Several Georgia state legislators have requested that Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department investigate the fatal shooting of a protester who was killed at the planned site of the controversial Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26, known as “Tortuguita,” was shot and killed on Jan. 18 during a shootout involving police during a sweep of the Weelaunee Forest. Activists had set up an encampment to protest the training center, which they and other opponents refer to as “Cop City.”
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While state officials have claimed self-defense in Paez Teran’s death, a medical examiner’s report indicated that he sustained at least 57 gunshot wounds. The shooting is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Six Democratic state legislators want to take the investigation a step further by bringing in federal assistance. Democratic state Sens. Nabilah Islam, Jason Esteves, and Nan Orroc and state Reps. Ruwa Romman, Jasmine Clark, and Kim Schofield sent a letter to Garland on April 26. It said that the medical examiner’s report “raised many questions” that “warrant an independent investigation” and “are important to definitively answer.”
“We believe it is essential that a credible investigation be conducted that gathers and releases the necessary information to ensure public confidence in the investigatory and law enforcement process,” the lawmakers wrote.
“As such, we respectfully request that the U.S. Department of Justice conduct a thorough independent investigation into the persistent pattern of misconduct within state law enforcement agencies, to include but not limited to the January 18, 2023 incident.”
The training center has been a subject of controversy for many months. Protesters who oppose the center’s construction, either out of concern for the environment or opposition to police, have been arrested, and some have been charged with domestic terrorism.
Activists have called for the resignation of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and other state officials who support the construction of the training center. It is set to be an 85-acre compound intended to educate firefighters and 911 operators, as well as police officers, on how to serve Atlanta communities.
The planned facility would eliminate greenspace within the 300-acre forest in an unincorporated area of DeKalb County. The forest, nicknamed the Weelaunee Forest, is a tribute to the Muscogee (Creek) native tribe that occupied the land up until the 1820s.
Environmentalists have argued that the center will pollute the water sources and other green spaces in the forest. Anti-law enforcement activists and abolitionists say the city is turning a blind eye to calls from residents for substantial public safety changes following instances of police brutality in recent years both in Atlanta and across the United States.
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While the training center website says that the site is not for militarized police training, many residents are concerned that the creation of the center will only escalate violent encounters between police and community members, particularly young black men.
“To be clear — cop city is not just a controversial training center. It is a war base where police will learn military-like maneuvers to kill black people and control our bodies and movements,” Kwame Olufemi of Community Movement Builders said in a statement via the Stop Cop City website.
“They are practicing how to make sure poor and working-class people stay in line.”
