting involving a mosque planned for the area due to security concerns.

Earlier, some Newton County officials had said they planned to vote Tuesday to lift a ban on building permits for places of worship. The ban was prompted by opposition to a planned mosque and cemetery on 135 acres in the county, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.

Newton County Commission Chairman Keith Ellis said the meeting was called off because of concerns about crowd control and hostile social media posts.

There was no immediate word on whether Tuesday's meeting will be rescheduled.

The Covington News reports (http://bit.ly/2cUhWZ0) that unless another special meeting in scheduled, the commission's next chance to vote on ending the moratorium for places of worship will be Sept. 20.