Tortuguita (Manuel Paez Terán)

26-year-old Tortuguita (Manuel Paez Terán) was gunned down in a hail of 57 bullets fired by six Georgia State Troopers. Tortuguita, who used the “they” pronoun, had joined activists camping in Atlanta’s Weelaunee Forest to oppose construction of an 85-acre cop training facility. On 18 January 2023, Georgia state troopers attacked the encampment aiming to clear the forest of “trespassers” and arrest activists. The cops admit they fired pepper balls into Tortuguita’s tent and then began shooting. They claimed that Tortuguita shot at the troopers, wounding one. Nine months later a prosecutor’s report adopted the troopers’ claims, refusing to charge the killer cops and declaring their actions “objectively reasonable.”

An independent autopsy for the family exposed the government’s lies. This autopsy found entrance wounds in both of Terán’s palms, showing they were likely raised up to the cops. The autopsy concluded that the exit wounds in the legs showed that Terán was “most probably in a seated position, cross-legged, with the left leg partially over the right leg.” The autopsy also showed a gunshot wound through Terán’s right eye. Even the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report stated there was no gunpowder residue on Tortuguita’s hands. As to the wounded cop–one trooper can be heard on radio traffic saying, “You f----d your own officer up.”

Tortuguita’s mother Belkis Terán has become known as the “mother of the movement,” making numerous trips from her home in Panama to Atlanta to join Stop Cop City activists. Belkis has fought tirelessly for the truth to see the light of day. Not a shred of evidence has been turned over to the family. Belkis, an endorser of the Open Archives campaign, “They went to kill him,” she told us, “as they used to do with slaves. They would hang them and let them be seen by others to set an example.” In December 2024, the family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against three of the cops involved in Tortuguita’s killing. The family lawyer stated, “The objective of this lawsuit is to learn the truth about who planned the raid and to hold them responsible.” Outrageously, in March 2026, a federal judge dismissed the family’s lawsuit, once again claiming that the troopers’ use of deadly force was “objectively reasonable.”

The killing of Tortuguita was met with protests by the “Stop Cop City” movement. Activists across the world held vigils and painted murals in honor of Tortuguita. Forest defenders recalled Tortuguita as a “radiant, joyful, beloved community member” who “brought an indescribable jubilance to each and every moment of their life.”

Before joining the Stop Cop City protesters, Teran attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, where they were a well-known activist, founding an environmentalist club and participating in several groups including Food Not Bombs and the Industrial Workers of the World. They were also a trained medic who hosted a cold night shelter for the homeless during winter. In December 2022, Tortuguita and other forest defenders traveled to Maryville, Tennessee to help defend a drag event facing threats from neo-Nazi thugs.

Stop Cop City protesters have been the targets of vicious state harassment and repression. Over 170 protesters have been arrested. In September 2023, the State of Georgia indicted 61 activists on racketeering (RICO) charges. The prosecutors are using these charges to tar the “Defend the Atlanta Forest” movement as a criminal enterprise, and anyone who supports it as a “conspirator.” The charges carry a possible 20-year sentence and are intended to intimidate into silence any opponents of cop terror. Due to prosecutorial concealment of evidence not one of these activists have yet to stand trial. In May 2023, the cops raided the residence of solidarity defense fund organizers, arresting them for “money laundering,” which were later dismissed.

Open the archives! The cops and attorney general’s office has not disclosed any evidence related to the killing of Tortuguita and the harassment, brutality and frame-up of the protesters. The archives of the multiple police agencies involved in the surveillance, harassment, terrorization of the Stop Cop City protesters and the cop killing of Tortuguita must be opened to public scrutiny.