Atlanta far-left gunman's family sues cops after he was killed by police during Stop Cop City shoot out

The family of a far-left activist who was shot and killed during a shoot out at the Stop Cop City occupation and protest in Atlanta, Georgia, has brought a lawsuit against three officers over his death. Manuel Esteban Paez Teran shot and injured an officer when authorities raided the Antifa-led Stop Cop City protest in which militant activists took over an area designated for the building of a training center for police officers.

Antifa extremists and other far-left agitators began occupying the area in an attempt to prevent the construction of the training facility in an attempt to "stop cop city." Dozens were arrested over the years' long protest and were charged on various counts, including domestic terrorism. In September 2023, over 60 people were indicted on state RICO and other charges in connection to their efforts to block construction. Antifa militants set fire to construction equipment in the area and attacked police officers. 

In January 2023, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and other law enforcement agencies raided the autonomous zone that had been set up on the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. A Georgia State Patrol trooper was shot and injured and officers returned fire, killing gunman Teran, who went by the aliases "Tort" and "Tortuguita."

The suit was brought by Belkis Teran, Teran’s mother, and Joel Paez, Teran’s father, against Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Ryan Long and Georgia State Patrol troopers Mark Lamb and Bryland Myers. 

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, stated that "Some opposed to the training center held an ongoing occupation-style protest and education campaign against Cop City in Intrenchment Creek Park, a neighboring public park owned by DeKalb County," not the city of Atlanta, and that "On January 18, 2023, Manuel Paez Teran was shot and killed by police while camping in Intrenchment Creek Park."

The suit claimed that the "property on which Manual was camping was public land and open for public use" and that "Intrenchment Creek Park is not the location of the police training center." There was "no federal, state, local, or municipal law that prohibited camping overnight inside Intrenchment Creek Park" as of January 18, 2023, the day he was fatally shot by authorities.

"Manuel’s presence and encampment in Intrenchment Creek Park was an act of protest to the construction of the police training center and designed to further the political message of those who opposed the construction of the police training center," the suit stated. "The issues of whether the police training center should be constructed, and, if so, its location, are core political questions and speech addressing those issues is core political speech."

The suit accuses all three defendants of "false arrest in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution." Lamb and Myers were accused of "excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution." Long was accused of "retaliation in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution."

Long allegedly gave the directive to authorities clearing the area that those within the park should be arrested immediately. "Prior to that morning’s operation, no Defendant was informed that they had the authority to issue criminal trespass warnings to bar individuals from Intrenchment Creek Park."

The suit stated that during the clearing operation, "six officers and one police dog approached Manuel’s tent, who had been sleeping inside the tent." The six officers, which included Myers and Lamb, "had their guns drawn and surrounded the tent." The suit claimed that authorities, "Even if they had authority to exclude Manuel from Intrenchment Creek Park," did not "give Manuel adequate time to depart before announcing that Manuel was under arrest."

In regard to the allegations against Lamb and Myers, the suit claimed that they told Manuel if he "did not exit the tent and comply with their commands, they would introduce a chemical agent." They allegedly "did not warn Manuel that the chemical agent would be fired from a gun."

Manuel allegedly told officers that he wished "to remain in the forest, and suggested that the officers should leave" in a "calm" voice and "did not threaten the officers." the suit claimed that "No officer observed Manuel with a weapon before Defendant Myers fired exploding pepper balls into the tent." Myers allegedly shot pepper balls directly into Teran’s tent, and "Any person trapped inside a tent that is filled with oleoresin capsicum would reasonably believe that they were going to die."

Long was accused of planning the raid that led to Teran’s death. "The seizure and use of force violated the Fourth Amendment and proximately caused the death of Manuel Paez Teran." The purpose of the raid and arrest order "was to end the ongoing protest against the training center."

In the suit, the attorneys claimed that "Defend the Atlanta Forest" is "not a cognizable group" and "has no membership, no leadership, and no structure. Law enforcement defined persons as members of “Defend the Atlanta Forest” based solely on that person’s political beliefs and overall opposition to the construction of the police training center."

In the wake of Teran's death, Antifa members called for a "night of rage" and took to the streets of Atlanta to throw rocks at and light fires outside of the Atlanta Police Foundation. In March 2023, authorities issued an executive order restricting public access to the park after dangerous hidden traps were discovered in the park.

Manuel Esteban Paez Teran lawsuit by Hannah Nightingale on Scribd