| Advertisement |
Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A Georgia court has ruled that state troopers who shot and killed "Cop City" protester Manuel Teran earlier this year won't face charges. On Jan.18, Georgia State Patrol troopers raided an activist campsite near the construction site for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a large police and fire training center under construction in Dekalb County near Atlanta.
Advertisement
According to investigators, Teran refused to leave the area and troopers fired "sublethal" rounds of ammunition at the tent where Teran was staying.
Investigators say Teran then fired on officers, wounding one, though an autopsy ordered by Teran's relatives showed Teran had their hands raised at the time of the shooting and did not have gunshot residue on their hands as one would expect from someone who had fired a weapon.
In total, Teran had 57 bullet wounds, including entry and exit wounds.
Teran's mother, Belkis Teran, said, "We are devastated to learn that our child, our sweet Manny, was mercilessly gunned down by police and suffered 57 bullet wounds."
"They say he shot at a police officer, I do not believe it. I do not understand why they will not even privately explain what happened to our child," Teran said.
DA pro tempore for Stone Mountain's Judicial Circuit Court, George R. Christian, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution "no criminal charges will be brought against the Georgia State Patrol Troopers involved in the shooting of Manuel Paez Teran."
"The use of lethal (deadly) force by the Georgia State Patrol was objectively reasonable," Christian said.
State and local law-enforcement authorities have taken a hard stance against the protesters.
In September, police charged 61 protesters under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations charges.
In April, U.S. House members sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Chris Wray demanding answers on the police response to the protests.
No body camera footage of the fatal shooting exists.
