DECATUR, Ga. (AP) 鈥� The parents of an environmental activist who Georgia state troopers near the site of a planned Atlanta-area police and firefighter training center filed a lawsuit Tuesday against three law enforcement officers who they say planned and carried out a police raid that led to his death.
Manuel Paez Ter谩n鈥檚 family says state troopers used excessive force against the 26-year-old when they fired pepper balls into the protester鈥檚 tent after Paez Ter谩n refused to leave on the morning of Jan. 18, 2023. Authorities said Paez Ter谩n then shot at the troopers from inside the tent, wounding one of them and prompting the troopers to return fire, killing the activist.
Authorities were conducting what officials described as a 鈥渃learing operation鈥� against those who for months had been camping in the woods near the DeKalb County construction site to protest what critics call 鈥淐op City.鈥�
The killing of Paez Ter谩n, who and used the 鈥渢hey鈥� pronoun, was a galvanizing moment for the 鈥淪top Cop City鈥� movement, with activists across the world holding vigils and painting murals in honor of Tortuguita, who friends said was dedicated to helping others and protecting the environment. Authorities have portrayed Paez Ter谩n as an out-of-state radical who wrote in their journal that police officers should be killed.
Ever since Paez Ter谩n's death, their parents have complained that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has refused to give them answers about the events surrounding his death. Last year, the family that concluded that Paez Ter谩n was sitting cross-legged with their hands in the air when they were shot more than a dozen times.
鈥淭he story of Manuel鈥檚 death is still being written,鈥� attorney Brian Spears said at a news conference Tuesday morning in Decatur, a few miles from where the training center is nearing completion. 鈥淭he objective of this lawsuit is to learn the truth about who planned the raid and to hold them responsible.鈥�
Paez Ter谩n had moved to Georgia from Florida in 2022 to join activists who had been camping in the woods and calling themselves 鈥渇orest defenders.鈥�
The lawsuit says GBI Special Agent Ryan Long planned a 鈥渞aid鈥� that targeted protesters for expressing their political beliefs, violating their First Amendment rights.
The protesters were camped out legally on public land, not on the construction site itself, the family's lawyers said, and Long was wrong to instruct officers to arrest campers for 鈥渃riminal trespass," thereby violating their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The lawsuit said that when Paez Ter谩n 鈥渟tated the desire to remain in the forest,鈥� Trooper Mark Lamb ordered Trooper Bryland Myers to fire pepper balls into the activist's tent, trapping the protester in an enclosed space with chemicals and making Paez Ter谩n 鈥渞easonably believe that they were going to die.鈥�
Lamb and Myers were among the six troopers who fired their guns at the activist after Paez Ter谩n fired at them, officials have said.
A GBI spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation.
from four Atlanta officers involved does not show the shooting itself, the GBI has said. But the agency said footage shows the officers encountered Paez Ter谩n in a tent in the woods and after the activist shot at troopers, injuring one, and ignored verbal commands to leave the tent.
A prosecutor declined to charge the troopers who killed Paez Ter谩n, saying their use of deadly force was Investigators have also said ballistics evidence shows the injured trooper was shot with a bullet from a gun Paez Ter谩n legally purchased in 2020.
Activists formed the 鈥淪top Cop City鈥� movement to protest the construction of an 85-acre (34-hectare) Atlanta Public Safety and Training Center, which they said would cause environmental damage by cutting down huge swathes of trees and exacerbate flooding fears in a poor, majority-Black neighborhood. They also oppose the use of tens of millions in public funding on what critics describe as being a training ground for "urban warfare.鈥�
Initially given a $90 million price tag, the cost has since jumped to $115 million, with taxpayer funds paying the majority of that cost, despite city officials' earlier claims that the public obligation would only be $31 million.
The city said the state-of-the-art campus would boost police morale amid hiring and retention struggles while emphasizing 鈥減rogressive" training practices.
Since the fatal encounter, Tortuguita's name has been invoked at numerous protests 鈥� some of which have turned violent, including last year when more than 100 masked activists and torched equipment while others threw projectiles at retreating officers.
In September 2023, 61 protesters were indicted on , and dozens of activists have been charged with domestic terrorism. Attorney Jeff Filipovits said this was part of a strategy to 鈥渄emonize those who hold certain political beliefs.鈥�
鈥淔orest defenders are not terrorists,鈥� said Paez Ter谩n's father, Joel Paez. 鈥淭hey aren't. And my child was with individuals concerned against environmental injustice.鈥�
Paez Ter谩n used to meditate every morning to be close to God and saw the forest as a sacred place, said their mother, Belkis Ter谩n. In honor of Tortuguita 鈥� Spanish for 鈥渓ittle turtle鈥� 鈥� she wore a necklace with a turtle pendant to the news conference.
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Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: .
Charlotte Kramon, The Associated Press
