The family of a 26-year-old activist killed after allegedly shooting a state trooper who was clearing demonstrators from the wooded site of Atlanta’s “Cop City” reportedly released private autopsy results and filed a lawsuit that disputes authorities’ account of events.
The relatives of Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, who reportedly went by the name “Tortuguita” and identified as non-binary, are calling on the Georgian Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to release its investigative report.
At a press conference in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse, civil rights attorneys Brian Spears and Jeff Filipovits said a private autopsy revealed that Teran had been shot 14 separate times in various locations, including the head through the right eye, left upper chest, abdomen, arms and legs, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
The attorneys claim the wounds show Teran’s left arm and hand were raised with the palm facing forward during the shooting.
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“Manuel was looking death in the face, hands raised, when killed,” Spears said, according to the outlet. They also contend Teran died while his legs were crossed.
“I never thought that Manuel could die in a meditation position. My heart is destroyed,” Teran’s mother, Belkis Teran, said at the press conference.
The lawyers accuse the GBI of launching a “coordinated campaign” to prevent the Atlanta Police Department from releasing further body camera footage of the incident.
Teran’s family filed a lawsuit last week against the city of Atlanta to demand more information under the Georgia Open Records Act.
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“The only people who know what happened in the forest that day are the officers who were present and the GBI, who is investigating,” Filipovits said.
“During its investigation, the GBI has selectively released information framing its narrative while…
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