'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABiAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAcQAAEDBQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQABQYSMREiAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADBxEAAQMEAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDBAAFEbEhIjFD/9oADAMBAAIRAxEAPwCPKs4Rj93scpVsTJKJO60F9aAvxbgJPfo1p0DL5E+DGliFFbEhlt3QNghO6dvODlKVLrxDjmBFdKSV+ZKieDk01ybQliHgfLfbZr//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On Wednesday, January 18, law enforcement shot and killed an activist, Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, protesting at the site of a planned public safety training center in the middle of nearly a hundred acres of public forest in southeast Atlanta.
A day later, in an official press release, authorities identified and stated that the twenty-six-year-old activist was reportedly killed by officers raiding a campsite occupied by protesters in the area of a proposed Atlanta police training facility.
Authorities further informed that Manuel Esteban Paez Teran was camping inside a tent when law enforcement began issuing commands for the protesters gathered on-site to clear out. It was then that a police officer shot the activist after he refused to comply with the warnings and fired at them from inside his tent.
Activist-medic Manuel Esteban Paez Teran shot a trooper first, and then was killed in retaliation by authorities
The deceased was shot on Wednesday by law enforcement officials who were trying to clear out the Atlanta campsite occupied by several protestors gathered to resist against building a gigantic edifice, dubbed as "cop city,” in the middle of the woods.
Teran, described as an activist and a trained medic who ran a mutual aid group as part of the forest defense community, was part of a large group of protestors who had camped for months in the forest in an attempt to stop the construction of the 85- acre building.
In a news release, investigators stated that on Wednesday morning, officers issued verbal commands to vacate the premises after locating a man, identified as Teran, inside a tent in the woods. The latter, who supposedly refused to heed the warnings, shot at a state trooper, forcing the other officers to return fire and kill him.
“Officers gave verbal commands to the man who did not comply and shot a Georgia State Patrol Trooper. Other law enforcement officers returned fire, hitting the man. Law enforcement evacuated the Trooper to a safe area."
Authorities further added that the trooper, who was allegedly shot by Teran, was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover.
Activists are suspicious of the official narrative of how Manuel Esteban Paez Teran was killed
Authorities are yet to release the names of the officers involved in the incident as they fear retaliation from protestors, meanwhile, garnering suspicion from other activists as well, who refuse to believe the official narrative in connection to the Wednesday incident.
Hence, they have asked law enforcement to release body cam footage of the incident to corroborate the official account of the circumstances that led to Teran's killing.
Meanwhile, during the raid on Wednesday, law enforcement arrested seven people and charged them with domestic terrorism, following the fatal shooting of Manuel Esteban Paez Teran.
