Prosecutors are recommending zero charges for the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) troopers who responded to civil unrest at the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Facility, according to a Friday report from the Mountain Circuit District Attorney’s Office. The report concerns the January 18 incident that saw one trooper shot by activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán, which prompted the troopers to return fire and fatally shoot Terán.
The report includes testimony from troopers who responded to the future site of the public safety training center on January 18, and prosecutors ultimately ruled that use of lethal force by GSP was “objectively reasonable under the circumstances of this case,” and thus requires no criminal charges.
On January 18, protesters had gathered to occupy the site in a bid to stop further construction, and the report states that Georgia State Troopers discovered Terán, 26, concealed inside a tent.
Prior to the shooting, the troopers said they repeatedly ordered Terán to leave the tent, telling him he was under arrest. When he refused to leave, the troopers warned Terán they would fire pepper balls, a less-than-lethal crowd control projectile, into the tent. According to the report, just “seconds” after the first pepper ball projectiles were fired, Terán opened fire on the troopers.
With names redacted, the report explains that one trooper who fired at Terán was shot first during the exchange. The trooper was shot “in the body below his armor plate and above his belt on his right side,” prompting the trooper to drop to one knee, draw his pistol, and return fire at the tent concealing Terán.
The report states he “knew that Terán had just shot him and he fired back to protect himself and his fellow Troopers” and did not stop firing “until he saw white smoke coming from the front of the tent.”
Terán was ultimately shot 57 times by law enforcement after refusing to leave the tent and opening fire on the troopers.
Prosecutors explain in their report that Terán committed a litany of crimes, including assault and attempted murder, in the moments before his death, making him “an immediate threat” to the GSP troopers at the scene. “Terán was actively resisting arrest,” the prosecutors also note.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) indicted 61 people alleged to be involved with the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center protests in a sweeping Georgia Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act indictment last month.
Among those indicted are Marlon Scott Kautz, Adele Maclean, and Savannah Patterson, who are alleged to have organized a bail fund to free those arrested for crimes committed at the future site of the training center.
Polling released in late September claims that just 12 percent of Georgia voters support the “Stop Cop City” petition to force a referendum on the future of the training facility. That petition effort remains stalled, with the City of Atlanta unwilling to review the petitions until it receives guidance from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Georgia State Police” by Georgia Department of Public Safety.
