Manuel Esteban Paez Terán

Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, was a Venezuelan environmental activist and eco-anarchist who was shot and killed by Georgia State Patrol Troopers, after a Georgia State Patrol Trooper was wounded during a raid of the Stop Cop City encampment on January 18, 2023.

Bodycam footage from the incident, after the shooting, includes video recordings of police from the scene speculating that the officer's gunshot injury was the result of friendly fire.

Autopsy results showed Paez Terán sustained 57 gunshot wounds, and found no visible gunpowder residue on their hands.

However, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) report found traces of gunshot primer that could be present from Paez Terán shooting a weapon, police gunshots, or contamination.

Terán's family claims that Paez Terán's hands were up at the time of the shooting, based on independent autopsy results showing bullet exit wounds in both hands.

The claim of friendly fire is disputed by the Atlanta Police Department, which has alleged that Paez Terán fired at APD officers without warning after they had ordered the activist to exit the tent they were camping in.

A forensic ballistic analysis report by the GBI claims a 9mm handgun belonging to Paez Terán (legally purchased in 2020) was used to shoot the officer during the police raid.

The details of this report's analysis have not been released publicly.

On April 19, the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's office released an autopsy, which found at least 57 gunshot wounds on Paez Terán's body and ruled their death a homicide; the autopsy also found no evidence of gunshot residue on Paez Terán's hands.

According to The Guardian, Paez Terán was the first environmental activist in modern U.S. history to have been shot and killed by police during a protest.

Demonstrations and vigils were held in several cities in the United States and internationally in reaction to the shooting, including a riot in Atlanta on January 21, 2023.

Many organizations and some members of Congress have condemned the killing and called for an independent investigation of the events.

Paez Terán was a 26-year-old Venezuelan environmental activist and graduate of Florida State University who had been active in several social justice movements, including Food Not Bombs, before joining the Stop Cop City forest defense actions in Atlanta.

Paez Terán went by the nickname "Tortuguita", which is Spanish for "Little Turtle."

The Stop Cop City protests that Paez Terán was participating in were part of a broader movement related to longstanding tensions about police violence in the United States, following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Stop Cop City demonstrators oppose construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, which is slated to be built within a predominantly Black neighborhood.

On the morning of January 18, 2023, Paez Terán was inside a tent at the Stop Cop City encampment.

At around 9:00 a.m. that morning, Georgia State Patrol troopers commenced a raid, also known as a Clearing Operation, on the encampment with the intent of removing and clearing illegal encampments and trespassers.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. during the clearing operation, as law enforcement was moving through the property, officers located a person inside a tent in the woods.

Officers gave verbal commands to the person who did not comply.

Officers then used a "less lethal" pepperball launcher device in an attempt to remove them from the tent, after which Terán allegedly fired four shots from a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm, striking a Georgia State Patrol Trooper multiple times.

Six troopers that were also on-scene returned fire, fatally injuring Terán.

A GBI report published October 2023 claims that after the shooting ceased, a loud "boom" sounded, with white smoke coming out of Terán's tent, which troopers believed to be from an IED deployed by Terán.

The report was released in conjunction with the announcement that no charges would be filed against the involved troopers.

A trooper, Jerry Parrish, suffered serious injuries and was struck multiple times – including below his armor plate and above his belt on his right side.

One of the bullets lodged in his spine and he was transported to Grady Hospital by ambulance where he underwent surgery to remove the bullet.

Police accounts of the incident claim troopers encountered a tent and gave verbal orders for the person inside to exit; police say their commands were ignored and that Paez Terán fired first without warning.

Stop Cop City activists dispute the police description of the event.

Other protesters and Paez Terán's family dispute that Paez Terán fired a gun.

The shooting was initially under investigation by both the GBI and Dekalb County District Attorney's Office.

District Attorney Sherry Boston requested an independent prosecuting agency to take over the investigation to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, because her office is involved in a task force for the Atlanta Public Training Facility.

On April 14, 2023, the case was given to a Special Prosecutor with the Mountain Circuit District Attorney's Office.

According to the GBI, forensic ballistic analysis determined that the projectile recovered from the officer's leg wound matched the handgun found in Paez Terán's possession.

The details of the analysis have not been released publicly.

The recovered handgun, a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm semi-automatic pistol with serial number JFE8099, was determined to have been purchased legally by Paez Terán in September 2020.

Four 9mm cartridge cases were recovered by a GBI agent inside the tent occupied by Terán and were found to have been fired from the recovered Smith & Wesson handgun registered to Terán.

Police claim that Paez Terán refused to leave the tent, and subsequently shot and wounded an officer with that gun.

Testing of gunshot primer residue (GSR) revealed the presence of particulates characteristics of gunshot primer residue on Terán.

An Autopsy was performed by the Dekalb County Medical Examiner on January 19, 2023, and in that examination gunpowder residue was not seen on the hands.

According to the GBI, there is no bodycam footage of the shooting itself.