January 18, 2024 marks the one year anniversary of the shooting of Manuel Paez Teran, known as Tortuguita, a 26 year old Indigenous, queer non-binary Venezuelan forest activist. Tortuguita was killed by police in a hail of gunfire during a ‘Stop Cop City’ protest organized to protect the Weelaunee Forest in Atlanta, Georgia from a huge police training facility.
Before being shot 57 times by police, Tortuguita was quoted in the Bitter Southerner about their commitment to nonviolence, “The right kind of resistance is peaceful, because that’s where we win. We’re not going to beat them at violence. They’re very, very good at violence. We’re not. We win through nonviolence. That’s really the only way we can win. We don’t want more people to die. We don’t want Atlanta to turn into a war zone.”
Death ruled a homicide

Tortuguita’s autopsy revealed that they were shot by police 57 times with their hands in the air. Though the police claim their action was in self-defense after Tortuguita fired at them, the autopsy found no gunpowder residue on Tortuguita’s hands. The Medical Examiner of DeKalb County, who conducted the autopsy in April 2023, ruled the death a homicide.
This was the first time in US history that an environmental defender was killed by police. In April 2023, U.S. House members sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Chris Wray demanding answers on the police response to the protests.
Georgia state troopers who killed Tortuguita won’t face charges

In October of 2023 a Georgia court ruled that state troopers who shot and killed Tortuguita won’t face charges. Investigators had said Tortuguita had refused to leave the area and troopers fired “sublethal” rounds of ammunition at their tent. Investigators also said Tortuguita had fired on officers, which does not align with the autopsy results.
Indictment under the RICO Act
Since the killing, 61 people tied to Cop City have been indicted under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act — some for handing out fliers. The RICO Act was developed to combat the mafia. This is the first time a racketeering law has been used against this many defendants in a political prosecution. Over 40 Stop Cop City campaigners have also been criminally charged as domestic terrorists.
Lauren Regan, executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, an environmental and social justice legal organization, has stated it is “clearly intended to chill larger political participation”.
Use of Tortuguita’s journal by prosecution denounced
In a concerning move, Tortuguita’s diary is playing a role in Georgia’s conspiracy case against the 61 people mentioned above. As reported by The Guardian, “The state’s motion says the diary is needed to prove that dozens of defendants tied to opposition against the training center near Atlanta were involved in a criminal conspiracy in part because the document contains “to-do lists and notes from meetings” – suggesting evidence of criminal acts against Cop City”
The use of Tortuguita’s dairy is highly concerning as only around a dozen of the approximate 150 page diary were written while Tortuguita was camped in protest against Cop CIty at a public park near the project’s planned site. Also reported by The Guardian in regards to the state’s motion, “none of those pages contains such material”.
The Guardian, also reported that Dan Berger, a historian on social movements, stated
“Tortuguita is dead – they’re not prosecuting Tortuguita… They’re trying to use the diary of somebody police killed to criminalize a whole movement. … The legal system obviously has no respect for privacy when the government seeks to criminalize thoughts and feelings. It’s very alarming.”
Referendum on Cop City blocked

Meanwhile, the Cop City Vote Coalition has been attempting to get a city referendum on the project. As of November 2023, they had collected more than 115,000 signatures—more than double the number needed to qualify for the November ballot—yet city officials refused to even start the signature verification process in another effort to block public participation in the Cop City project.
Defend the land defenders!

Being a Latin American land defender is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world. GJEP stands in solidarity with our Latin American allies and land defenders across the US and the world and demand justice for Tortuguita. This must never happen again.
Take Action!

Sign on letter
Sign on to GJEP’s letter to demand Justice for Tortuguita.
In May of 2023 Global Justice Ecology Project mailed a letter calling for justice for Tortuguita to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The letter was endorsed by more than 400 people and 62 organizations representing millions of people from more than 30 countries.
The letter made the following demands of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and US Attorney General Merrick Garland:
- Arrest the officers involved in the shooting of Tortuguita and try them for murder.
- Cancel the construction of “Cop City”– the $90 million Atlanta Public Safety Training Center,
- Drop charges of “domestic terrorism” against Stop Cop City activists.
We will be re-sending the letter to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Learn More
Breaking Green Podcast
The August 2023 episode of The Breaking Green Podcast, Muzzling Dissent and COP City with Basav Sen and Gabrielle Colchete, can be heard here. Basav and Babrielle co-authored a July article in In These Times titled, “Cop City and the Escalating War on Environmental Defenders.” The story was based on a report they wrote for the Institute for Policy Studies on the increased criminalization of protest activities. The Breaking Green Podcast is produced by GJEP.
Special exclusive report for Global Justice Ecology Project
In March 0f 2023, Don Kimball wrote a special exclusive report for GJEP on the decades-long persecution of Forest Defenders BEATEN, BOMBED AND BURIED The exclusive report can be read here: BEATEN, BOMBED AND BURIED: The decades-long persecution of Forest Defenders.