Related Post
(Trends Wide) — The mother of an activist who was shot to death by police in Atlanta said she feels angry and powerless. Protests over the case broke out this Saturday.
Manuel Esteban Páez Terán, 26, was shot near an 85-acre, $90 million law enforcement training center where opponents had camped for months in an attempt to stop its construction.
On Wednesday morning, January 18, law enforcement officers were conducting a cleanup operation to “identify individuals trespassing in the area,” authorities said.
Troopers saw someone in a tent in the woods and gave verbal orders, but the person allegedly did not comply and shot a Georgia state trooper, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.
The agents returned fire and fatally wounded the person, who was identified as Terán. A handgun recovered from the individual’s possession matched the projectile from the policeman’s wound, the GBI said.
Activists associated with a group protesting the site said Terán was a “defender of the forest,” working to fight environmental racism. Local justice groups issued a joint statement saying that Terán, who is known as Tortuguita and who identifies as non-binary, was “sweet, warm, very intelligent and caring.”
Terán died at the scene, according to the statement. A handgun and bullet casings were recovered from the scene, the GBI said.
Terán’s mother, Belkis Terán, spoke to Trends Wide by phone from Panama this Saturday night and expressed her disbelief in law enforcement’s account of the incident.
“They said he had a gun. If he had one, it was to protect himself from the animals of the forest. That’s what I understand,” she said.
“I never knew he had a gun,” the mother continued, adding that she didn’t think Terán was the type of person to shoot at police.
Activists associated with the protests against the facility also disputed the law enforcement account, calling Terán a “defender of the forest” working to fight environmental racism.
“He was not a violent person. He was a pacifist. He told me that all the time…he wouldn’t kill an animal,” Terán’s mother said.
Terán did not express any concern for her personal safety during the roughly six months she spent with other activists near the proposed police training center, the mother said.
“He didn’t think it would escalate. I would tell him to be careful, but he would tell me that she was safe,” she said.
The mother says that now she wants to come to the United States to help the activists who knew Terán.
“I want to stand up. I want to raise her voice. I’d like to help conservationists find a way to stop Cop City. I don’t know if I can do that,” she said.
The Atlanta Police Foundation has said the planned training center, dubbed “Cop City” by its opponents, is needed to help boost morale and recruiting efforts.
But the facility, which will include a shooting range, a simulated city and a burning building, has faced intense resistance, including protests.
Terán’s mother said she was saddened to learn of the protest in downtown Atlanta, where six people were arrested after businesses had their windows damaged and a police car was set on fire.
“I don’t think violence is going to do anything,” he said, telling protesters in Atlanta: “Don’t throw rocks. We need to walk together with candles.”
“I feel sorry for the people who are angry, but I don’t want to be angry all my life,” the grieving mother said.
