On Thursday, Governor Brian Kemp declared a temporary state of emergency in Georgia, in addition to activating 1,000 Georgia National Guard troops, following the violent anti-police protests in Atlanta on Saturday.
The destructive weekend protests were an elevation of ongoing demonstrations against a new police training facility being built in a wooded metro Atlanta area.
While protesting on site of the new facility, activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran’s was reportedly killed by law enforcement after he shot and injured a State Patrol trooper. This what sparked the riots in Atlanta’s streets on Saturday.
During the multi-agency operation at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center that began on January 18, 2023, approximately 25 campsites were located and removed.
Additionally, mortar style fireworks, multiple edged weapons, pellet rifles, gas masks, and a blow torch were recovered.
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[A]s law enforcement was moving through the property, officers located a man inside a tent in the woods. Officers gave verbal commands to the man who did not comply and shot a Georgia State Patrol Trooper. Other law enforcement officers returned fire, hitting the man. Law enforcement evacuated the Trooper to a safe area. The man died on scene.
The injured Georgia State Patrol Trooper was taken to a local hospital where he underwent surgery. A handgun and shell casings were located at the scene. The GBI is working the officer involved shooting and the investigation is still active and ongoing. T
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The man who died in yesterday’s officer involved shooting has been identified as Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26.
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Forensic ballistic analysis has confirmed that the projectile recovered from the trooper’s wound matches Teran’s handgun.
Atalnta Mayor Andre Dickens and Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, stated that police arrested six protestors on Saturday after they turned violent, breaking businesses’ windows and attacking police cruisers.
Dickens reveals that some were also found to have explosives that “led to a police officer’s car being set on fire.”
“Make no mistake about it, these individuals meant harm to people and to property,” Dickens said.
Here is a post made by the Atlanta Police Department, sharing mug shots of the punks who were arrested – most of whom do not even live in Georgia – and the charges they are facing:
“Georgians respect peaceful protesters, but do not tolerate acts of violence against persons or properties,” Gov. Kemp declared in his emergency order, citing “unlawful assemblage, violence, overt threats of violence, disruption of the peace and tranquility of this state and danger existing to persons and property.”
The emergency order is set to expire on February 9.
When the protests of the facility began, Kemp condemned anyone going beyond peaceful demonstrations.
“These individuals are members of a broader network of militant activists who have committed similar acts of domestic terrorism and intimidation across the country with no regard for the people or communities impacted by their crimes,” he said on January 3.
