Lilburn Mayor Diana Preston defended her city against accusations of intolerance Wednesday, two days after Lilburn reached a settlement with the Department of Justice in a federal discrimination case.

"The recent characterization of Lilburn as being other than a city of tolerance and acceptance is unfortunate," Preston said in a written statement. "This misrepresentation was fed by the United States Department of Justice deciding to interject itself into ongoing negotiations between the City and Dar-E-Abbas."

The DOJ has alleged that Lilburn violated federal law by twice rejecting Dar-E-Abbas' requests for rezoning to build a mosque. Under pressure from the DOJ,  Lilburn officials finally approved the request on Aug. 16.

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Thousands of "No Kings" protesters marched down Courtland Street from the Atlanta Civic Center to Liberty Plaza on Saturday. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: Abbey Cutrer