The diary of an environmental activist police shot and killed earlier this year is playing a crucial role in Georgia’s conspiracy case against 61 people tied to a police and fire department training center known as “Cop City”, offering an early window into the state’s approach to the prosecution.
The Georgia deputy attorney general, John Fowler, has put forward a legal motion to enter the diary of Manuel Paez Terán, known as Tortuguita, as evidence in the Rico – or racketeering – case, sidestepping standard legal procedure while employing smear tactics and falsehoods, said observers of the case and based on the Guardian’s reporting.