Georgia officials condemned for labeling ‘Cop City’ protests domestic terrorism

A protester holds a photograph of environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán outside Atlanta City Hall on 31 January. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

Lawyers for the family of a climate activist who was shot dead by police in Georgia last month have condemned officials’ attempts to brand his fellow protesters of Atlanta’s planned “Cop City” training facility as domestic terrorists.

Attorneys representing relatives of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán were speaking at a news conference Monday as a large number of officers, including heavily armed tactical teams, descended again on the site in Atlanta’s South River forest where the building of the $90m so-called Cop City is planned.