(ATLANTA, GA.) — In ongoing coverage of the protests surrounding the controversial Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, dubbed “Cop City” by opponents, the family and attorneys of killed protestor Manuel Paez Teran held a press conference. WSB Radio anchor/reporter Veronica Waters was there at 10:00 a.m. on Monday to hear them speak.

Paez Teran, along with several dozen other protestors, spent weeks camping in the South River Forest before a violent clash with the Georgia State Patrol ended his life on January 18. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a statement that Teran fired first, without warning, and was killed by return fire from officers who were part of a task force clearing the forest that morning. A state trooper was shot in the abdomen, but was brought to the hospital, where he was hospitalized in stable condition after surgery and continues to recuperate.

“Cop City” is the nickname for the planned 85-acre, $90 million police and firefighter training facility which will include a shooting range, and a mock city for urban police and burn building training.

Supporters of Paez Teran, including his family, called for an independent investigation into the clash. The GBI responded, saying that they did not capture body camera footage of the encounter.

Monday, Paez Teran’s parents painted a picture of their son as a compassionate intellectual, “guided by his ideals of love, passion, and determination” – and a pacifist.

“We are horrified by all that has happened to Manuel,” said their mother, Belkis Teran. (People close to Manuel say the activist went by they/them pronouns.) She adds that the 26-year-old magna cum laude Florida State graduate was a forest defender and nonviolent.

“They were a pacifist and had no intention of resorting to violence as a way of defending himself,” she said.

“Killing a person who was sleeping in the forest does not make sense to me.”

Paez Teran’s family had a private autopsy performed, which attorneys say revealed at least a dozen gunshot wounds, possibly 13 or 14, from a mixture of handguns and shotguns.

“It appears that Manuel was shot over 12 times, and was shot by several different firearms,” says lawyer Brian Spears. “Multiple officers riddled his body with bullets.”

Spears and law partner Jeff Filipovits say the GBI has so far failed to respond to any requests for information. They have asked for the results of the autopsy performed by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner, and are requesting a meeting between the family and someone at the GBI.

Attorneys contend that since the deceased Teran cannot be charged with any crimes, any archival video or audio must be released, and they allege that the GBI has been selectively withholding information.

“Manuel is dead,” said Spears. “You cannot charge a dead man with a crime. There is no reason to withhold this information, and there is no reason to not meet with the family.”

Joel Paez called his son “a warrior for all of humanity.” He says Manuel was the kind of person who had compassion for anyone in need and would stop to give a homeless person on the street $100, and that he lobbied them to “settle down” with a family because they couldn’t touch the whole world, adding, “You are no Greta Thunberg.” Now, he says, his son has proven him wrong, as the story of Manuel’s death has grabbed headlines everywhere and reached the whole world.

“Sadly, Manuel was a fierce environmentalist who has given his life for his ideals in the United States of America,” the father said.

He said he is praying for the full recovery of the Georgia trooper who was shot, as well as for the arrestees who have been charged with domestic terrorism, though the affidavits say that for some of them, their “crime” was nothing more than “being present” at the site.

Attorney Filipovits was asked about the GBI’s information that Paez Teran had bought a gun two years ago.

“It doesn’t tell us what happened,” said Filipovits. “It is a single fact, without context, that tells us nothing of the narrative of what happened or what unfolded on that day.

“It’s a justification that they want people to draw conclusions from,” he continued, “but that doesn’t tell us what happened.”

The family and attorneys say they cannot sit in judgment of what happened, because they simply don’t know and need facts--which is why they are calling for any and all audio or video from that day to be released.

They also commended the DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston for recusing her office from the investigation and asking for an independent prosecutor.

Paez Teran’s brother echoed his parents’ grief.

“I am in so much pain missing my best friend,” said Daniel Paez. He pleads for any eyewitness details about what happened to his brother.

“I also ask any officers brave enough to contact my lawyers with any and all information. Stop just following orders,” he said.

Meanwhile, law enforcement conducted another clearing operation in the woodsy site, “to identify people illegally trespassing and/or engaging in criminal activity on the property” according to a GBI statement.

No one was arrested.

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