Family of ‘Cop City’ activist who was killed by troopers files lawsuit

Associated Press/Report for America

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — The family of an environmental activist shot and killed by state troopers near the site of a planned Atlanta-area police and firefighter training center activists call “Cop City” has filed a lawsuit against three law enforcement officers. Manuel Paez Terán’s family says state troopers used excessive force against the 26-year-old when they fired pepper balls into the protester’s tent after Paez Terán refused to leave in January 2023. Authorities said Paez Terán then shot at the troopers from inside the tent, wounding one of them and prompting the troopers to return fire, killing the activist. A prosecutor last year declined to charge the troopers who killed Paez Terán.