Article originally appeared on contra.substack.com
Manuel Esteban Paez Teran was a 26-year-old activist who joined his friends in protesting a planned public safety training center—coined “Cop City” by critics—in Atlanta forestland. They camped out in the area to halt its construction. But they brought with them more than s’mores, sleeping bags, and Teran’s they/it pronouns.
On the morning of Jan. 18, officers attempting to clear the site of the future facility gave Teran verbal commands. He allegedly replied by shooting a Georgia State Patrol trooper and got himself killed in the ensuing exchange of fire. Police said in a statement that the projectile recovered from the trooper’s wound matched Teran’s Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm handgun. His death helped spark rioting that consumed downtown Atlanta in violence, but this wasn’t the first flare-up. Last year, these leftists hurled Molotov cocktails at officers and AT&T workers and attacked firefighters. In one incident, police stood with their backs turned to a fence when a flaming spirit flew over at them…
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