Georgia Today: Autopsy says protester's hands were up; new name for famed lake; Dalton at the Oscars

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, March 13. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Manuel Teran's family says a second autopsy shows his hands were raised when he was shot by police. A plan to rename one of Georgia's most famous lakes is put on pause. And we'll tell how Dalton, Ga., was represented at last night's Oscars ceremony. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1

Peter Biello: The family of activist Manuel Teran says a second autopsy shows Teran's hands were raised when they were shot and killed by the Georgia State Patrol in January. Attorney Brian Spears detailed the autopsy report.

Brian Spears: According to the autopsy, the wounds indicate that Manual's left arm and hand were raised when Manuel was shot, with the palms facing the front of the body. Manuel's right forearm and right hand were also shot. The gunshot to the head would have killed them instantly, but probably, in the words of the report, not before they were able to raise their hands and arms in front of their body.

Peter Biello: Teran was one of the activists camped on the site of the planned public safety training facility. It's been the subject of intense scrutiny ever since city leaders and the Atlanta Police Foundation began pushing to build the facility there. Proponents say it'll help modernize the police force and improve public safety. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says Teran fired on a Georgia state patrol officer who was wounded in the incident.

Brian Spears: We do not stand here today telling you that we know what happened. This second autopsy is a snapshot of what happened, but it is not the whole story. What we want is simple: GBI, meet with the family and release the investigative report. Thank you.

Peter Biello: Jeff Filipovits, another attorney hired by the family of 26-year-old Teran, says the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has declined to meet with the family.

Jeff Filipovits: The only people who know what happened in the forest that day are the officers who were present and the GBI who is investigating. The GBI has repeatedly declined to meet with us, to talk to us or to present any evidence to us. In fact, they have also presented — prevented the release of information by the city of Atlanta. After the city of Atlanta began releasing videos of the day they were clearing the forest, the city of Atlanta stopped. And the reason they stopped is because the GBI told them to. We have filed a lawsuit concerning the refusal of the city to provide records on an ongoing basis.

Peter Biello: GPB will continue to follow this ongoing story.

Story 2

Peter Biello: At a rally on Saturday:

Protesters: Don't, don't, don't cut down the trees. What? Don't, don't, don't cut down the trees!

Peter Biello: Demonstrators met in a park and then marched through the neighborhood of East Atlanta Village to show their opposition for the planned public safety training center. In a video by activist group NDN Collective, rally participant Rukia Rogers of Atlanta said the center is a poor use of public money.

Rukia Rogers: Why do we justify spending $30 million to build the largest police training — militarization for training facility, when we have members of our community whose basic needs are not being met?

Peter Biello: City leaders and the Atlanta Police Foundation have been pushing to build the facility in the South River forest. Proponents say it'll help modernize the police force and improve public safety. The rally put on by the Weelaunee Coalition came just hours after police searched an area in Atlanta's Lakewood neighborhood that had been serving as a clinic for demonstrators. Mark Lindsey was the only person arrested Saturday during the police search of the property in Lakewood. His violation, an old traffic ticket. He was released on bail. He says the police search on Saturday seemed, quote, "vindictive."

Mark Lindsey: Police came in. They got everybody off the property before they did anything. Then they went in to slash all the tents. They kicked in my door. They broke windows on my brother's RV.

Peter Biello: Lindsey says everyone there had been peaceful. The Atlanta Police Department has not responded to a request for comment.

Story 3

Peter Biello: Federal officials are pausing a proposal to rename Georgia's Lake Lanier and Buford Dam, names that come from onetime Confederate soldiers. The pause comes in response to objections by some local residents and officials. Clyde Morris represents area businesses for the Lake Lanier Association. He says the soldiers, Sidney Lanier and Algernon Buford are each known for something other than their time in the military.

Clyde Morris: Lanier's name was chosen because of his poem, "The Song of the Chattahoochee," and they named the dam after the city, not after the map. So it's a very distant and tenuous connection.

Peter Biello: Georgia congressman Austin Scott says the commission that chose new names for U.S. military bases never intended to rename the lake and dam.

Story 4

Peter Biello: The State Senate has given final passage to a bill that would require every public school to have an annual active shooter drill. Local school districts would be allowed, but not required to let parents opt their children out of the drills, which Atlanta Democrat Elena Parent characterized as traumatizing.

Elena Parent: Research on active shooter drills shows that active shooter drills make students feel unsafe, scared, helpless and sad, and that their efficacy is, sadly, questionable.

Peter Biello: Republicans compared the drills to fire drills and said everyone at a school needs to understand all emergency plans. The bill also would create a program for teachers to identify gang members. It now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature.

Story 5

Peter Biello: The National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for tonight and a freeze watch for tomorrow night for much of north and central Georgia. Steven Nelson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, spoke with GPB's Devon Zwald.

Steven Nelson: So we've been spoiled with some warm weather in the last few weeks. And it's we're actually coming into a period of time where we're having some below normal temperatures. Low temperatures will get down into the mid-20 and spots tonight and tomorrow night across north Georgia and maybe in the far north part of the state. It's definitely going to go below freezing. We have a freeze watch out for tomorrow night and a freeze warning out for tonight.

Devon Zwald: Is there anything people should sort of watch out for while there are those warnings and watches are in effect, right?

Steven Nelson: Yeah, This is mainly in this particular instance. It's not going to be real long duration. It's more for sensitive vegetation. With the recent warm weather, we had a really early spring and some plants that are sensitive to freezes have bloomed a little early. So we wanted to highlight this particular freeze event a little bit more than normal. You know, those plants could, you know, be damaged. If there's anything, you know, that you can have a capability to protect, you can put some blankets on and so forth. You're — you're welcome to do that. So and as far as like pipes bursting, it's not like that at all. You know, those would be for long duration freeze events. We're mainly worried about the agricultural impacts.

Story 6

Peter Biello: Dalton, Ga., was represented last night at the Oscars. According to The New York Times, the first-ever champagne carpet was used last night. It came from our very own carpet capital of the world, located in Northwest Georgia. Event Carpet Pros, a California-based company, has manufactured the carpet for the Oscars for more than 20 years. The company's president, Steve Olive, told the Times the carpet is made in a three-week manufacturing process at a mill in Dalton before it's trucked across the country to L.A. After the Oscars, the carpet will be recycled, possibly transforming into wall insulation or carpet padding.

And that's a wrap on today's edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. Please do subscribe to this podcast. We've got more news coming your way out of GPB's newsroom and you won't want to miss any of it. If you've got feedback, let us know. Send it to us by email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. And if you like this podcast, leave a review, because that helps other people find it. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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