ATLANTA (AP) 鈥 Georgia authorities allege that state troopers in January fatally shot an environmental protester who had fired at authorities after a trooper shot pepper balls into the protester鈥檚 tent, according to incident reports obtained Friday by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The newspaper obtained multiple Georgia Department of Public Safety use-of-force incident reports through an open records request. The records offer the most complete account yet of authorities鈥 version of the Jan. 18 killing of Manuel Paez Ter谩n, who went by the name Tortuguita and used the pronoun they.
Paez Ter谩n was killed in DeKalb County's South River Forest as officers tried to clear activists who were camping near the site of a planned police and training center that protesters derisively call 鈥淐op City.鈥
Protesters have questioned officials' assertion that officers shot Paez Ter谩n in self-defense after the 26-year-old shot a trooper. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation continues to examine the shooting and has released few details about the incident, other than to say that preliminary evidence supports authorities' assertions and that the trooper was shot with a bullet from a gun Paez Ter谩n legally purchased in 2020.
According to the newly obtained incident reports, Paez Ter谩n briefly spoke to officers who came to the protester鈥檚 tent and refused their demands to leave the area, prompting authorities to fire pepper balls. Authorities say Paez Ter谩n then fired multiple shots from inside the tent, and six officers returned fire, shooting the activist more than a dozen times.
鈥淚 knew the suspect in the tent was shooting at us because I could hear the gun shots coming from inside of the tent," according to a report written by a Georgia Department of Public Safety corporal. 鈥淚 could see the front of the tent door flapping as the bullets ripped through it and I could hear bullets striking the vegetation surrounding me.鈥
The corporal said authorities had encountered Paez Ter谩n inside the tent, and at one point the activist told the officers: 鈥淣o, I want you to leave."
The corporal said Paez Ter谩n was 鈥渧ery confident鈥 in asking authorities to leave and 鈥渋t was immediately apparent鈥 that the protester had 鈥渘o intentions of cooperating."
The corporal also wrote that, prior to the gunfire, he told Paez Ter谩n that officers were about to fire chemical agents into the tent and that Paez Ter谩n would be charged with criminal trespassing.
Paez Ter谩n鈥檚 death and their dedication to opposing the training center has vaulted the 鈥淪top Cop City鈥 movement onto the national and international stage, with leftist activists from across the country holding vigils and prompting some to travel and join the protest movement that began in 2021. They say officers at the 85-acre (34-hectare) center would be trained to become more militarized and quell dissent, all while hundreds of trees are cut down, damaging the climate and flood mitigation in a poor, majority-Black neighborhood.
A few protests have turned violent, including earlier this month when more than 150 masked activists left a nearby music festival and , setting fire to construction equipment and throwing rocks at retreating law enforcement officers.
The Atlanta City Council approved building the proposed $90 million Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in 2021, saying a state-of-the-art campus would replace substandard offerings and boost police morale, which is beset by hiring and retention struggles in the wake of violent protests against racial injustice that roiled the city after George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.
For more than two months, Paez Ter谩n鈥檚 family and their attorneys have called on officials to release information about the shooting. , Paez Ter谩n was sitting cross-legged with their hands in the air at the time they were shot. The autopsy report also notes it is 鈥渋mpossible to determine鈥 whether the activist was holding a firearm at the time they were shot.
The family commissioned the autopsy after the DeKalb County Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office conducted the initial examination. Officials have not released the DeKalb County report, so it鈥檚 unclear whether it reached a similar conclusion that Paez Ter谩n had their hands raised with palms facing inward at the time of the shooting.
The family鈥檚 attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment.
