The environmental activist killed by authorities in an Atlanta-area forest last month was shot at least a dozen times, the slain protester’s family said Monday while urging officials to release more information about the death of the 26-year-old who went by the name Tortuguita.
The news conference was held outside a Decatur courthouse just as a large contingent of law enforcement officers accompanied contractors and heavy equipment near the South River Forest about 6 miles (10 kilometers) away, to begin clearing the woods for a planned police and firefighter training center that opponents call “Cop City,” news outlets reported.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said officers killed Tortuguita in self-defense on Jan. 18 after the protester, whose given name was Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, shot a state trooper while authorities cleared activists from the forested site.
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