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 were conducting what officials described as a “clearing operation” against those who’d been camping in the woods near the construction site to protest what critics call “Cop City.” A prosecutor last year declined to charge the troopers who killed Paez Terán.