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Atlanta Police releasing body cam footage of Jan. 18 ‘Cop City’ raid that resulted in activist’s death

Crime and public safety DeKalb County Metro ATL Trending

Atlanta Police releasing body cam footage of Jan. 18 ‘Cop City’ raid that resulted in activist’s death

A screenshot from body camera footage released by Atlanta Police shows an officer cutting down a tent during a Jan. 18 raid to remove activists camped near a proposed police training center in DeKalb County.
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This story has been updated. 

Atlanta, GA — Newly released video may shed some light on the deadly shooting of an activist near the site of a proposed police training center in DeKalb County.

Police officers shot and killed Manuel “Tortuguita” Esteban Paez Teran, 26, on Jan. 18 near an 85-acre police/fire training facility located in DeKalb County’s South River Forest. Activists call it “Cop City.” A State Trooper was also shot and wounded. Police allege Teran had a gun and have provided evidence that Teran purchased a gun in 2020.

Attorneys representing the family, Brian Spears and Jeff Filipovits, said Teran was shot by law enforcement 12 to 13 times, possibly more.

There’s no video recording of the incident itself because the State Troopers involved weren’t wearing them. But other members of the task force responsible for removing activists from the site — including Atlanta Police and DeKalb County Police — were wearing body cameras.

Atlanta Police provided a link to the footage, which is being released as it is processed.

“The Atlanta Police Department is releasing body worn camera footage related to the January 18, 2023 Georgia State Patrol Trooper shooting that occurred near the future site of the City of Atlanta’s Public Safety Training Center,” a spokesperson from APD said.”The footage is from APD officers assigned to the January 18, 2023 clearing detail who were nearby and responded to the shooting at the time it occurred. Videos are being processed and will be posted to the below link on a rolling basis.”

To see the footage provided by APD, click here. The video has also been uploaded to a public Dropbox account. To obtain the video from that account, click here.

The footage shows police officers cutting down tents erected near the training center site. It also captures the reaction of officers when they heard the exchange of gunfire.

At the time this article was written, the video was hard to access, possibly because of the number of people viewing and downloading it.

At one point during the video, an APD officer says, “Man…you f#$!ed your own officer up.”

Atlanta News First has published clips from some of the videos released by APD. To see ANF’s coverage of the video release, click here.

In related news, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a member of the advisory committee helping to oversee the project is appealing the county’s issuance of a land disturbance permit that would allow construction to move forward.

According to the AJC, the advisory committee member accuses “the city and county of overlooking existing restrictions on sediment discharges and exaggerating the amount of green space that would be preserved.”

To read that story, click here.

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