A newly released autopsy of forest protector Manuel Esteban Paez Terán reveals that police shot Terán at least 57 times during a raid of anti-”Cop City” protesters’ camp in January — and that the police narrative that officers acted in response to a gunshot from the activist is likely completely fabricated.
After months of calls from activists and family members of Terán — whose chosen name was Tortuguita — for the release of their autopsy, DeKalb County released it this week as the result of a public records request. The autopsy shows that Tortuguita had at least 57 gunshot wounds on their body, including shots to their head, hands, torso and legs.
Crucially, the autopsy also found that there was no gunpowder residue on Tortuguita’s hands. This strongly suggests that police lied about Tortuguita shooting first — a narrative that activists have said many times was a complete fabrication, and one that was also contradicted by an independent autopsy done by Tortuguita’s family showing that their hands were up as they were shot.
That narrative was also contradicted by the release of body camera footage in February that appeared to show that it was not Tortuguita who fired at a police officer, but instead friendly fire from another officer that police used as an excuse to barrage Tortuguita with bullets and kill them.
In light of the evidence that the police narrative surrounding Tortuguita’s death is likely a lie, anti-“Cop City” advocates have likened the forest defender’s killing to a murder, assassination or outright execution by police, carried out with the aim of demonstrating the lengths that police are willing to go in order to crush anti-police protests.
“The official autopsy is released showing Tortuguita the forest defender didn’t have gunpowder residue on their hands and had at least 57 gunshot wounds in their body, including the hands, torso, legs and head,” said Community Movement Builders organizer Kamau Franklin on Twitter. “This is Murder.”
“Police are liars, murderers. [Georgia State Police] killed Tortuguita and [the Georgia Bureau of Investigation] helped cover it up,” wrote anti-”Cop City” movement Defend the Atlanta Forest.
Activists have said that police have continually lied about Tortuguita’s death and about the protest against “Cop City” in general, as government agencies, politicians and prosecutors have united to violently suppress the movement against the planned $90 million police compound; recently, police raided an anti-“Cop City” music festival, where officers swarmed attendees, attacked them with tear gas and charged dozens of people with domestic terrorism.
Police have frequently used domestic terrorism charges to repress the anti- “Cop City” movement, leveling such charges to vilify organizers and ultimately justify killing or imprisoning demonstrators for exercising their right to protest.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy